Delivered-To: dfarber+@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Tue, 07 Oct 2003 21:49:11 -0700 (PDT)
From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: VeriSign says more unannounced surprises may be forthcoming!
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx
Dave,
While the circus was proceeding out here in California -- proving that
many Californians really *do* love boarish clowns -- ICANN held its public
meeting regarding VeriSign's Site Finder. As reported in a CNET
article at:
http://news.com.com/2100-1038-5088128.html
VeriSign suggested that they didn't give warning to the network community
about Site Finder for "competitive" reasons, that they may turn
it back on again at any time, and they won't guarantee that more "surprise"
changes of this sort won't be coming from them in the future. They also
reportedly did their best to limit the agenda to a narrow focus, and
expressed concern that they hadn't seen the presentation from XO
Communications in advance. Yeah, maybe that gives them some clue as to how
the rest of us felt about Site Finder's surprise debut.
The solution to this situation is becoming very clear. The critical
registry and DNS functions that VeriSign appears incapable of not abusing
must be removed from their stewardship. These operations should be moved to
one or more appropriately funded non-profits, who presumably won't allow
competitive pressures and concerns over their own "proprietary information"
to cloud their thinking and actions on these matters.
This isn't the first time VeriSign has gone over the line. It's time to
stop theoretical discussions and start working toward the goal of
moving beyond VeriSign as soon as possible.
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren@xxxxxxxx or lauren@xxxxxxxxxx or lauren@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, Fact Squad - http://www.factsquad.org
Co-Founder, URIICA - Union for Representative International Internet
Cooperation and Analysis - http://www.uriica.org
Moderator, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy