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...

6.2006 Internet Governance Wars, Episode II: the Realists Strike Back: A review of Goldsmith and Wu’s “Who Controls the Internet? Illusions of a Borderless World”

[Abstract] Author: John MathiasonJohn Mathiason examines the international relations theory underlying the book and likens it to Episode 2 of Star Wars: "The Realists Strike Back."Suggested citation: John Mathiason, "Internet Governance Wars, Episode II: the Realists Strike Back: A review of Goldsmith and Wu's 'Who Controls the Internet? Illusions of a...

Jeanette Hofmann selected to IG Forum's MAG

IGP Partner Jeanette Hoffman was selected to serve on the Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG), which will assist the Secretary-General's Special Adviser Nitin Desai in convening the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), a new forum for a multi-stakeholder dialogue on Internet governance. The Advisory Group will meet on 22 and 23 May...

6.2006 The New Cyber-Conservatism: Goldsmith/Wu and the Premature Triumphalism of the Territorial Nation-State: A review of Goldsmith and Wu’s “Who Controls the Internet? Illusions of a Borderless World”

[Abstract] Author: Milton MuellerMilton Mueller assails the "premature triumphalism of the territorial nation state" evident in the book and claims, "If the internet was a revolutionary force...this book risks being a manifesto for counterrevolution."Suggested citation: Milton Mueller, "The New Cyber-Conservatism: Goldsmith/Wu and the Premature Triumphalism of the Territorial Nation-State: A review...

5.2006 The Distributed Secretariat: Making the Internet Governance Forum Work

[Abstract] Author: John MathiasonInternational policy discussions are heavily dependent on the substantive preparatory activities of a Secretariat. IGP has prepared a paper outlining a new way for the Internet Governance Forum to meet the need for a substantive Secretariat. It proposes to create a "distributed Secretariat" wherein the Forum delegates...

Building an Internet Governance Forum

The United Nations is building a new platform for the discussion of global Internet policy. Public consultations on this new "Internet Governance Forum" will be held in Geneva February 16-17. IGP releases a new discussion paper explaining how the Forum could work. The paper proposes three design criteria for the...

2.2006 Building an “Internet Governance Forum”

[Abstract] Drafters: Milton Mueller, John MathiasonSignatories: Jeanette Hofmann, Lee McKnight, Derrick Cogburn, Hans Klein The United Nations is building a new platform for the discussion of global Internet policy. Public consultations on this new "Internet Governance Forum" will be held in Geneva February 16-17. IGP has released a new discussion...