FC: PFF blasts ICANN, says Commerce Dept should look into contract

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

The Progress and Freedom Foundation is a think tank in Washington that is 
generally more free-market than not. It organizes an annual conference in 
Aspen, Colorado 
(http://www.mccullagh.org/theme/pff-aspen-conference-aug02.html) that I 
have found to be worth attending. PFF received funding from Oracle and Sun, 
if I recall properly, and applauded the Microsoft antitrust suit. Way back 
when, PFF enjoyed close ties with Newt Gingrich, and its current president, 
Jeff Eisenach, was once on Gingrich's staff.

It's a shame that Bill (who I know to be a capable lawyer and economist) 
did not, according to the below press release, address whether the ICANN 
contract should be renewed.

-Declan

---

From: David Fish <DFish () pff org>
Subject: Time to Say "You Can't" to ICANN
Date: Tue, 10 Sep 2002 17:18:22 -0400
MIME-Version: 1.0


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   
David Fish  (202) 289-8928

TIME TO SAY "YOU CAN'T" TO ICANN
 Adkinson Calls for Ending Economic Regulation of Domain Name System

WASHINGTON, DC - Should the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and
Numbers (ICANN) be allowed to impose traditional economic regulation on the
market for domain names?  The Progress and Freedom Foundation's William F.
Adkinson, Jr.   says it should not, and he believes the Department of
Commerce should prohibit such activity if the agency decides to renew
ICANN's contract, which ends this month. While he does not address whether
the contract should be renewed, Adkinson argues that ICANN or its successor
should not be allowed to impose price or service restrictions.

"The Commerce Department and ICANN have been successful in developing
workably competitive markets for registry and registrar services," Adkinson
writes in a study, "Domain Name Services: Let Competition, Not ICANN, Rule,"
released today. [Available at
http://www.pff.org/publications/pop9.21ICANN.pdf]  "Therefore the time has
come to end price and service regulation of these markets and terminate
'mission creep'."  In fact, he argues, "such regulation interferes with the
efficient operation of the competitive markets that have developed" and
would be unwise, given ICANN's "serious governance problems".

According to Adkinson, the proliferation of firms authorized to provide
registrar services, the greatly reduced price for registering names, the
creation of seven new generic top level domains (TLDs) and growth among 240
country code TLDs and other factors have resulted in "widespread and
multifaceted competition" and innovation.  Moreover, Adkinson writes that
ICANN is "particularly ill-suited" to regulate, "lacks adequate standards
governing its decisions" and does not have authority over country code TLDs.
The last point, he says, creates an unfair disadvantage.

Finally, there is critically important work to be done in the areas within
ICANN's proper sphere of activity - for example, ensuring the security of
the root server system - that Adkinson says ICANN or a successor "should be
required to focus its energies" there.

The Progress & Freedom Foundation is a market-oriented think tank that
studies the digital revolution and its implications for public policy. It is
a 501(c)(3) research & educational organization.
# # #

David M. Fish
VP for Communications & External Affairs
The Progress & Freedom Foundation
1301 K Street, NW, Suite 550 East
Washington, D.C. 20005
Phone: 202-289-8928
Fax: 202-289-6079
E-mail: dfish () pff org
Web site: www. pff.org




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