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ICANN & Internet Democracy
Before we even get into this, I'm going to recommend again that everyone sign up for ICANN's At-Large membership. The deadline is July 31 - if you haven't signed up by then, you've missed your chance to be one of a few thousand voters who will affect the course of the internet's development. U.S. registration is way below that of other internet-savvy nations on a percentage-of-internet-users basis, because the media in those countries has been running extensive registration campaigns. Slashdot will be covering the election process - register to vote! (Note: if you're planning to self-nominate yourself for one of the open board seats, even if it's not the North America seat, please email me - I'd like to talk to you.) We'll also take this opportunity to plug an unofficial site for the At-Large community created by a slashdot reader, www.applyatlarge.com. It's just getting started, but the At-Large community could use some non-ICANN methods of communication.
Jett writes "TomPaine.com has an interesting article discussing the upcoming ICANN elections. The article gives a lot of good info on how ICANN is set up as well as some analysis on some of the problems they are facing to ensure fair and democratic elections."
There's some information about the actual on-going meeting available in near-real-time, supposedly even a web-based chat though I haven't seen it in operation, sponsored by the Berkman Center. Keep in mind that Japan is ~14 hours ahead of the U.S., so the Saturday meetings will be occuring Friday night in the U.S.
Probably the most important news at this meeting is not the wrangling over new .TLDs, even though that is the only aspect of the ICANN meeting getting any press coverage. Though the vote hasn't happened yet, I'm willing to wager that the restrictive NSI proposals will win out - a few new .TLDs will be started, NSI will be running at least one of them (way to diversify!), with massive trademark protections so that most "good" domains will be unregistrable. That battle isn't going to be won any time soon. Note that every single problem associated with domain names - every single one, from squatting to scalping to companies hijacking domains from individuals - is caused by artificial scarcity of names. Eliminate the two sources of artificial scarcity (limited TLDs and trademark law) and all domain name problems vanish.
But the most important initiative at this meeting is the ambitiously-named Internet Democracy Project, started by the American Civil Liberties Union, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, and the Electronic Privacy Information Center. The site is already a great collection of links on ICANN, and promises more content in the future; it's a good place to start if you're new to this whole thing. They've articulated a civil society perspective on the ICANN elections process, ICANN itself, and the domain name system - excellent reading, excellent goals, I support them entirely. It remains to be seen what will come of this, but I hope that these organizations continue to do their utmost to push their views. Imagine a world where DNS was structured as they envision.
Remember how people used to worry about the blatant commericalization of the 'net? Well, here it is; embodied.
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Stupid people suck.
And once again, No man's life, liberty or property are safe while the legislature is in session
I fail to see how ICANN, given its rather limited scope, has control over any of those 3 things.
DrLunch.com The site that tells you what's for lunch!
And why are they masquerading as ICANN when all they do is tell me what "I Can't" do?!!?
I tried signing up for the mentioned comittee, and had such a terrible time going through the process I just outright gave up. Sorry. I will just develop another internet-like society once the regulations are on, and I can't stand it anymore.
whatever.
"If voting could really change things, it would be illegal. " - Revolution Books, NY
if ICANN will really last, given recent media attention to the troubles it's having. It seems EVERY member nation has some problem or another with it. Don't know if it can do much good, but I'm going over there right now to see about joining up. This seems like too little, too late by way of advertising such an important issue.
These people looked deep into my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined.
I just tried to sign up for an at-large membership, and it's telling me that the database is overloaded...
Damnit! Did we just slashdot icann?
Feminism is the wild notion that women are human beings.
While I would love to see this help, I don't think that this is going to promote the cause of freedom much. At most, I see the voices of the uninformed being used for political leverage by ICANN. Voting, of course, can be used to help counteract this, but alas, I am not sure that our voice will be strong enough, and they don't have to listen to us anyway.
