Monday, July 04, 2005

The Future of ICANN
ICANN stands for Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers and is a part of the US Commerce Department. Without becoming too technical, this is the organization that supervises the Internet and makes it possible for you to type Pugs Of War into a web browser and be automatically linked to this site.

The question before us is whether or not the US should continue it's historic role in authorizing changes or modifications to the master file of Internet domain names. Or does the US, amid appeals from countries like Brazil, India, Syria, and China for a new international government body for the Internet, relinquish this role and let some bureaucracy like the one in Brussels take charge.

God, just typing in the words "bureaucracy in Brussels" causes me to tremble. It is now in my mind a no-brainer: Keep ICANN a part of the Commerce Department. They haven't done too bad a job so far and the thought of a new International Governing body gives me the willies.

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