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 <DFishat_private> 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: dfishat_private Web site: www. pff.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Like Politech? Make a donation here: http://www.politechbot.com/donate/ Recent CNET News.com articles: http://news.search.com/search?q=declan CNET Radio 9:40 am ET weekdays: http://cnet.com/broadband/0-7227152.html -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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