I'm not saying don't go out and vote, of course. One voice is small, but one hundred are not. To be one of one hundred is big, and that is how you can help this situation out. Also, ICANN is not the end all to be all of political power on the internet, but one thing that it is, is a face that governments recognize when they think of the net (kind of), which is a form of political power. I think that louder voices are in the form of independant political action, however. So, vote, vote wisely, but if you are really concerned with what is going on in the net. Write to someone in government, write a story, write an editorial to your paper. These are ways to really get your voice heard.
Eh...
I'm going to recommend again that everyone sign up for ICANN's At-Large membership.
ICANN insists on having my name, address, and email. What they don't say is what they're going to do with this info. Will this be published somewhere so that every spamming cretin on the planet will be sending me stuff? Am I going to be subjected to endless lobbying emails from groups seeking to influence my vote? Am I going to end up on the mailing list for every computer catalog in existence? (Apparently my concerns aren't shared, since the signup database over there is croaking from overload.)
was that the membership application requires a valid, non-anonymous e-mail address, as well as postal address. Does anyone else see the potential for ICANN to make megabucks by selling the member-lists to mass-marketers? Fear.
These people looked deep into my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined.
It's ICANN trying to shut us up! Rise against the man! Rise against ICANN! Don't let the man keep you down! ICANN simulated the error to wait for the /. hype to die down, it will open back up in an hour or 2 when the story is old news! CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE! Give encryption a chance!
HELP! HELP! I'm being oppressed!
Eh...
I also got the friendly "We are sorry. The database is currently overloaded. Please try again
later." page.
Of course this means that instead of the few thousands we may be talking about few hundred thousands in the membership-at-large.
Being that this site just got slashdotted in less than 10 minutes, we can assume that a large percentage of slashdotters will sign up. And since most of us think +- the same way when it comes to online rights (we like them), we could make an actual difference! i've never made a difference before. this is sort of exiting. Just don't let the power get to Taco's head
-Superb0wl
-Superb0wl
It's not that I'm lazy....it's that I just don't care.
Its true...
a te.cgi
https://members.icann.org/cgi-bin/atlarge/activ
We are sorry. The database is currently overloaded. Please try again later.
"Eliminate the two sources of artificial scarcity (limited TLDs and trademark law) and all domain name problems vanish."
uhh, can say bullsh*t boys and girls... I knew you could.
First off, people will hijack... it's the western definition of capitalism.
Secondly, a US trademark seems to be a big sticking point right now. What people forget is that trademarks are applied by class. 2 or more companies/people can legitimately hold the same trademark. So, you're still going have people bitching and moaning over the TLD they wanted even if it's not squatting.
OK, offtopic, but all I can say is that I let a domain expire and never got such a letter, although the arrogance in it certainly sounds like them. I particularly like the "we are modifying your agreement ...". How many 'agreements' have you made where one party can change terms midstream? Personally, I think that any attempt to carry out this 'agreement' would be a litigation-farm in a heartbeat, but hey, what do I know?
Well, I guess this idea is not new, but I guess it is time to consider it. A self-nominee needs massive backup just to run for election, and I guess not many people will be able to get that backup. Why don't /.ers unite and come up with someone that may nominate themselves and get some backup from the rest of us?
Employee of Inrupt, Project Release Manager and Community Manager for Solid
Are there going to be campaigns for candidates? Will they have public platforms so the electorate knows what they're doing? By getting so many people invovled we may be doing more harm than good since it is quite possible that many of the voters don't have a clue about the canditates or their positions.
They mention something about this in the article, and I think people should realize that it's not about voting for the sake of voting - it's voting for a person or an idea.
You don't have a right to vote - you have a right to vote responsibly.
Being with you, it's just one epiphany after another
So maybe ICANN should chang its name... to ICANN'T
--Jim
Secondly, how does one get a bank of IP addresses these days?
Hrmm, fitting that ICANN is not /.ed to some effect.... "...Database overloaded..." ./bot
I am Cornholio! I need TP for my bunghole!
