roundtable: CPSR Urges DNS Reform

roundtable: CPSR Urges DNS Reform

CPSR Urges DNS Reform

Craig A. Johnson (caj@tdrs.com)
Mon, 18 Aug 1997 19:23:48 +0000 

Message-Id: <199708182320.TAA25612@mail.clark.net>
From: "Craig A. Johnson" <caj@tdrs.com>
To: roundtable@cni.org
Date: Mon, 18 Aug 1997 19:23:48 +0000
Subject: CPSR Urges DNS Reform


August 18, 1997 
For Immediate Release

For More Information:
Glenn B. Manishin
202.955.6300  
E-mail: glenn@technologylaw.com
Aki Namioka
206.587.6825

Computer Professionals Urge "Open, Consensus-Based" Approach for
Internet Naming System


"The Internet system of domain names (DNS) is too important to the
structure of the Internet for `reform' to proceed in a hasty or
ill-conceived manner," Computer Professionals for Social
Responsibility (CPSR) said in a filing today before the Commerce
Department's National Telecommunications and Information
Administration (NTIA).

"Whatever its merits, the IAHC process was closed, rushed and
unbalanced, leading to a proposal that should not be endorsed by the
US government," said CPSR President Aki Namioka. She called for more
input from "consumers and other users of the Internet."

"There is no present `crisis' in DNS administration that require
expedited implementation of any system for DNS reform, including those
proposed by the Internet Ad Hoc Committee (IAHC), Network Solutions,
Inc. (NSI) and others," Namioka stated.

CPSR said in its filing that "the DNS reform process should be slowed
in order to permit the achievement of a consensus approach . .  . No
`rush to reform' is necessary."  "The US government should not
endorse, and should actively oppose, intervention by ITU and WIPO in
the DNS administration process," CPSR stated. 

CPSR asked the US and other national governments to "encourage open,
consensus-based Internet self-governance, intervening only to assure
public debate and to prevent any single segment of the Internet
community from asserting its special interests above those of all
Internet users."  It suggested that "the U.S. government can act as a
catalyst in assisting the creation of the new self-governance
organizations (open and balanced consortia of Internet professionals,
providers and users) that will be necessary to complete the transition
to a fully non-governmentally administered Internet."

DNS is a combination of software, protocols, and computers that
translate Internet computer names like "www.cpsr.org" to Internet
numbers  like 198.207.136.10. These numbers are then used by email
clients, web browsers, and server software to deliver data to its
intended destination. 

Since 1993, domain names in the most popular "top-level" domains 
".com", ".org", and ".net"  have been issued by Network Solutions,
Inc.(NSI) , under the terms of a contract with the National Science
Foundation.  NSI has recently come under attack for failing to protect
the rights of trademark holders while exercising monopolistic control
over the top-level domains. 

In February of 1997, the Internet Ad-Hoc Committee (IAHC) issued a
plan for reform of DNS management, including creation of new top-level
domains, which would be shared by multiple entities, known as
registrars, who would be able to assign names in these domains. This
plan, known as the "Generic Top-Level Domain Memorandum of
Understanding" (gTLD-MoU) calls for a bureaucratic structure for DNS
management and a set of procedures for resolving disputes over domain
names, along with the participation of the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the World Intellectual Property
Organization (WIPO). 

The CPSR submission to NTIA said that "international 
quasi-governmental organizations (ITU, WIPO, OECD, etc.) should have
no formal role in Internet governance or domain name registration,"
and that "the extensive new bureaucracy for domain name management and
oversight proposed by IAHC, including a Swiss-based Council of
Registrars (CORE) and a higher level interim Policy Oversight
Committee (iPOC), are unnecessary and counterproductive."

"CPSR believes that the recent fascination of many parties with
trademark rights to Internet domains is a short-run issue only in the
Internet community," the organization said in its filing.  It warned
against holding "the important and competitively crucial matter of
introducing competition to DNS administration  hostage to a quixotic
desire to create a new, international law of Internet trademark rights
or to perfect an "efficient" trademark dispute mechanism that
displaces national courts." 

"DNS has a profound effect upon the way that end users access the
Internet," said Harry Hochheiser, a member of CPSR's board of
directors. "Changes to DNS should be made on the basis of what's best
for all constituencies involved, instead of simply focusing on the
narrowly-defined needs of trademark owners or those who hope to build
domain-registration businesses".

Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (www.cpsr.org) 

CPSR is a public-interest alliance of computer scientists and others
interested in the impact of computer technology on society. CPSR's
goal is to direct public attention to difficult choices concerning the
applications of computing and how those choices affect society. 

                              # # #

[CNI Home Page]