Does this mean that they’ll create an XXX domain soon? How will this affect control and regulation of the system?

In a meeting that will go down in internet history, the United States government last night conceded that it can no longer expect to maintain its position as the ultimate authority over the internet.

Having been the internet’s instigator and, since 1998, its voluntary taskmaster, the US government finally agreed to transition its control over not-for-profit internet overseeing organisation ICANN, making the organisation a more international body.

However, assistant commerce secretary John Kneuer, the US official in charge of such matters, also made clear that the US was still determined to keep control of the net’s root zone file – at least in the medium-term.

We’ll see how successful we are at letting go of some of it while trying to retain control of some kind.



  1. Thomas says:

    Why would you care if they add a .xxx domain? It’s entirely worthless and unforceable.

  2. Smartalix says:

    I don’t care for myself, but the brouhaha over the .xxx domain demonstrated the US imposing its desires over that of other nations. On the subject of value, a .xxx domain would instantly become valuable real estate as an online red-light district.

  3. joe says:

    story is a lie. digg users found the RIGHT article last nite. here link

    http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060727-7366.html

  4. Smartalix says:

    I see two different publications presenting the news from their point of view.

    The Register article did not say that we will immediately give up conrol, only that it is recognized that control will be transferred in the future. The ArsTechnica article says the same thing.

    From the Register Article:

    Ultimately, what came out of a gathering of the (English-speaking) great and the good regarding the internet was two things:

    That the US government recognises it has to transition its role if it wants to keep the internet in one piece (and it then has to sell that decision to a mindlessly patriotic electorate)
    That ICANN has to open up and allow more people to decide its course if it is going to be allowed to become the internet’s main overseeing organisation

    Agreeing to eventually give something up does not mean that the handover will occur immediately.

    This is from the ArsTechnica article:

    Kneuer did reiterate the US government’s commitment to ultimately relinquishing control over ICANN, [emphasis mine] saying that “that we’re all gathered here today and we’ve undertaken this process is a clear indication that we are committed to this transition.” That’s a big change from last summer, when the Commerce Department declared that it would “retain its historic role in authorizing changes or modifications to the authoritative root zone file” while reiterating its stance against interfering in how other countries handle their own top-level domains.

    So each article is saying the same thing, it is only the interpretation that changes.

    Its interesting to see the vehemence in your comment, though. It speaks volumes in and of itself.

  5. moss says:

    Who cares a rats ass about trolls?

  6. Smartalix says:

    I’m glad he brought up the issue, however poorly he did it. It gave us the opportunity to compare the two articles.

  7. Mr H. Fusion says:

    Who cares a rats ass about trolls?

    trollettes?

  8. Charbax says:

    I think Bush is trying to break the internet. He already made the tech bubble pop at the beginning of his presidency. Republicans are not compfortable when the truth is available.

  9. Mike says:

    Regardless of what the Commerce Department says at a conference, wouldn’t something like this require Congressional approval?

  10. bill says:

    I want to see another domain:

    .fubar

    Watch out for ’roundup’ it kills all the way down to the root.
    I’m ready for the ‘new internet’… you know, the ‘private really fast one’.

  11. RTaylor says:

    I agree American bureaucracy can be appalling. But also take a look at the EU and see how wonderful they are with it.

  12. Smartalix says:

    Yeah, their cell phone system blows chunks. They have no concept of technology, and need us to manage their access to the Web.

    On the contrary, the EU has demonstrated that they can manage data systems quite well. I can’t drive from Manhattan to DC without losing my cell signal, yet I can drive from Amsterdam to Rome and never be out of touch. They are farther ahead in the technologies developed outside of our control than we are in those technologies ourselves.

    This is not due to our engineers, it is due to our businesspeople and politicians. They have the supposedly stifling bureacracy, but it is that same bureacracy that ensures compliance with standards and implementation of infrastructure. We kinda suck at that part.

  13. Max says:

    Great News! Let’s have the UN take control. They always do a great job overseeing everything!

    Oh well. It was bound to happen sometime I guess.


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