Power grab could split the Internet!

[RJ]

For the first time in its history, the Internet is running a real risk of fracturing into multiple and perhaps even incompatible networks.

At a meeting in Geneva last week, the Bush administration objected to the idea of the United Nations running the top-level servers that direct traffic to the master databases of all domain names.

That's not new, of course--the administration has been humming this tune since June. What's changed in the last few months is the response from the rest of the world.

Instead of acquiescing to the Bush administration's position, the European Union cried foul last week and embraced greater U.N. control. A spokesman said that the EU is "very firm on this position."

Other nations were equally irked. Russia, Brazil and Iran each chimed in with statements saying that no "single government" should have a "pre-eminent role" in terms of Internet governance.

Do read the full article here:

http://news.com.com/2010-1071-5886556.html?tag=tb

Important issue here for all domain name owners!

I'm not sure how this is going to play out, but things could get ugly if no one is willing to compromise and the domain name system is split into different services.

I know the words "Bush administration" can cause a knee-jerk urge for some people to post something nasty, but stop and consider -- do you really want the United Nations managing the domain name system?

 

[onlinebroker]

I don't think internet would split. Biggie like microsoft, google, yahoo etc etc won't let it happen.
They would compromise. I am a U.S. citizen I would like ICANN to be still in control. But also understand that other countries would like to have some power within ICANN.
Best case secarnio ICANN would be part of UN. So ICANN staff and board of directors would be more diverse people from all part of the world. ICANN would still be somewhere in U.S.

 

[.X.]

Pros and Cons come to mind, but espcially one con: unfair world-power superiority control; what happens if the US loses its superpower position in the future to a country like China?

That's a funny statment,We won't loose world power superiority,All though many would like to see it happen,Sorry,Aint gonna happen.China doesn't have what it takes to it away,And the US will make sure they never do.Trust me.

Now back to the topic,That is interesting,Would www still apply should this happen??

 

[RJ]

Best case secarnio ICANN would be part of UN. So ICANN staff and board of directors would be more diverse people from all part of the world.

Ever hear the expression "too many cooks in the kitchen?"

ICANN in its current form, flaws and all, has done a pretty good job at ensuring things have run smoothly with minimal government intervention. Handing it over to the UN is too unknown of a quantity. No one knows what changes will be made if that were to occur.

In the DNOA forum I talked about how the US government is trying to block ICANN's approval of the .XXX extension as a result of a letter writing campaign from "concerned citizens". While I find this action to butt-in and block .XXX to be highly disturbing, I could only imagine how much more of this type of unwanted government involvement would occur if ICANN was made a UN body. How many other countries would try to force their agendas upon the Internet?

We all need to tell all governments (US included) to back off and let ICANN do its job. I don't see any perfect solution really. Perhaps we should just hand everything over to the Swiss.

 

[Eric]

I hate when people from the US refer to the Us as a "superpower", no wonder more than half of the world hates the US

What? We refer to the US as a superpower because we ARE. No hiding the fact. I usually don't get involved in these type of threads but, what the hell... Most of the world hates us because of our freedoms. Because of our many rights, etc that they do not have... ANyway, I won't go any further.. Sad to see how a thread can be easily turned political.

 

[onlinebroker]

Agreed with you RJ but it also seems ICANN is now more influence by U.S. business especially lobbying group ex: .jobs and .travel extension this also go towards .xxx extension. Just because our government doesn't like .xxx extension doesn't mean they have to block it for rest of the world.

Ever hear the expression "too many cooks in the kitchen?"

ICANN in its current form, flaws and all, has done a pretty good job at ensuring things have run smoothly with minimal government intervention. Handing it over to the UN is too unknown of a quantity. No one knows what changes will be made if that were to occur.

In the DNOA forum I talked about how the US government is trying to block ICANN's approval of the .XXX extension as a result of a letter writing campaign from "concerned citizens". While I find this action to butt-in and block .XXX to be highly disturbing, I could only imagine how much more of this type of unwanted government involvement would occur if ICANN was made a UN body. How many other countries would try to force their agendas upon the Internet?

