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Netizens-Digest Volume 1 Number 244
Netizens-Digest Monday, January 11 1999 Volume 01 : Number 244
Netizens Association Discussion List Digest
In this issue:
[netz] Re: Representation in Cyberspace
Fw: [netz] Re: Representation in Cyberspace
Re: [netz] Re: Representation in Cyberspace
[netz] Internet Essential functions being transferred from DARPA to ICANN
Re: [netz] Re: Representation in Cyberspace
Re: [netz] Re: Representation in Cyberspace
Re: [netz] Internet Essential functions being transferred from DARPA to ICANN
Re: [netz] Internet Essential functions being transferred from DARPA to ICANN
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1999 21:04:53 -0400
From: kerryo@ns.sympatico.ca (Kerry Miller)
Subject: [netz] Re: Representation in Cyberspace
richard bohn wrote:
{ communication ... with a specific purpose [...]
{ allows us to share an electrical wave of energy .... it unites us as human
{ beings ...Clumsy verbal utterings just get in the way
I agree, and strongly suspect that the 'specific purpose' is precisely
this unity. But utterings dont get in the way; theyre just handholds as
we clamber into the pile, not clumsy unless one insists on using ones
made for smaller (earlier) hands. Verbal or otherwise, expression is a
part of the sharing of being not easily eluted.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1999 19:07:59 -0800
From: "richard bohn" <richard-bohn@email.msn.com>
Subject: Fw: [netz] Re: Representation in Cyberspace
- -----Original Message-----
From: Kerry Miller <kerryo@ns.sympatico.ca>
To: netizens@columbia.edu <netizens@columbia.edu>
Date: Sunday, January 10, 1999 5:18 PM
Subject: [netz] Re: Representation in Cyberspace
>
>
>richard bohn wrote:
>
>{ communication ... with a specific purpose [...]
>{ allows us to share an electrical wave of energy .... it unites us as
human
>{ beings ...Clumsy verbal utterings just get in the way
>
>I agree, and strongly suspect that the 'specific purpose' is precisely
>this unity.
..... cybersymbiosis .... cyberzygosis appears immienent ....
But utterings dont get in the way; theyre just handholds as
>we clamber into the pile, not clumsy unless one insists on using ones
>made for smaller (earlier) hands.
I love this image of smaller ( earlier ) hands, the tender regard of us all
as mothers to each other..
Verbal or otherwise, expression is a
>part of the sharing of being not easily eluted.
Elutriation is exactly the process of refining we would be well to practice
now, whether panning for gold in our personal or our cyber relationships; it
all becomes shared wealth when the motivation is our common evoultion and
ultimate enlightenment .. It is of prime importance that we are dedicated
to us all reaching insight and illumination together.
Richard
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1999 21:18:15 -0800
From: "richard bohn" <richard-bohn@email.msn.com>
Subject: Re: [netz] Re: Representation in Cyberspace
Kerry, I only now discovered your note in which, amongst many of your deeply
ponderable ponds, includes a quote from John Ralston Saul, who I am not
familiar with yet, but am now proceeding to write a query to Google.
Thank you, once again, for taking time to introduce me to Divisio and God
knows who..... and allowing me to feel at ease .... Richard
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1999 12:08:43 -0500 (EST)
From: Ronda Hauben <ronda@panix.com>
Subject: [netz] Internet Essential functions being transferred from DARPA to ICANN
I recently got a an email from J.flemming about
what it seems is that the NIST is going ahead and
awarding contracts to carry out the transfer to ICANN of the
contract that DARPA held.
In a federal networking council minutes meeting of 1996 DARPA opposed
the transfer of these functions, but the NTIA and others at the
meeting discussed a process of involving some section of the European
Union, WIPO, and ISOC and others in a process of changing the who
would deal with these functions in what seemed to be a move to
protect U.S. commercial interests. (I have to check the wording
when I get the chance.)
I'll try to send an exact quote to the list when I can, but there
are other interests than so called U.S. commercial interests
with regard to the Internet, and the problem is it seems
that ICANN is a power play by some interests to take what they
can, with no regard for the great majority of users of the Internet
or of the Internet itself.
Thus a decision made by a very small number of people about something
that affects people around the world seems to have been made and is
being carried out, in the worst kind of public policy situation that
can exist.
C.P. Snow talked about this as a serious problem that had to be
recognized and fought against in the 1961 conference at MIT
on the future of computers.
And Norbert Wiener warned that computers could do great good
if they were overseen properly by humans, but that there was
danger if they weren't overseen properly.
The commercial objectives here are contrary to the required
responsibilities.
In the meantime it seems for the public watching what is happening
with ICANN there is a cherade going on about so called "members"
and "representation".
But the more important issue is how do these processes need to
be administered, and why is this such a harmful situation and how
to have the kind of appropriate situation that is needed.
I haven't gotten to look at the URL's listed below, and it would be good
to do so.
Ronda
- -----Original Message-----
From: Jim Fleming <jfleming@anet.com>
To: lisa.jandovitz@nist.gov <lisa.jandovitz@nist.gov>; teresa.reefe@nist.gov
<teresa.reefe@nist.gov>
Cc: emaxwell@doc.gov <emaxwell@doc.gov>; bburr@ntia.doc.gov
<bburr@ntia.doc.gov>
Date: Monday, January 11, 1999 3:06 AM
Subject: D--INTERNET ASSIGNED NUMBERS AUTHORITY
>Jandovitz, Lisa K. - lisa.jandovitz@nist.gov
> name: Jandovitz, Lisa K.
> phone: (301) 975-6344
> depart: Acquisition and Assistance Division (357)
> office: Supply & Plant (301), Room B118
> agency: NIST
> address: 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 3572
> : Gaithersburg, MD 20899-3572
> email: lisa.jandovitz@nist.gov
> alternate email: lisaj@nist.gov
>
>Reefe, Teresa - teresa.reefe@nist.gov
> name: Reefe, Teresa
> phone: (301) 975-6364
> depart: Acquisition and Assistance Division (357)
> office: Supply & Plant (301), Room B171
> agency: NIST
> address: 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 3572
> : Gaithersburg, MD 20899-3572
> email: teresa.reefe@nist.gov
> alternate email: reefe@nist.gov
>
>
>Good morning, I gather that the announcement below is a sole
>sourced contract, or using your words, "only one responsible source".
>Given that is the case, can you please explain how you have determined
>that the so-called ICANN organization posseses the following ?
>
>"ICANN now possesses the unique attributes
> and characteristics specific to the IANA functional tasks"
>
>"ICANN has unique attributes to fulfill these tasks in compliance
> with the principles in the Department's Statement of Policy,
> including comprehensive, public, and transparent processes,
> mechanism and structures for making policy determinations that
> the U.S. Government seeks to have performed during the transition"
>
>Thanks for your time and attention to these questions.
>
>Jim Fleming
>Unir Corporation
>Naperville, IL 60563
>
>
>@@@ http://www.nist.gov/admin/od/contract/9c1020.htm
>
>Submission No. 284696
>January 4, 1999 -- 12:34
>[Commerce Business Daily: Posted in CBDNet on January 4, 1999]
>From the Commerce Business Daily Online via GPO Access
>[cbdnet.access.gpo.gov]
>
>PART: U.S. GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENTS
>SUBPART: SERVICES
>CLASSCOD: D--Information Technology Services, including Telecommunication
> Services
>OFFADD: National Institute of Standards & Technology, Acquisition
> & Assistance Div.,100 Bureau Drive Stop 3572, Bldg. 301, Rm
> B117, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-3572
>SUBJECT: D--INTERNET ASSIGNED NUMBERS AUTHORITY
>SOL 52SBNT9C1020
>DUE 021899
>POC Teresa A. Reefe, Contract Specialist (301) 975-6364 or Lisa
> K. Jandovitz, Contracting Officer (301) 975-6344.
>DESC: The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST),
> on behalf of the National Telecommunications and Information
> Administration (NTIA) intends to award a contract under the
> authority of 41 USC 253(c)(1), only one responsible source,
> to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
> (ICANN) for operation of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority.
> The Department of Commerce has initiated an effort to transition
> the technical management of Internet Names and Addresses from
> the Government to the private sector. In June, 1998, the Department
> issued its Statement of Policy which outlined the steps of
> the transition. The Department through NTIA has since entered
> into a joint project agreement (15 U.S.C. 1525) with ICANN,
> a non-profit entity. Pursuant to this JPA, the parties will
> "jointly design, develop and test the mechanisms, methods and
> procedures that should be in place and the steps necessary
> to transition management responsibility for DNS functions now
> performed by or on behalf of the U.S. Government to a private
> sector non-profit entity". NTIA is initiating this contract
> action to fulfill its need for continuity of services related
> to the technical management of Internet Names and Addresses
> during the transition described in the Statement of Policy
> and the JPA. This particular aspect of the technical management,
> the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), is currently
> covered in a contract between the Defense Advanced Research
> Projects Agency (DARPA) and the University of Southern California
> (USC) in project known as Teranode Network Technology (TNT).
> On December 24, 1998, USC, entered a transition agreement under
> which ICANN acquired the expertise and resources to perform
> the IANA function described in the TNT contract. Pursuant to
> its agreement with USC, ICANN now possesses the unique attributes
> and characteristics specific to the IANA functional tasks.
> To ensure the success of the transition described in the Statement
> of Policy and the JPA, the Department must ensure the continuity
> of the services necessary to support the IANA function. Further,
> ICANN has unique attributes to fulfill these tasks in compliance
> with the principles in the Department's Statement of Policy,
> including comprehensive, public, and transparent processes,
> mechanism and structures for making policy determinations that
> the U.S. Government seeks to have performed during the transition.
> The period of performance is estimated to be from date of contract
> award through September 30, 2000.
>LINKURL: http://www.nist.gov/admin/od/contract.htm
>LINKDESC: NIST Contracts Homepage
>EMAILADD:Contract@nist.gov
>EMAILDESC: NIST Contracts Office
>CITE: (W-004 SN284696)
>
>
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1999 12:36:07 -0500 (EST)
From: Ronda Hauben <ronda@panix.com>
Subject: Re: [netz] Re: Representation in Cyberspace
"richard bohn" <richard-bohn@email.msn.com> wrote:
>I joined the netizen mailing list out of a desire to participate within a
>community of world citizens motivated by deep hope. Hope nurtured by the
>birth of this global communication tool which might allow us all to
>transcend centuries of antagonistic dialectics, yet, I have watched Rhonda
>pound upon Mommy and Daddy's door, sobbing to be let in the Great Big House
>for months. I don't know how many other kids are standing outside the gate
>watching this conversation between maybe,only 3 or 4 voices , but, Gosh,
>can't we be a little more inclusive and playful here?
Good to hear your comments. It provides an avenue for clarification.
If you want a new world fresh without any fight against the old,
I am sure there are many who want the same, but that sadly is
to my knowledge, *not* the way this world works.
I have had dear friends who fought for labor union rights during
a time when there were no labor unions allowed and instead there
were only spy unions often set up by the large corporations they
worked for.
The folks I knew realized that they couldn't just form pristine pure
labor unions that would be able to succeed. That they had to
be able to deal with the company unions that had been set up.
And in the process of understanding what was wrong with the company
unions and gettting Congress to investigate the spy system that
was preventing workers in these large corporations from having any
rights, it was possible to both win the right and then build
the independent unions that made it possible for U.S. industry
and U.S. workers to progress in the post world war II period.
The Internet is a different situation to be sure, as it has
been created by a research process that promoted cooperative
and collaborative efforts and supported and encouraged communication.
But some section of the U.S. government has currently decided to
change that, with no real discussion of what they are planning,
no real acknowledgement of who has made this decision and for
what purposes.