Hrmm, perhaps I should cut back on my Coke/Coffee intake *hands shaking*
Eh...
We are sorry. The database is currently overloaded. Please try again later.
Maybe here's our form of protest.
Slashdot ICANN
No boom today. Boom tomorrow. There's always a boom tomorrow. - Cmdr. Susan Ivanova
Will ICANN protect my personal data?
Yes. ICANN will use the personal data you provide in the application form only for purposes relating to its At Large Membership and election efforts. Your data will not be sold or transferred to unaffiliated companies or organizations, or used for any commercial purpose whatsoever.
Source:https://members.icann.org/faq.htm
I believe this answers your question.
Government White Paper
Principles for a New System. In making a decision to enter into an agreement to establish a process to transfer current U.S. government management of DNS to such a new entity, the U.S. will be guided by, and consider the proposed entity's commitment to, the following principles:
1. Stability
The U.S. Government should end its role in the Internet number and name address system in a manner that ensures the stability of the Internet. The introduction of a new management system should not disrupt current operations or create competing root systems. During the transition and thereafter, the stability of the Internet should be the first priority of any DNS management system. Security and reliability of the DNS are important aspects of stability, and as a new DNS management system is introduced, a comprehensive security strategy should be developed.
2. Competition.
The Internet succeeds in great measure because it is a decentralized system that encourages innovation and maximizes individual freedom. Where possible, market mechanisms that support competition and consumer choice should drive the management of the Internet because they will lower costs, promote innovation, encourage diversity, and enhance user choice and satisfaction.
3. Private, Bottom-Up Coordination.
Certain management functions require coordination. In these cases, responsible, private-sector action is preferable to government control. A private coordinating process is likely to be more flexible than government and to move rapidly enough to meet the changing needs of the Internet and of Internet users. The private process should, as far as possible, reflect the bottom-up governance that has characterized development of the Internet to date.
4. Representation.
The new corporation should operate as a private entity for the benefit of the Internet community as a whole. The development of sound, fair, and widely accepted policies for the management of DNS will depend on input from the broad and growing community of Internet users. Management structures should reflect the functional and geographic diversity of the Internet and its users. Mechanisms should be established to ensure international participation in decision making.
Ever wonder why every country besides the US has a particular TLD (e.g. .co.uk, .cz, .to, .cx)? Why is there not a .us TLD?
The US has no TLD home. Anything with a .co.uk URL is probably in the United Kingdom somewhere. (I do realize that this is not the case with all country specific TLD's, but bear with me here--I'm setting the stage for my argument which is...)
The ICANN should set up a TLD (or a group of TLD's) for each country where that country is free to impose any trademark/copyright laws so far as name registration goes. Other TLD's should be virtual duty free zones, with no government interference (TM, copyright, etc.) allowed in the registration of domain names.
Now wouldn't that be nice?
If you can read this, then I forgot to check "Post Anonymously".
To demonstrate: I will take a moment now and declare myself Emperor of the Internet. There. See? Wasn't hard. From this day forth, all of my loyal subjects will refer to me as Emperor Greyfox I. Also, we will now be using the royal we when speaking of ourselves.
A new DNS system will be decreed sortly.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
According to the law, at least in the United States, a voter registration database may not provided to anyone other than not-for-profit orgranizations, at which point they may not pass it on to any for-profit organization. This applies to government supported institutions, which ICANN is. I realize this still leaves room for plenty of spam mail, but at least you can have some comfort you won't be recieving Microsoft product information as a result of signing up.
We don't need no Net Explorer We don't need no Thought control
Go to this link. It won't happen.
We don't need no Net Explorer We don't need no Thought control
it's a small island in the Indian ocean - Cocoas or Keelings Islands - territory of Austrailia, pop. 636, sale cash crop: coconuts. Just the perfect site for your servers.
