ICANN Meets Annan 221
CypherOz writes "The Australian reports a meeting between ICANN chief Twomey and Kofi Annan and the role the UN may play in the naming game. " We've talked about this before as well.
With your bare hands?!?
Like the UN would be any faster... (Score:5, Interesting)
If (Score:4, Interesting)
This is what is wrong with this idea. (Score:5, Interesting)
"... whether the internet should be governed and, if so, how."
With all the problems that go on in the UN why are they a better choice then the US. The article has some valid points, but the current system is pretty fair.
Why bother using the UN? (Score:5, Interesting)
It is a bit silly to allow a small thing like DNS to create such a problem in the first place. When we go to IPv6, it might make more sense to use URL forwarding to IP's, and bypass most of the regulatory system in the first place... Allow other countries to maintain permanent fixed DNS servers for their own IP ranges, and have the assignations know, so that all other central controls are unneeded. If the US wants to control
Re:If (Score:5, Interesting)
Secondly, the UN doesn't have any real power because, while everyone is willing to participate, no one is willing to really give up power of their nation to another ruling body. I doubt that will ever happen peacefully.
I would like to see more discussion from the UN about what might help developing countries, or what might foster more online growth - and then see that input taken into account by internet regulators. But I think that's about the best the UN could do to help.
Re:This is what is wrong with this idea. (Score:3, Interesting)
Competing DNS system (Score:1, Interesting)
It's a matter of, (gasp!) choice.
NGO? (Score:5, Interesting)
The next question: how many people actually understand the term legitimacy? (In the poli sci realm it is defined as the "Legitimation refers to the process by which power is not only institutionalized but more importantly is given moral grounding. Legitimacy (or authority) is what is accorded to such a stable distribution of power when it is considered valid." (From Oxfords Reference Online). The fact is just because the US citizenry may not consider the UN legitimate and the rest of the world considers it legit, does not mean that it is any more legit for the United States. To claim that the UN is legit because the rest of the world claims it is, would be like arguing that Isreal's rule of Palestine is legit just because most of Ireal says it is. The point is that legitimacy changes from demographic to demographic. What one nation may consider legit does not lend itself to force a legitimacy stand on another. And just because the US considers ICANN a legit insitution does not may it any more legit in the world.
Re:Cite Your Sources (Score:1, Interesting)
The UN is also culpable [worldnetdaily.com] in the deaths of the 18 US soldiers killed in Somalia:
(The story orginally ran in Debkafile, an Israeli based news service. Make up you own mind about their credibility. 60 Minutes previewed them a year ago and didn't say they were bad.)
Re:Like the UN would be any faster... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Cite Your Sources (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Grumble (Score:2, Interesting)
If you register a domain name under a TLD under the ICAAN scheme (com,net.org,name,biz,etc), then you are aleady paying for a "quality" DNS service. The truth is that ICAAN run a cartel for companies like verisign to make money in an artificial economy. If ICAAN was truely about providing a service to all Internet users, rather than a few greedy corporations, then it would include alternative TLDs, such as those operated independently through opennic [opennic.org]. But of course those alternatives won't pay the ICAAN extortion fees.
Horrible (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:This is what is wrong with this idea. (Score:1, Interesting)
It's not my native language, yet DNS can't handle anything else. At least my language uses the latin alphabet, it must really suck to be Greek or Russian and having to learn another alphabet just to go to a simple website...
Re:Like the UN would be any faster... (Score:2, Interesting)