2015-06-06

Internet Governance, ICANN, IANA Transition, Congress .SUCKS (video)



Domain Mondo reviewer: If you can tune out everything that comes out of the mouths of Nevett, Thrush, and Hedlund--none of whom are credible, in my opinion--and focus on Mueller's and Miller's comments, this may be a video worth watching if you follow Internet governance issues. Congrats to Professor Mueller on his upcoming move to Georgia Tech (which he announces on the video). Note the following--
  • New York Times (2012): "Eyebrows were raised last year when Peter Dengate Thrush, former chairman of ICANN and a fan of the domain name expansion [new gTLDs] joined a company that invests in domain names."
  • Peter Dengate Thrush - ICANNWiki: "Mr. Dengate Thrush left ICANN [as Chairman of the ICANN Board of Directors] in June, 2011, about a month later it was announced that he was joining Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd. as its Executive Chairman. Top Level Domain Holdings Limited is the parent company of Minds + Machines. The move was greeted by ... allegations of misconduct, given the move from approving new gTLDs to effectively selling them... his detractors claim that he compromised ICANN's integrity via a conflict of interest." (emphasis added)
  • "We think of the new TLDs almost like vanity license plates."-- Jon Nevett, Donuts co-founder and executive vice president of corporate affairs.
Thrush and Nevett--what a pair! Throw in ICANN apologist Jamie Hedlund, and you've got a real threesome there.  Couldn't the Advisory Committee to the Congressional Internet Caucus get a higher quality panel?
Internet Governance, ICANN and Congress.Sucks: Where is Control of the Internet Going? Presented by the Advisory Committee to the Congressional Internet Caucus, Washington D.C., on June 5, 2015. Internet Governance, ICANN, and Congress, the IANA stewardship transition and dot SUCKS and other new gTLDs--the panel below discussed the latest developments in the international drama that is Internet governance--the U.S. government’s decision (NTIA) to transition its historic stewardship role to the global multistakeholder community, which involves control of key Internet functions performed by ICANN, the enhancing ICANN accountability process now underway, attempts by international organizations such as the U.N. to exert greater control over Internet decisions in fora like WSIS+10, and numerous ICANN controversies such as the .SUCKS domain names controversy.

Panel of Speakers:
  • Jamie Hedlund, Vice President, Strategic Programs, Global Domain Division, ICANN (Bio)
  • Michelle Sara King, President & CEO, King Consults (Bio)
  • Cheryl Miller, Director, International Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs, Verizon
  • Milton Mueller, Professor, Syracuse University School of Information Studies (Bio)
  • Jon Nevett, Co-Founder & EVP, Donuts Inc. (Bio)
  • Peter Dengate Thrush, former Chairman of the Board of Directors, ICANN (Bio)
  • Sally Shipman Wentworth, Vice President of Global Policy Development, Internet Society (Bio) moderator

NetCaucus | Internet Education Foundation


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