[discuss] Problem definition 1, version 5

Thu Jan 23 01:59:57 UTC 2014

Milton,

I think that I understand your point, but I think about the situation somewhat differently.

The majority of approaches to this issue will require a change of policy on the part of the USG.  That's a transition problem, possibly the major one in some cases.  I'd prefer to look at the possible solutions first and factor that problem into those that require it.

I think I agree that the solutions will distribute themselves into the three classes that you define below, and perhaps even more.  I'd prefer to start discussion of the solutions in more detail rather than start with what seems a bit too top-down a classification approach.  I fear the the devil really is in the details here.

You might want to flesh out some scenarios within the three classes below and propose them a possible approaches for evaluation against the criteria.  Perhaps that's too simple an approach.

George   

On Jan 22, 2014, at 10:16 AM, Milton L Mueller wrote:

> George
> The statement seems to skirt the real problem. The basic problem with IANA is that we want the Internet to be globally compatible, which creates a requirement for fully globalized governance and coordination of the DNS root zone. But political and contractual authority over it is currently in the hands of a single sovereign. The problem is one of the distribution of authority; it is fundamentally a political and institutional problem. 
> 
> Structurally, there are three basic options for getting globalized governance:
> 
> 1) unilateral globalism, i.e. a single state achieves global hegemony (the status quo IANA)
> 2) multilateral globalism, i.e., individual nation-states negotiate a universal agreement
> 3) denationalization, i.e., delegation to a transnational private actor 
> 
> There are various hybrids of 1) and 2) (e.g., unilateral power could be shared with a smaller coalition of states) and various flavors of 3), but those are the basic choices. 
> 
> We should be debating which of those 3 structures to start with.