Letter from Senators+ on .ORG Sale

Fri Jan 10 08:07:12 EET 2020

Hi Milton,

I would agree that Congressional intervention, e.g., by way of 
legislation, is not something to be sought.  I also agree that some of 
the questions in the 3 Senator + 1 Congresswoman letter were very good!

Best, Kathy

On 1/9/2020 11:52 AM, Mueller, Milton L wrote:
>
> Kathy
>
> The letter itself is not bad. Actually it poses a number of good 
> points which we have pushed for (e.g., content neutrality).
>
> While U.S. congress critters have a right to ask questions, we have to 
> be careful about what capacity they are asking in. Insofar as some 
> parties involved are asking for Congressional intervention, a letter 
> from a group of congressional representatives is not a simple matter 
> of them expressing their opinions and concerns, it could be part of a 
> potentially legislative or regulatory process. That does not seem to 
> be the case in this instance, but be aware of crossing that line.
>
> Dr. Milton L Mueller
>
> Georgia Institute of Technology
>
> School of Public Policy
>
> IGP_logo_gold block
>
> *From:*Kathy Kleiman <kathy at dnrc.tech>
> *Sent:* Wednesday, January 8, 2020 3:56 PM
> *To:* Mueller, Milton L <milton at gatech.edu>; NCSG-DISCUSS at LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
> *Subject:* Re: Letter from Senators+ on .ORG Sale
>
> Hi Milton,
>
> Happy New Year to you and All!  These are busy days with many 
> deadlines. Apologies for the delay in responding to your important 
> email below -- and tx to all who have weighed in.
>
> To your statement that we "went through the IANA transition to 
> liberate DNS governance from a single jurisdiction" and your question 
> am I "comfortable with asking the US Congress to get involved in this" 
> -- I respond:
>
> --> We did go through a transition to ensure that the US Government 
> would no longer be the oversight and veto mechanism of ICANN. Now the 
> US Government is no longer "first among equals," but one of many 
> groups and governments./In a process that impacts 10 million .ORG 
> registrants, and the speech of millions of organizations and 
> individuals, do I think that three Senators and a Congresswomen 
> (including ones with a known interest and expertise in technology 
> oversight and one representing Silicon Valley since 1993) should be 
> stopped from sharing their questions? /No, everyone has a right to be 
> part of the discussion and many are weighing in!
>
> The eloquent NCSG letter which you (Milton) largely penned highlights 
> the commitments made by ICANN, ISOC and PIR at the delegation of .ORG 
> in 2002 which must be honored-- 
> https://www.internetgovernance.org/2019/12/11/icann-told-to-make-ethos-capital-conform-to-original-org-rfp-criteria/
>
> The SaveDotOrg Petition echoes many of the concerns voiced in the NCSG 
> letter and was sent to ICANN by NCSG member EFF -- 
> https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/correspondence/cohn-et-al-to-botterman-et-al-17dec19-en.pdf
>
> The UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right 
> of Freedom of Opinion and Expression and the UN Special Rapporteur on 
> the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association are 
> asking very important questions of ICANN -- 
> https://freedex.org/wp-content/blogs.dir/2015/files/2019/12/OL-OTH-20.12.19-60.2019-ICANN.pdf 
>
>
> And the letter you mentioned, from Senators Wyden, Warren, Blumenthal 
> and Congresswoman Eshoo, raises similarly important questions to ISOC, 
> PIR, and Ethos -- 
> https://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases/wyden-blumenthal-warren-and-eshoo-question-sale-of-org-domains-to-private-equity-firm
>
> ***
>
> Further, as you know, the ICANN Board and ICANN Staff did not use the 
> ICANN Multistakeholder Model in dramatically changing the terms of the 
> .ORG contract this past summer (and the rights of the 10 million .org 
> registrants -- which include virtually all of us on this list).  Via 
> private contract, ICANN ran roughshod over the Multikstakeholder 
> process and extended the Uniform Rapid Suspension to .ORG (a domain 
> name dispute policy never intended for legacy names or the 
> complexities of noncommercial/commercial disputes) and allowed the 
> create of private rules of content -- the type in which Jon Nevett, 
> former co-founder of Donuts and now President of PIR, delights. These 
> terms are a danger to all .ORG registrants, particularly longtime 
> organizations with well-established websites which criticize and 
> critique governments and corporation.  ICANN Staff ignored comment 
> during the preparation of this contract -- under the guise that "it's 
> a private contract and they negotiate any terms they want" -- and then 
> ignored 3200+ comments opposing the new .ORG agreement. I'm not sure 
> ICANN is paying much attention, if any, to the Multistakeholder process.
>
> So do I believe that organizations, individuals, UN representatives 
> and even Senators and Congresswomen. have the right to raise their 
> voices and join those asking questions of ICANN, ISOC, PIR and Ethos, 
> absolutely. Frankly, I think the whole world should be raising their 
> voices!
>
> Best, Kathy
>
> On 1/3/2020 8:41 PM, Mueller, Milton L wrote:
>
>     Kathy,
>
>     I am not at all comfortable with asking the U.S. Congress to get involved in this.
>
>     Are you? When Access Now called for Congress to get involved it was clearly due to their lack of experience and knowledge of the IG/ICANN space. We went through the IANA transition to liberate DNS governance from a single jurisdiction. If we call them back in then what do we say when the IPR interests ask for legislation regarding Whois?
>
>     --MM
>
>     -----Original Message-----
>
>     From: NCSG-Discuss<NCSG-DISCUSS at LISTSERV.SYR.EDU>  <mailto:NCSG-DISCUSS at LISTSERV.SYR.EDU>  On Behalf Of Kathy Kleiman
>
>     Sent: Thursday, December 26, 2019 8:38 AM
>
>     To:NCSG-DISCUSS at LISTSERV.SYR.EDU  <mailto:NCSG-DISCUSS at LISTSERV.SYR.EDU>
>
>     Subject: Letter from Senators+ on .ORG Sale
>
>     Hi All,
>
>     Happy New Year!!  I don't think this has been posted on this list yet. On 12/23, U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal, with Representative Anna Eshoo wrote a letter to PIR, Ethos Capital and ISOC questioning whether nonprofit groups, free speech and internet users would be harmed selling control of .ORG domains to a private equity firm.  It's a good letter that shows their staff did some in depth research.
>
>     Overview webpage:
>
>     https://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases/wyden-blumenthal-warren-and-eshoo-question-sale-of-org-domains-to-private-equity-firm  
>
>     Letter itself:
>
>     https://www.wyden.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/122319%20RW%20Letter%20to%20PIR%20ISOC%20Ethos.pdf
>
>     Best,
>
>     Kathy (Kleiman)
>
> -- 
> Kathy Kleiman
> President, Domain Name Rights Coalition

-- 
Kathy Kleiman
President, Domain Name Rights Coalition

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