I guess we have a different view of what a netizen or citizen
is. To me is is someone who accepts the responsibility to deal
with what is happening and to participate in it and to complain
about it when needed.
The Internet is not as I understand it a "global communication tool"
but a human-computer-networking-internetworking system.
As such it can't just be manipulated at whim by those who decide
to carry out their power plays at the expense of those online or
of the world.
And it is part of the human-computer-networking-internetworking
paradigm to have feedback about the problems and the challenge
what seems wrong that is happening.
In my studies of the development of the Internet, this challenge
and battle against the bad has been constant and has been some
of the driving force of the ability to develop what has been
good.
You can have a look at my papers at http://www.ais.org/~ronda/new.papers
where I document the constant debate online over the problems.
However, during this period the Internet was shielded from the
political power plays by the folks from DARPA and IPTO who
were in charge of the Internet development.
Therefore there was support for those who fought the commercial
pressure.
To change that environment, and then to beat up on those who
take on to defend the noncommercial development and the
Internet, is to make a fundamental change in the nature of
the Internet.
Out of the battle comes not only the clarification of how to
go forward, but also the ability to defeat the rotten, secretative
processes that are giving us this change without our consent.
And the future of the Internet is at stake as who controls and
owns the essential functions will indeed have great power over
the Internet and those who are part of this
human-computer-networking-internetworking symbiosis system.
Ronda
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1999 14:05:53 -0400
From: kerryo@ns.sympatico.ca (Kerry Miller)
Subject: Re: [netz] Re: Representation in Cyberspace
richard,
{ Kerry, I only now discovered your note in which, amongst many of your deeply
{ ponderable ponds, includes a quote from John Ralston Saul, who I am not
{ familiar with yet, but am now proceeding to write a query to Google.
{
Hes a Canadian author of some repute - but see the archives
http://www.ais.org/~jrh/netizens/digest/
for the week of 14-18 Dec, and
http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/kerryo/saul-d.htm
{ Thank you, once again, for taking time to introduce me to Divisio and God
{ knows who..... and allowing me to feel at ease .... Richard
{
Isnt feedback wonderful? - ease in one generates/ attracts ease in/ from
another.
kerry
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1999 10:14:23 -0800 (PST)
From: Greg Skinner <gds@best.com>
Subject: Re: [netz] Internet Essential functions being transferred from DARPA to ICANN
Ronda Hauben <ronda@panix.com> wrote:
>In a federal networking council minutes meeting of 1996 DARPA opposed
>the transfer of these functions
No they didn't. I quote exactly from the text in question
(http://www.fnc.gov/FNCAC_10_96_minutes.html):
- -----
Over the last year, NSF sponsored three workshops designed to
facilitate community-driven consensus on long-term solutions for
domain names / addressing policy and administration. As of this FNCAC
meeting, there have been multiple recommendations from the Internet
Society (ISOC), the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and
others, albeit no consensus. Proceedings from the September 1996
conference at Harvard are available at:
http://ksgwww.harvard.edu/iip/cai.html. [I understand this URL no
longer works. -gds]
The FNC continues to exercise responsibility for the .GOV Domain. A
task force was established in September 1996 and charged with
reviewing and refining the ".GOV" domain policy and with developing
options for administration of the policy. NSF has continuing
responsibility for the .EDU domain and is sponsoring its use by the
higher education community. DISA continues to administer .MIL, with
the Department of Defense having policy authority for the domain, and
the ITU has the responsibility for the .INT domain.
FNCAC members discussed some of the longer-term concerns associated
with top level domain (TLD) names and addresses, such as scalability,
legitimacy, and impartiality of the registration system. Issues were
raised about the growth rate of domain names (particularly in the .COM
sector) and about the increased incidence of trademark lawsuits. Other
issues were discussed relating to the de facto monopoly held by NSI
and whether the root domain should be expanded to accommodate more
TLDs. In response to participants' inquiries about DoD's interests in
this topics, Hilarie Orman explained that DARPA supports the FNC's
role as the source of authority for assignment of Internet DNS names
and address numbers. This position, she explained, derives from
DARPA's long-standing interest in the smooth functioning of the
Internet.
