NTIA hearing hints little change in DoC position

Over 100 people attended yesterday's public hearing (view the archived webcast) as part of the ongoing NTIA notice of inquiry on the continued privatization of the DNS. Commerce Dept. official John Kneuer, the acting Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communication and Information, said the NOI had generated nearly 700 public comments, but did not mention that the vast majority of them were critical of the unilateral oversight exercised by the USG and ICANN's continued problems with lack of transparency, accountability and representation. Contrary to certain inaccurate reports, no major changes or revelations occurred at this meeting; the Commerce Department attempted to solicit the views of certain stakeholders and revealed little about its own views. How NTIA will use the comments remains to be seen, but one experienced former government official said that “NTIA how has all the excuses it needs to change essentially nothing.”

7.2006 Comments of the Internet Governance Project: (Docket No. 060519136-6136-01) The Continued Transition of the Technical Coordination and Management of the Internet Domain Name and Addressing System

[Abstract] Internet Governance ProjectThe essence of our comments can be summarized as follows: The transition of DNS administration envisioned by the White Paper has gotten stuck somewhere in the middle of the process. This halfway house is an unstable and undesirable place. We urge the U.S. Commerce Department to complete...