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
According to the email they sent me when I signed up, they're supposed to send me a PIN via snail mail. Then I use that, combined with my ID to verify my membership. It's been 2 weeks and I haven't received my PIN yet. Has anyone else gotten theirs? How long did it take?
It's not enough to bash in heads, you've got to bash in minds. - Captain Hammer
Registering and voting can't hurt, so I think it's right to go for it (once their database recovers from being /.ed, of course). They don't seem to be making much of a privacy commitment, but I think that's a small risk. If you want to vote, but don't want the spam risk, you can always register with a deletable mail account. Heck, I've my own mail server, I'll give you an account to use if that's your concern.
I'm also going to self-nominate, since I'd like to see some more radical views get expressed in the debate, even if the election is rigged and the folks elected will be a small minority of the Board.
See The OpenDNS Project's pages for a description of a truly democratic name system.
But with government funding, they can get in deep doggie doo doo if they do go back on it.
We don't need no Net Explorer We don't need no Thought control
So what happens when it becomes obvious to the common idiot that they've completely failed to meet these principles?
It's not enough to bash in heads, you've got to bash in minds. - Captain Hammer
Check out the OpenDNS Project. That's exactly what we're doing. If you'd like to join us instead of setting it up yourself, join our discussion list. If you want to do your own instead, would you let us know so we can arrage for the projects to cooperate?
Everytime I have tried to 'join', it returns a
"DATABASE OVERLOADED, TRY LATER"
Has anyone had any success
meatplow
Currently, there aren't so many good, easy-to-remember, domain names left in .com, .net, and .org. Wouldn't adding more TLDs alleviate the problem?
Not exactly.
All you're doing by creating more TLDs is moving the problem up one level. Sure, people can create toys.store to compete with toys.com, but do you really think that once all the good toys.[insert-new-TLD-here] domains have been taken anybody will really want to have a domain named toys.a-new-tld-for-me? I think not. In fact, if you create 100 new TLDs, I can still see only a small handful like .com and .store actually becoming popular. All that's happened is that the problem has been moved up one level.
Now, I'm not suggesting that we shouldn't open up *some* new TLDs simply to alleviate the pressure. Unfortunately, a real solution will have to come from somewhere else, like creating a system where the geographical location of the company plays a part in the domain name. Thus, amazon.com might become amazon.seattle.wa.us. Suddenly, there's no longer any real need guard your domain name so viciously because all the "prime" real estate in TLDs has been removed.
Yes, I know that a .us geographical already exists. I also understand that some locations may be more popular than others. Finally, this isn't a real suggestion that I expect ICANN to act on, but more of an example how the TLDs could be expanded in a real meaningful way rather than just adding more TLDs which will again differentiate between prime real estate and trash.
Thoughts?
I am impressed by your ability to pick out a relatively unimportant detail in a user comment and draw such a generalized conclusion so quickly.
Really, why don't you spend some time trashing my original idea rather than stopping on one supporting detail that I got wrong (very wrong, but that's beside the point).
The fact that the .us TLD exists but is implemented in a weird heierchical manner actually supports my idea. Let the governments have their little heierarchies to screw them up or whatever, but don't let them touch the other TLD's.
Now, please, pick the idea apart--even generalize it to "Let the governments have their little heierarchies to screw them up or whatever, but don't let them touch the other TLD's. Uhhh, you're a moron" if you want. Just don't tell me the same thing for a seventh time.
I enjoy it when someone can attack an idea (even my own) and tear it to the ground.
If you can read this, then I forgot to check "Post Anonymously".