We all need to tell all governments (US included) to back off and let ICANN do its job. I don't see any perfect solution really. Perhaps we should just hand everything over to the Swiss.

 

[Zeeble]

If control does go to the UN, guess who stands to get the biggest cut of control if some sort of commitee is created to run in. The EU.

I disagree, the EU would actually get SOME say in what goes on for once, rather than having the US demanding control. The EU does not control the UN.

That's a funny statment,We won't loose world power superiority,All though many would like to see it happen,Sorry,Aint gonna happen.China doesn't have what it takes to it away,And the US will make sure they never do.Trust me.

Now back to the topic,That is interesting,Would www still apply should this happen??

This is exactly why the US SHOULDN'T have control, because the US likes to have control over everything, and actually, I'm not comfortable with having a country in charge which does everything in it's power to please it's own citizens without caring about those from other countries.

If there ever was a problem, the US would be able to do what ever they wanted with the internet, and I just don't like that. Countries fall out with each other, the US more than most.

This should be about ensuring co-operation and shared control over the internet, however for the US, it is about having SOLE control over the internet.

 

[Mark]

I can see where other countries would want more control - But feel it can be reached within Icann ..... The UN has enough problems keeping up with their own Organization - Much less adding this to them. It would be a total mess then IMO ....

 

[.X.]

I disagree, the EU would actually get SOME say in what goes on for once, rather than having the US demanding control. The EU does not control the UN.



This is exactly why the US SHOULDN'T have control, because the US likes to have control over everything, and actually, I'm not comfortable with having a country in charge which does everything in it's power to please it's own citizens without caring about those from other countries.

If there ever was a problem, the US would be able to do what ever they wanted with the internet, and I just don't like that. Countries fall out with each other, the US more than most.

This should be about ensuring co-operation and shared control over the internet, however for the US, it is about having SOLE control over the internet.

Whatever man, You are always the first to use some sort of ploy in your posts to take shots at the US,I mean it gets old to! I could careless if you like the US or not,But iam fixing to tell you like this,You need to be more respectful with your mouth!!

 

[Dave_Z]

Incidentally I posted a similar thing in another forum. You'll love the posts:

http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=449506

One of the posters in that thread has a point I happen to agree with. Strange
as this may sound, for me the EU's making a big fuss over this.

Let's face it: the US created the 'net, developed the 'net, and maintains the
'net for the most part. They "own" it in a way, and eventually let others just
connect. (just like Nokia's tagline...)

(Sorry, Barefoottech, I don't happen to agree with your previous post. But I
understand anyway. :D)

You really can't blame the US gov't. for thinking and believing that way. So if
the EU and UN doesn't really like the US' stance, they can always create their
own 'net and run it as they see fit. (just like someone here suggested...)

Ideally it'll be indeed nice if the Internet is globablly controlled. But even more
importantly, whoever's designated to oversee it is globally accountable.

In reality, that's a tall order.

Besides, hell will probably freeze first before the military turns over .mil. :]

 

[TLDnetworks]

The USA has Never "owned" the Internet

No, but Al Gore Invented it... :lol:

 

[CrazyTech]

I disagree, the EU would actually get SOME say in what goes on for once, rather than having the US demanding control. The EU does not control the UN.

Do the math. Guess the member states who will be on a council...

US, UK, FR, etc...

My point, in my original post as you can see, is not that the EU will have direct control, instead it is that any group created in the UN would undoubtly have the majority of EU member nations in control which would, in effect, give the EU control.

Another thing, one of the countries making the demands is currently under suspicion for developing nuclear weapons illegal and is a known state sponsor of terrorism which coincidently uses the net more and more each day. Makes perfect sense right?

The simple fact is, it's a power grab here.

Why fix it if it ain't broke?

Power.

 

[armstrong]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe most webhosts are in the US. If the internet is split, most of the non-US world will experience a sudden drastic drop in available content.