FNCAC members noted the FNC continuing role in this sector and
reiterated their view that the FNC and the NSF should transition out
of their DNS and addressing responsibilities.
- -----
At the head of this document FNCAC's position is clearly stated:
- -----
2. Domain Name Service: The FNCAC reiterates and underscores the
urgency of transferring responsibility for supporting U.S. commercial
interests in ITLD administration from the NSF to an appropriate entity.
- -----
Note the emphasis on commercial interests. ICANN has no authority
over named noncommercial interests (.mil, .gov, .edu).
- --gregbo
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1999 16:38:13 -0500 (EST)
From: Ronda Hauben <ronda@panix.com>
Subject: Re: [netz] Internet Essential functions being transferred from DARPA to ICANN
Greg Skinner <gds@best.com>
Ronda Hauben <ronda@panix.com> wrote:
>>In a federal networking council minutes meeting of 1996 DARPA opposed
>>the transfer of these functions
>No they didn't. I quote exactly from the text in question
>(http://www.fnc.gov/FNCAC_10_96_minutes.html):
- -----
>Over the last year, NSF sponsored three workshops designed to
>facilitate community-driven consensus on long-term solutions for
>domain names / addressing policy and administration. As of this FNCAC
>meeting, there have been multiple recommendations from the Internet
>Society (ISOC), the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and
>others, albeit no consensus. Proceedings from the September 1996
>conference at Harvard are available at:
>http://ksgwww.harvard.edu/iip/cai.html. [I understand this URL no
>longer works. -gds]
What kind of "community-driven consensus" is this narrow group
able to determine?
They are not the Internet and thus are only an attack on the Internet.
>FNCAC members discussed some of the longer-term concerns associated
>with top level domain (TLD) names and addresses, such as scalability,
>legitimacy, and impartiality of the registration system. Issues were
>raised about the growth rate of domain names (particularly in the .COM
>sector) and about the increased incidence of trademark lawsuits. Other
>issues were discussed relating to the de facto monopoly held by NSI
>and whether the root domain should be expanded to accommodate more
>TLDs.
This is a small group of people dealing with what
are issues involving millions of people. Their obligation was
*not* to make a substantial change of policy without involving
a large number of people, and yet that is what they have done
and we are only getting to see the shadows of the time-table of
their decisions.
> In response to participants' inquiries about DoD's interests in
>this topics, Hilarie Orman explained that DARPA supports the FNC's
>role as the source of authority for assignment of Internet DNS names
>and address numbers. This position, she explained, derives from
>DARPA's long-standing interest in the smooth functioning of the
>Internet.
I interpret this to mean that she was't for outsourcing it.
Do you interpret this differently?
>FNCAC members noted the FNC continuing role in this sector and
>reiterated their view that the FNC and the NSF should transition out
>of their DNS and addressing responsibilities.
Transition to what? And to whom?
This kind of statement is exactly the kind of closed door few people
making decisions affecting large numbers of people that end up to
be harmful decisions that CP Snow warned against at the 1961
MIT meeting on the future of the Computer that is described in
a chapter in Netizens
This kind of statement shows the total disregard for the Internet
and its users that the this section of the U.S. government and
the commercial interests who were present at this meeting demonstrate.
Ronda
ronda@panix.com
- -----
At the head of this document FNCAC's position is clearly stated:
- -----
2. Domain Name Service: The FNCAC reiterates and underscores the
urgency of transferring responsibility for supporting U.S. commercial
interests in ITLD administration from the NSF to an appropriate entity.
- -----
Note the emphasis on commercial interests. ICANN has no authority
over named noncommercial interests (.mil, .gov, .edu).
- --gregbo
------------------------------
End of Netizens-Digest V1 #244
******************************