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Okay, perhaps this is not the perfect solution... however at present it presents the only vaguely-workable solution to the domain name disaster we are experiencing. A lot of people on this site have voiced some very strong opinions and some very viable ideas on solutions. ICANN is sure as hell not lurking
SlushDot
Colin Smith
Montressor
m.o
alarmo
Snarfangel
dsplat
Mr Z
CoughDropAddict
Greyfox
kerrbear
mtphoto
Additionally, there are several folks who have voiced very strong and (sometimes) very well reasoned opinions about domain name administration. I would like to remind said folks again that, while we enjoy your input here, it has zero chance of making an impact on reality if stays on slashdot. If said people need to be reminded of their identities, they are:
JohnJake
Duane Dibbley
DHartung
titus-g
cd_Csc
chrome koran
robman
haplo21112
hidden
Garry Anderson
Lastly, remember that since ICANN is not inviting you specifically to join, a vote of abstention (by not joining) will go unheard.... and if anyone has a better, workable solution, speak it.
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end copy/paste
2 1337 4 u!
Viola! Instant karma!
Since the 'at large' membership database is being slashdotted, I thought I'd point out that many of you are (or aren't) being presented an important opportunity here. That being said, let's consider the types of Slashdot reader that are signing up today:
.gnu has been found!
/. reader to hold a seat get to post directly on to the front page?
Lurker: won't be contributing much to the message board debates.
Zealot: the support for
Troll: disruption, misinformation and FUD are the M.O.
IT Pro: Will harp on the technical failings of any proposed plan. (instead of making it work)
Karma Whore: The likeliest 'self-nominated board member', think of the karma there! Will the first
1337 h4x0r: No such thing really, right?
Windows User: commonly confused with troll. Anyone who is a windows user and stuck on slashdot is probably looking for something more fulfilling, and this may be it...
I am an 'at large' member, I've had my membership for a little over a month now, and I was a little concerned at first that the slashdot demons had been unleashed. But really, if some of todays new members forget all about this in a week, that makes my vote all that much stronger. there is a limited number of memberships, after all. Which leads me to suspect that maybe the upper limit of memberships was reached toaday after the first few 10's of 1000's of slashdot readers showed up to hop on the bandwagon. All in all, I guess it's better to share the wealth, as it were, than to keep this a secret for infrastructure geeks only.
:)Fudboy
:)Fudboy
I guess I'm only a Fudboy, looking for that real Transmeta
I'm trying to come up with something sufficiently not-bind-like that would still be useful. gethostbyname et al will have to be rewritten, but that's not a huge big deal. At least, not for us Linux guys.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
I can agree with that. Several folks on the discussion list have suggested ways that a replacement could go and are looking into them. We're using BIND now (though one TLD site is using DNSCache and we have a user site which is running some Win98 name server), of course, because it's there and we have to least stay compatible with it (as long as that's what most sites use) if we want to be globally accessible.
If you decide to work on a replacement, can you keep us informed of your progress? What I'm most interested in is the policy/social layer, so I'm not particularly wedded to any server program.
There is a tld for each country, even the US. They even have ones for states (.nd.us for North Dakota)
http://www.dnso.org/dns o/notes/2000.GA-voting-registry.html
They advises the ICANN Board with respect to policy issues relating to the Domain Name System. I joined working group 'C' last year and participated in the debate over new TLDs. Not a whole lot came out of it, but at least I tried.
I think that /. readers should pay attention to ICANN, and what Esther Dyson and her cronies are up to. If you don't stand up and speak your mind, companies like Micro$oft, MCI, and AT&T would be happy to do it for you. We need a larger representation of non-commercial users.
While you're at it, you might want to join the Individual Domain Name Owners' Constituency too.
US Registration? What does that mean? If it was high, everyone would complain endlessly about US Domination a la WTO. I think we all know who REALLY is in control (cough, cough, NSI, cough, cough) Go ahead, refute me! bob@webmail.domainalchemy.com
Been trying every few hours over the weekend, still haven't been able to get registered. Anyone else have any luck? ./bot
Not only is the registration system still hors de combat, but also it's more than a little buggy:
We are sorry. The database is currently overloaded.
Current load is 538.
Limit is 600.
Please try again in an hour or two.