Fascinating interview with Verisign CEO

Fri Oct 17 20:55:18 UTC 2003

on 10/17/2003 12:05 PM Howard C. Berkowitz wrote:

> At 10:59 AM -0500 10/17/03, Eric A. Hall wrote:
> 
>>on 10/17/2003 3:17 AM Hank Nussbacher wrote:
>>
>>
>>> http://news.com.com/2008-7347-5092590.html
>>
>>First reaction is that this guy *really* needs some schooling in the value
>>of having public-interest bodies facilitate and regulate interstate
>>commerce in a federated system. Second reaction is that "commercializing
>>the infrastructure" is a fairly dumb way to frame the debate, since we're
>>not talking about the entire infrastructure but instead are talking about
>>a couple of zones. Third reaction is that his opinion of what the Internet
>>"needs" is not only wrong, but even if it were correct it would not give
>>him the authority to usurp control over those zones. What next, all
>>domains below the root have to pay a tax to the new emporer?
> 
> A subtlety often lost in this discussion is that while we might want 
> to get government out of the process, privatization does not 
> necessarily mean commercialization.  On one hand, privatization can 
> go to a not-for-profit.  Another alternative is to commercialize, but 
> to treat the commercial enterprise as a regulated utility.  Verisign 
> is operating as a totally free entity.

Regulated commercial activity is what we have now, and it has (mostly)
been working pretty well up to now.

What the interview illustrates (or rather, what the provided quotations
illustrate, which may be out-of-context or erroneously summarized), is
that he wants to eliminate the regulatory oversight part. He also seems
unapolegitic in the inference that the unilateral wildcarding of the
public zones are a natural first step down that path.

-- 
Eric A. Hall                                        http://www.ehsco.com/
Internet Core Protocols          http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/coreprot/