<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=windows-1252"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;"><div>Did anyone think that right wing America Firsters wouldn’t use as much FUD as they could muster to try to derail the NTIA initiative? &nbsp;Check some of the Congressional grand stand statements.<div><br></div><div>This mess of mistatement and innuendo is SOP.</div></div><div><br></div><div>A “majority” of governments are authoritarian? &nbsp;That’s a pretty big paintbrush.</div><div><br></div><div>As Jon Postel said way back in 1591, governments do matter. &nbsp;Multistakeholderism without a role for governments isn’t going to work. &nbsp;ICANN is actually trying to smoke out behind the scenes gorilla behavior in the GAC by requiring recorded votes with a majority needed for “advice.” &nbsp;Raising the Board threshold for rejecting the advice is a nominal quid pro quo with little effect.</div><div><br></div><div>- Mike</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><br><div><div>On Sep 8, 2014, at 6:49 AM, Miles Fidelman &lt;<a href="mailto:mfidelman@meetinghouse.net">mfidelman@meetinghouse.net</a>&gt; wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite">
  

    <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
  
  <div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
    Well, isn't this a nice kettle of fish.<br>
    <br>
    -------- Forwarded Message --------
    <div style="word-wrap: break-word; font-size: 16px; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
      <h1 style="margin:0px 0px
        0.6rem;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:3rem;font-weight:normal;vertical-align:baseline;font-family:Georgia,'Century
        Schoolbook','Times New
        Roman',Times,serif;line-height:3.3rem;color:rgb(0,0,0)">
        The Internet Power Vacuum Worsens</h1>
      <h2 style="margin:0px 0px
        1rem;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:1.8rem;font-weight:normal;vertical-align:baseline;font-family:Georgia,'Century
        Schoolbook','Times New
        Roman',Times,serif;color:rgb(102,102,102);min-height:2.1rem">
        The U.S. hasn't even abandoned its Web protection yet, and
        authoritarians are making their move.</h2>
      <h1 style="margin:0px 0px
        0.6rem;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:3rem;font-weight:normal;vertical-align:baseline;font-family:Georgia,'Century
        Schoolbook','Times New Roman',Times,serif;line-height:3.3rem">
        <div style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:10.3999996185303px;vertical-align:baseline">
          <div style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:10.3999996185303px;vertical-align:baseline;width:600px"></div>
          <div style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:10.3999996185303px;vertical-align:baseline;width:320px">
            <div style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:1px solid
rgba(0,0,0,0.0980392);outline:0px;font-size:10.3999996185303px;vertical-align:baseline;float:right;width:76px;min-height:76px"><img moz-do-not-send="true" src="http://s.wsj.net/img/renocol_GordonCrovitz.gif" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:10.3999996185303px;vertical-align:baseline;display:block;max-width:100%" height="76px" width="76px"></div>
            <div style="margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 0px
2rem;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:1.2rem;vertical-align:baseline;letter-spacing:0.1rem;line-height:2.1rem;float:left;width:215px;text-align:right"><span style="padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:12px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(102,102,102)">By</span>&nbsp;
              <div style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:12px;vertical-align:baseline;display:inline"><span rel="author" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase;">L.
                  GORDON CROVIT</span></div>
            </div>
          </div>
        </div>
        <div style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:10.3999996185303px;vertical-align:baseline;float:left;width:591.224975585938px;margin-left:0px!important">
          <div style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:10.3999996185303px;vertical-align:baseline">
            <div style="margin:0px 0px 8px;padding:0px;border-width:1px
0px;border-top-style:solid;border-bottom-style:solid;border-top-color:rgb(230,230,230);border-bottom-color:rgb(230,230,230);outline:0px;font-size:10.3999996185303px;vertical-align:baseline;min-height:39px;overflow:visible;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
            </div>
          </div>
          <div style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:10.3999996185303px;vertical-align:baseline"></div>
          <div style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:10.3999996185303px;vertical-align:baseline;float:right">
            <div style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:10.3999996185303px;vertical-align:baseline"></div>
          </div>
          <div style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:10.3999996185303px;vertical-align:baseline"></div>
          <div style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:10.3999996185303px;vertical-align:baseline">
            <div style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:1.1rem;vertical-align:baseline;min-height:auto;width:591.224975585938px;clear:both;font-family:Arial,helvetica,sans-serif;line-height:2.1rem;color:rgb(153,153,153)">Sept.
