[APAC-Discuss] Steve Crocker's Op-Ed in the WSJ

[Dr. Govind]

Dear All,

It was an interesting reading of the article by Mr Steve Crocker.
The challenge is to keep the Internet free and open from the dynamically
changing
socio-economic and political changes taking place in the world.

Regards,
Dr Govind
Chair Cooperation SIG in APNIC
and President ISOC Delhi Chapter

On Wed, Apr 20, 2016 at 11:04 AM, Rinalia Abdul Rahim <
rinalia.abdulrahim at gmail.com> wrote:

> Dear APRALO,
>
> Chairman of the ICANN Board Steve Crocker's op-ed in the Wall Street
> Journal below regarding the IANA Stewardship Transition.
>
> Happy reading!
>
> Best regards,
>
> Rinalia
>
> (http://tinyurl.com/zu634s4*).*
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
>
>        *OPINION*
>
> *Broadening the Oversight of a Free and Open Internet *
>
> *Stewardship by the global community will guard against ‘capture’ by one
> group or government.*
>
> *By Stephen D. Crocker, **April 19, 2016 6:31 p.m. ET*
>
> Today the global Internet connects three billion of us. While it has
> grown, the world has shrunk. Geographic distance has become less relevant
> as we can more easily access information, communicate and reach new
> customers.
>
> The Internet has matured because it is free and open, led by the private
> economy and based on voluntary standards. It is built on the principles
> that define America: free enterprise and limited government.
>
> It is those same ideals of privatization that frame a proposal
> <https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/iana-stewardship-transition-package-10mar16-en.pdf>
> recently sent to the National Telecommunications and Information
> Administration that would transition stewardship of some key Internet
> technical functions away from the U.S. to a diverse and accountable global
> Internet community.
>
> Why is such a transition needed? Since the Internet’s inception, the U.S.
> Commerce Department and the California nonprofit corporation that I head,
> the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, have been in
> charge of coordinating the global assignment of Internet addresses and
> domain names. In 2014 the U.S. government decided a more international
> stewardship was appropriate. Since then, the global Internet community has
> been working on a proposal that assures that such a transition will not
> threaten the openness and freedom of the Internet.
>
> First and foremost, this proposal guards against “capture” by any one
> group or government. This is the primary reason the Internet
> community—along with businesses, civil society and other interest
> groups—has given its blessing to the changes.
>
> On March 17, representatives from the Intel <http://quotes.wsj.com/INTC>
> <http://quotes.wsj.com/INTC>Corporation, the Internet Society and others
> told Congress they supported the transition. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce,
> the U.S. Council for International Business, the Information Technology
> Industry Council, the Software & Information Industry Association and
> others also approve of the plan.
>
> Business leaders from companies like Google, Verizon
> <http://quotes.wsj.com/VZ>, <http://quotes.wsj.com/VZ>AT&T
> <http://quotes.wsj.com/T>, <http://quotes.wsj.com/T>Cisco
> <http://quotes.wsj.com/CSCO> <http://quotes.wsj.com/CSCO>and Yahoo
> <http://quotes.wsj.com/YHOO> <http://quotes.wsj.com/YHOO>participated in
> the development of the proposal. Academics from Harvard, George Mason
> University and other institutions also weighed in. From the International
> Chamber of Commerce to the Center for Democracy and Technology, diverse
> organizations have voiced support.
>
> These groups understand the vital role of the Internet in strengthening
> the global economy by creating jobs and economic growth. Almost $8 trillion
> of commerce takes place on the Internet annually, an example of how
> dependent the world economy has become on a single, unified network.
>
> But there are no guarantees about the Internet’s future. In fact, the
> transition proposal came from the understanding that maintaining the status
> quo would risk the single, free and open Internet that we cherish.
>
> If the U.S. does not transition its stewardship role to the global
> Internet community, then other governments may try to move control to
> organizations like the United Nations. There is also a risk that some
> governments may form their own national or regional networks. This
> disruptive splintering would damage the economy and weaken personal
> Internet use.
>
> This potential threat to the Internet was understood as far back as 1997,
> when the U.S. formalized its largely symbolic role as steward of some of
> the Internet’s technical functions. It intended to move away from this role
> once Icann was mature enough to operate without the U.S. as a backstop.
>
> In March 2014, the National Telecommunications and Information
> Administration announced that it wanted to begin the process of severing
> its contract with Icann. The government stipulated that Icann remain an
> incorporated U.S. nonprofit entity and would need to be strongly
> accountable to diverse stakeholders with an interest in the Internet.
>
> Over the past two years, myriad interests and participants in the global
> Internet community worked tirelessly to meet that challenge. Hundreds of
> stakeholders undertook an amazing effort that logged more than 400 meetings
> and calls, some 32,000 mailing list exchanges and hundreds of working hours
> to devise a transition proposal. A plan describing how the transition
> always envisioned could be implemented has now been delivered to the
> Commerce Department.
>
> The proposal reinforces the private economy-led model that has allowed
> policy to keep pace with the Internet’s growth. What could be more American
> than a world that has a free and open Internet, in which all stakeholders
> have a voice in its governance and no one interest has a controlling say?
>
> A successful stewardship transition will allow online innovation and
> productivity to continue to thrive. What’s more, it will be a validation of
> the approaches to other pressing transnational issues such as privacy,
> online content, interconnection fees, taxation and cybersecurity.
>
> This transition, maintaining the global Internet’s role as an incubator
> for innovation and a stimulator of domestic and international economic
> growth, merits broad support. We owe it to future generations to assure
> that the Internet of tomorrow is as free, open and resilient as the
> Internet of today.
>
> *Mr. Crocker is the chairman of the board of the Internet Corporation for
> Assigned Names and Numbers.*
>
>
>
>
>
>
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