Question: The GAC (representing national governments to ICANN) is on record as saying that national governments around the world must name and be responsible for their own national ccTLD administrator. Do you concur?

Nominee Replies

Donald Langenberg - posted on 2000-09-24 11:02:23 Sounds reasonable to me, though I'd like to hear a little more about what be responsible for is supposed to mean. Harris Miller - posted on 2000-09-23 16:47:49 No, in general I believe that the current IANA system works well and should be retained absent a demonstration of a compelling need. Emerson Tiller, J.D., Ph.D. - posted on 2000-09-22 09:15:01 Yes, I generally agree. ICANN should set out voluntary guidelines and perhaps use incentives to encourage compliance. But the ultimate decision should probably rest with individual governments. Lyman Chapin - posted on 2000-09-22 06:26:19 No. In Principles for Delegation and Administration of ccTLDs (http://www.icann.org/gac/gac-cctldprinciples-23feb00.htm) the GAC essentially argues that ICANN/IANA shouldn't be able to have it both ways - if they claim neutrality with respect to determining what is and is not a country by deferring to ISO 3166-1, they can't at the same time reserve the right to determine whether or not the governments of those countries are likely to designate appropriate managers for the corresponding ccTLD (the current IANA ccTLD delegation practices (http://www.iana.org/cctld/icp1.htm) go only so far as to say that the desires of the government of a country with regard to delegation of a ccTLD are taken very seriously). I agree with this position in principle, but it denies entirely the IANA's long-standing view of TLD managers: TLD managers are trustees for the delegated domain, and have a duty to serve the community. The designated manager is the trustee of the TLD for both the nation, in the case of ccTLDs, and the global Internet community. Although this high-mindedness (which some would call arrogance) may not be sustainable in the future, I would like to see considerably more discussion of the idea before abandoning it. Lawrence Lessig - posted on 2000-09-22 05:30:29 Presumptively, yes. ICANN can allocate responsibility to them so long as they comply with requirements implementing the values that define ICANN's charter. This would be difficult ground to step into, but if a government deviated from those values, it would be difficult for ICANN to continue to recognize its control. I would hope, for ICANN's sake, that this issue could be avoided for as long as possible.