If the US doesn't want to let go of ICANN, then the UN can't force it to, and setting up alternate root servers to redirect existing TLD's would be suicidal. What the UN can do with alternate root servers is setup a new TLD (like .web), and convince member states and software makers to support it.

 

[Dave_Z]

If the US doesn't want to let go of ICANN, then the UN can't force it to, and setting up alternate root servers to redirect existing TLD's would be suicidal. What the UN can do with alternate root servers is setup a new TLD (like .web), and convince member states and software makers to support it.

Competition. I like it!

Next thing you know, the US will start complaining about that. :lol:

 

[CrazyTech]

Next thing you know, the US will start complaining about that.

We're not the ones complaining in this case.

 

[Tech2]

I say leave things alone...geesh

 

[CrazyTech]

JAugusto posted this link in another thread:

http://technology.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,16559,1589967,00.html

Seems to me that the EU is ready to screw up the internet (and arguably the world econ.) to get their way.

Mr Gallagher said that after the Tunis meeting there will be further discussion with governments and the private sector about the future of the organisation. "But we are not going to bureaucratise, politicise and retard the management of the DNS. Period," he said. "That will not happen. We will not agree to it in November and we will not do it in September 2006."

That pretty much sums up my feelings.

 

[.X.]

Competition. I like it!

Next thing you know, the US will start complaining about that. :lol:

The US isn't whinning,Because the US is dominent and started the internet aswell as the computer operating system and the list goes on..Everyone else is whinning,So what if microsoft boycotted such actions by other countries and stopped exporting thier operating system,Who would be whinning then??,Oh let me guess,One can be made better in other countries,Well it aint happend yet,And wont.

 

[dewd]

many this split will give me less junk mail

if this does happen, can i hop on a plane and register a domain over there that is already registered over here ?

 

[Ben]

No question about it,People tend to forget who created the computer operating system and the net,AMERICANS did,China will never do squat,They know better,simple as that,If the net is divided it would be a bad thing,But if it does so be it,I'll be doing the same thing all4 is talking about.

Actualy, Sir Tim Berners-Lee the creater of the web is from the UK, and Linus Torvalds the creater of Linux is from Finland.

 

[Tech2]

The world's first operational packet switching network was the ARPANET, which first went online in 1969. The program which produced the ARPANET, initiated by J. C. R. Licklider, had already conceived most of the basic ideas of what such a network would look like to its users; today's Internet is not much more than a better-engineered and very wide-spread (much more so than perhaps even those visionary pioneers foresaw) implementation of those ideas.

The Internet's roots lie within the ARPANET, which not only was the intellectual forerunner of the Internet, but was also initially the core network in the collection of networks in the Internet; it was also an important tool in developing the Internet (being used for communication between the groups working on internetworking research).
[edit]

Motivation for the Internet

The need for an internetwork appeared with ARPA's sponsorship, by Robert E. Kahn, of the development of a number of innovative networking technologies; in particular, the first packet radio networks (inspired by the ALOHA network), and a satellite packet communication program. Later, local area networks (LANs) would also join the mix.

Connecting these disparate networking technologies was not possible with the kind of protocols used on the ARPANET, which depended on the exact nature of the subnetwork. A wholly new kind of networking architecture was needed

Do a search on google who created the internet and you will see that AL Gore did.

Top Ten Other Achievements Claimed By Al Gore

10. Was first human to grow an opposable thumb

9. Only man in world to sleep with someone named "Tipper"

8. Current Vice President - Moesha fan club

7. He invented the dog

6. While riding bicycle one day, accidentally invented the orgasm

5. Pulled U.S. out of early 90's recession by personally buying 6,000 T-shirts

4. Starred in CBS situation comedy with Juan Valdez, "Juan for Al, Al for Juan"

3. Was inspiration for Ozzy Osboune song "Crazy Train"

2. Came up with popular catchphrase "Don't go there, girlfriend"

1. Gave mankind fire