              7, 2014 5:11 p.m. ET</div><p style="margin:0px 0px
1em;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:15px;vertical-align:baseline;line-height:1.4em">The
              Obama administration plan to give up U.S. protection of
              the open Internet won't take effect for a year, but
              authoritarian governments are already moving to grab
              control. President Obama is learning it's as dangerous for
              America to create a vacuum of power in the digital world
              as in the real one.</p><p style="margin:0px 0px
1em;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:15px;vertical-align:baseline;line-height:1.4em">In
              March the administration asked Icann, the Internet
              Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, to suggest a
              plan for overseeing the Internet after September 2015,
              when U.S. governance is scheduled to end. The U.S. charged
              this group, which maintains the root-zone file of domain
              names and addresses, with somehow finding mechanisms to
              prevent other governments from undermining the
              permissionless, free-speech Internet built under U.S.
              oversight.</p><p style="margin:0px 0px
1em;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:15px;vertical-align:baseline;line-height:1.4em">Instead,
              Icann set up a process to hand control over to
              governments. Under the current "multistakeholder" system,
              an advisory group of governments has only as much power as
              other stakeholders, such as Web registries, website
              owners, free-speech groups and other nonprofits. But in
              August, Icann quietly proposed changing its bylaws to
              rubber-stamp government decisions unless two-thirds of the
              Icann board objects. In turn, Iran has proposed that the
              government group move to majority voting from the current
              consensus approach. That would enable the world's majority
              of authoritarian governments to rewire the Internet more
              to their liking.</p>
            <div style="margin:0px 19px 0px 0px;padding:0px
8px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:10.3999996185303px;vertical-align:baseline;width:264px;float:left;clear:left">
              <div style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:10.3999996185303px;vertical-align:baseline">
                <div style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:10.3999996185303px;vertical-align:baseline">
                  <div style="margin:10px 0px
8px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:1em;vertical-align:baseline">
                    <div style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:10.3999996185303px;vertical-align:baseline">
                      <div style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:10.3999996185303px;vertical-align:baseline">
                        <div style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:10.3999996185303px;vertical-align:baseline"><a moz-do-not-send="true" style="margin:0px;padding:5px
                            8px;font-size:1rem;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(17,91,143);outline:none;border:1px
                            solid
rgb(153,153,153);min-width:70px;text-align:center;white-space:nowrap;background-color:rgb(239,244,248)"><span style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:10.3999996185303px;vertical-align:baseline;display:inline;background-color:transparent">Enlarge

                              Image</span></a></div>
                      </div>
                      <img moz-do-not-send="true" src="http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/BN-EK819_edp090_D_20140907144626.jpg" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:10.3999996185303px;vertical-align:baseline;display:block;min-height:175.199996948242px;width:264px" height="174" width="262"></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 12px 0px 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 1.1rem; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><span style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:11.1999998092651px;font-style:italic;vertical-align:baseline">Agence
                        France-Presse/Getty Images</span></div>
                  </div>
                </div>
              </div>
            </div><p style="margin:0px 0px
1em;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:15px;vertical-align:baseline;line-height:1.4em">What
              will this mean? Authoritarian governments could for the
              first time censor the Web globally, not just in their own
              countries. Russia could get Icann to withdraw Ukrainian
              sites. China could engineer the world-wide removal of
              sites supporting freedom for Hong Kong or Tibet. Iran
              could censor its critics in the U.S. Website operators
              could also expect new global fees and regulations.</p><p style="margin:0px 0px
1em;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:15px;vertical-align:baseline;line-height:1.4em">Such
              a change "would fundamentally transform Icann away from
              being a 'bottom-up' and 'private sector-led' organization
              and into a governmental regulatory agency," wrote Robin
              Gross, a former chairman of the Icann group representing
              nonprofits, on the CircleID blog. "Why Icann would
              voluntarily choose to empower non-democratic governments
              with an even greater say over global Internet policies as
              this bylaw change would do is anyone's guess."</p><p style="margin:0px 0px
1em;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:15px;vertical-align:baseline;line-height:1.4em">The
              Internet Commerce Association, which represents Web
              businesses, warns that the proposal "would transform Icann
              into a government-led organization," which is "completely
              counter" to the U.S. requirement that the Internet remain
              free of government control.</p><p style="margin:0px 0px
1em;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:15px;vertical-align:baseline;line-height:1.4em">In
              a speech in July, a U.S. Commerce Departmentofficial
              played down the danger. "The idea that governments could
              enhance their influence within Icann by changing its rules
              to allow for a majority vote on policy issues reflects a
              misunderstanding of the policymaking process at Icann,"
              said Assistant Secretary Lawrence Strickling. Wrong. Mr.
              Strickling and his administration colleagues have
              misunderstood how serious other governments are about
              filling the vacuum of power with repression.</p><p style="margin:0px 0px
1em;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:15px;vertical-align:baseline;line-height:1.4em">Icann
              also upset all its major stakeholder groups by ignoring
              their demand to make it more accountable absent U.S.
