[ispcp] Us Government on Internet governance

[Mark McFadden]

These were the remarks of a US Department of Commerce offical yesterday on
the state of the root servers and IANA.  The statement was made at the
Wireless Communications Association (WCA) on June 30, 2005, by Commerce
Assistant Secretary Michael Gallagher.

<quote>

U.S. Principles on the Internet's Domain Name and Addressing System

 The United States Government intends to preserve the security and stability
of the Internet's Domain Name and Addressing System (DNS).  Given the
Internet's importance to the world's economy, it is essential that the
underlying DNS of the Internet remain stable and secure.  As such, the
United States is committed to taking no action that would have the potential
to adversely impact the effective and efficient operation of the DNS and
will therefore maintain its historic role in authorizing changes or
modifications to the authoritative root zone file.

 Governments have legitimate interest in the management of their country
code top level domains (ccTLD).  The United States recognizes that
governments have legitimate public policy and sovereignty concerns with
respect to the management of their ccTLD.  As such, the United States is
committed to working with the international community to address these
concerns, bearing in mind the fundamental need to ensure stability and
security of the Internet's DNS.

 ICANN is the appropriate technical manager of the Internet DNS.  The United
States continues to support the ongoing work of ICANN as the technical
manager of the DNS and related technical operations and recognizes the
progress it has made to date.  The United States will continue to provide
oversight so that ICANN maintains its focus and meets its core technical
mission.

 Dialogue related to Internet governance should continue in relevant
multiple fora.  Given the breadth of topics potentially encompassed under
the rubric of Internet governance there is no one venue to appropriately
address the subject in its entirety.  While the United States recognizes
that the current Internet system is working, we encourage an ongoing
dialogue with all stakeholders around the world in the various fora as a way
to facilitate discussion and to advance our shared interest in the ongoing
robustness and dynamism of the Internet.  In these fora, the United States
will continue to support market-based approaches and private sector
leadership in Internet development broadly.

</quote>

Mark

Mark McFadden
Secretariat - Internet Service Provider and Connectivity Provider
Constituency
gNSO - ICANN
mcf at uwm.edu