DNRC Press Release (fwd)

Thu May 1 23:52:16 UTC 1997

and now what??

/jdp

----- Forwarded message from Simon Higgs -----
Date:         Thu, 1 May 1997 14:38:21 -0700
Reply-To: Simon Higgs <simon at HIGGS.COM>
Sender: Owner-Domain-Policy <owner-domain-policy at internic.net>
Subject:      DNRC Press Release

| X-Sender: amr at fractal.chaos.com
| Date: Thu, 01 May 1997 17:03:07 -0400
| To: dns-law at wia.org
| From: KathrynKL at aol.com (by way of Tony Rutkowski <amr at chaos.com>)
| Subject: DNRC Press Release
|
| Press Release
| May 1, 1997
|
| The Domain Name Rights Coalition
| Opposes ITU Internet Action
|
|       Today, rights on the Internet will be lost.  The International
| Telecommunication Union (ITU), a handful of private companies, and the
| Internet Society (a small, membership organization in Reston, VA), will sign
| a Memorandum of Understanding in Geneva that closes the doors to open and
| public governance of domain names.  The Domain Name Rights Coalition, a group
| representing entrepreneurs, small businesses and individuals on the Internet,
| opposes the action:
|
| "It is an international coup d'etat with the ITU seizing power over Internet
| domain names," says Kathryn A. Kleiman, President of the Domain Name Rights
| Coalition and attorney with Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth, P.L.C. in Rosslyn,
| VA.  "The Memorandum of Understanding is an attempt to make an unauthorized
| and unapproved power grab seem legitimate and official."
|
|       The Memorandum of Understanding codifies the recommendations of a small,
| private group.  Calling themselves the "International Ad Hoc Committee," the
| group represented small portions of the Internet community (mainly the ITU,
| WIPO and large companies), met privately, circulated draft recommendations to
| a small group, held private off-the-record meetings and created a final
| report which differed significantly from original proposals.  The DNRC
| submits that the IAHC's grant of authority to ITU and the World Intellectual
| Property Organization:
|
|  -    exceeds any authority from members of the Internet Society (organizer of
| the IAHC) whose members never voted on the IAHC proposals or approved its
| recommendations;
|  -    ignores the great disagreement among the Internet community which
| questioned and contested the IAHC recommendations; and
|  -    bypasses the approval of ITU and WIPO member countries.
|
| To cope with growth, millions of new users, and new situations, the Internet
| needs new rules, but the process for creating them must be open,  public and
| accountable.  The DNRC supports:
|  -    selection of decision makers who represent all major groups on the
| Internet, including individuals, small businesses and entrepreneurs,
| political and community organizations, and large companies;
|  -    wide distribution of proposed rules;
|  -    adequate time to respond to new rules and to views of other commenters;
|  -    timely issuance of new rules with reports outlining the reasons for
| decisions and the reliance on comments; and
|  -    an appeals process when participants feel new rules violate existing
| rights.
|
| Created by a few companies and organizations, today's actions of the ITU and
| IAHC make entrepreneurs, Internet Service Providers, small businesses and
| individuals and other domain name owners into second-class citizens of the
| Internet.
|
| About the Domain Name Rights Coalition:
|
|       The Domain Name Rights Coalition represents the interests and views of
| entrepreneurs, small businesses and individuals on the Internet.  The DNRC
| works for equitable, consistent and responsible domain name policies from the
| National Science Foundation, Network Solutions, Inc., and all entities who
| control portions of the Internet.  Its representatives served on the State
| Department's Working Group on Domain Names.
|
| Information about the DNRC and DNRC comments to the IAHC draft proposals can
| be found on its website at http://www.domain-name.org.
|
| Contact:
| Kathryn A. Kleiman, President, Domain Name Rights Coalition
| c/o Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth, 1300 North 17th Street, Floor 11
| Rosslyn, VA 22209
| (703) 812-0400,  Fax (703) 812-0486
| Email:  kathryn at domain-name.org
|

--- end forwarded text ---

----- End of forwarded message from Simon Higgs -----

-- 
        Janet Pippin           *        CyberRamp Internet Services
   Network Administrator      ***           11350 Hillguard Road
     jdp at cyberramp.net         *         Dallas, Texas  75243-8311
  http://www.cyberramp.net      *      (214) 340-2020  (817) 226-2020

----- End of forwarded message from Janet Pippin -----

-- 
        Janet Pippin           *        CyberRamp Internet Services
   Network Administrator      ***           11350 Hillguard Road
     jdp at cyberramp.net         *         Dallas, Texas  75243-8311
  http://www.cyberramp.net      *      (214) 340-2020  (817) 226-2020