              oversight. Stakeholders had instructed Icann to create an
              "independent accountability mechanism that provides
              meaningful review and adequate redress for those harmed by
              Icann action or inaction in contravention of an
              agreed-upon compact with the community." Instead, Icann
              announced that it would oversee itself.</p><p style="margin:0px 0px
1em;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:15px;vertical-align:baseline;line-height:1.4em">A
              dozen stakeholder groups quickly sent Icann chief Fadi
              Chehade a letter objecting. "How does Icann intend to
              handle the inherent conflict of interest with developing
              its own accountability plan?" they asked. "Why didn't
              Icann invite proposals from the community and why wasn't
              the community involved in the drafting of the staff plan?"</p><p style="margin:0px 0px
1em;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:15px;vertical-align:baseline;line-height:1.4em">An
              objection sent jointly by business and nonprofit
              stakeholder groups to the Icann board said: "This plan,
              imposed on the community without transparency and without
              the opportunity for public comment, creates inconsistency,
              disregards proper Icann procedure, injects unfairness into
              the process and defeats the purpose of the entire
              accountability examination."</p><p style="margin:0px 0px
1em;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:15px;vertical-align:baseline;line-height:1.4em">Philip
              Corwin, a lawyer specializing in Icann issues, calls
              pushback against the organization "unprecedented." Last
              week, Icann agreed to put off the new rules, but only for
              a brief comment period.</p><p style="margin:0px 0px
1em;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:15px;vertical-align:baseline;line-height:1.4em">Much
              of the blame for the splintering of the multistakeholder
              system lies with Mr. Obama's naďveté in putting Internet
              governance up for grabs. He underestimated the importance
              of Washington's control in maintaining an open
              Internet—and the desire among other governments to close
              the Internet. And there still is no plan to keep Icann
              free from control by governments.</p><p style="margin:0px 0px
1em;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:15px;vertical-align:baseline;line-height:1.4em">Administration
              officials pledged to Congress that the U.S. would keep
              control over the Internet if the alternative was to
              empower other governments or if there isn't full
              accountability for Icann. Both red lines have been
              crossed.</p><p style="margin:0px 0px
1em;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:15px;vertical-align:baseline;line-height:1.4em">If
              Mr. Obama persists, Congress should block his plan with a
              simple message: The open Internet is too valuable to
              surrender.</p>
            <div style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:10.3999996185303px;vertical-align:baseline"></div>
          </div>
          <div style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:10.3999996185303px;vertical-align:baseline">
            <div style="margin:0px 0px 8px;padding:0px;border-width:1px
0px;border-top-style:solid;border-bottom-style:solid;border-top-color:rgb(230,230,230);border-bottom-color:rgb(230,230,230);outline:0px;font-size:10.3999996185303px;vertical-align:baseline;min-height:39px;overflow:visible;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
              <menu style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:10.3999996185303px;vertical-align:baseline;list-style:none;display:inline-block;background-color:transparent">
                <ol>
                  <li style="margin:0px 12px 0px
0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:10.3999996185303px;vertical-align:baseline;display:inline-block;min-height:23px;background-color:transparent"><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://online.wsj.com/articles/l-gordon-crovitz-the-internet-power-vacuum-worsens-1410124265#" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(17,91,143);text-decoration:none;outline:none;display:block;font-weight:bold;line-height:40px;background-color:transparent" target="_blank"><span style="padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:10.3999996185303px;vertical-align:baseline;display:inline-block;width:16px;min-height:17px;background-image:url();background-color:transparent;background-repeat:no-repeat
                        no-repeat"></span></a><br>
                  </li>
                </ol>
              </menu>
            </div>
          </div>
        </div>
      </h1>
    </div>
    <br>
    <div style="width:auto;margin:0;padding:5px;background-color:#fff;clear:both;border-top:
      1px solid #ccc;" bgcolor="#ffffff">
      <table style="background-color:#fff" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" bgcolor="#ffffff" border="0" width="100%">
        <tbody>
          <tr>
            <td padding="4px"> <font style="font-family:helvetica,
                sans-serif;" color="#333333" size="1"> <a moz-do-not-send="true" style="text-decoration:none;color:#669933;border-bottom:
                  1px solid #444444" href="https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now" title="Go to archives for ip">Archives</a>
                <a moz-do-not-send="true" border="0" style="text-decoration:none;color:#669933" href="https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/125967-13f5c010" title="RSS feed for ip"><img moz-do-not-send="true" src="https://www.listbox.com/images/feed-icon-10x10.jpg" border="0"></a> | <a moz-do-not-send="true" style="text-decoration:none;color:#669933;border-bottom:
                  1px solid #444444" href="https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=125967&amp;id_secret=125967-2be3cd17" title="">Modify</a> Your Subscription | <a moz-do-not-send="true" style="text-decoration:none;color:#669933;border-bottom:
                  1px solid #444444" href="https://www.listbox.com/unsubscribe/?member_id=125967&amp;id_secret=125967-6e7c78f6&amp;post_id=20140908093243:9A1ECCC4-375C-11E4-822C-EDAB8E26EB49" title="">Unsubscribe Now</a>
              </font></td>
            <td align="right" valign="top"><a moz-do-not-send="true" style="border-bottom:none;" href="http://www.listbox.com/">
                <img moz-do-not-send="true" src="https://www.listbox.com/images/listbox-logo-small.png" title="Powered by Listbox" border="0"></a></td>
          </tr>
        </tbody>
      </table>
    </div>
  </div>

_______________________________________________<br>ianatransition mailing list<br><a href="mailto:ianatransition@icann.org">ianatransition@icann.org</a><br>https://mm.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/ianatransition<br></blockquote></div><br></body></html>