[At-Large] RES: DOC Notice of Inquiry: DNSSEC

[Sivasubramanian Muthusamy]

Hello Mc Tim,

On Sat, Oct 11, 2008 at 9:22 AM, McTim <dogwallah at gmail.com> wrote:

>>and not Governed by any particular sovereign state

> I take some exception to this statement, as the Internet as a whole is
> not "governed" by the USG.  The role that NTIA has is a very minor one
> in that it "rubber-stamps" changes to the rootzone file.
> I think it's useful to keep in mind that the vast majority of Internet
> Governance has traditionally been done by non-governmental actors.

The role of NTIA might be minor, even ICANN's actual place in Internet
policy making might truly be minor, but the US hold over such "minor"
roles have so far been highly symbolic with actual, profound
implications.

The traditional US thinking is almost that it has a legitimate right
to dominate, if not own the Internet. So much so that part of the US
Administration is now still trying hard not to 'lose' the Internet.

If there is a perception that the vast majority of Internet Governance
has so far been done by non-governmental actors, yes, apparently.
Just like names and numbers have been governed by the International
Organization - ICANN... US Government's dominance or at least
influence everywhere is not as visible at it is in ICANN affairs, but
in many non-governmental organizations (in general)  its influence
prevails, but invisible. It is just that the US Government has been
less careful about its visibility in ICANN.

All this is true so far, but it is quite possible that Meredith Baker
meant it when he said "We look forward to working with the global
Internet community to determine the best way to move ahead and I
encourage all of your governments and other stakeholders in your
countries to participate in this consultation process." perhaps
because the US Government is beginning to understand that the world
order is changing. US has not entirely lost all its hold on the
International arena, but its position today stands considerably
weakened for several reasons - America is becoming economically
challenged, EU has become politically powerful, the rest of the world
is becoming a lot more assertive. There are several other trends
making the arena level.

On the Internet, US probably has understood that the Internet is no
longer a technical complexity that only six people in the world know
how to build it (not said here with any disrespect for those who built
it).  It probably realizes that ICANN-squatting would create such
trends as a China Internet formidably far more powerful and
devastatingly hurtful to its economy.

My guess is that there is a reasonably sincere change of attitude on
the part of the US Government to concede its position. It might still
posture up a little for some more time, but
it is in a mood to understand that the world owns the Internet.

Sivasubramanian Muthusamy
-- http://isocmadras.blogspot.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/sivasubramanianmuthusamy