On Mar 25, 2014, at 1:07 PM, Randy Bush <randy@psg.com> wrote:
ok, let me also try to be constructive. how the heck do we get ourselves out of a hole where we are ruled by self-perptuating monopolies which lack oversight and accountability. and it ain't just arin. look at the big [cc]tlds, the horror of icann, ...
Randy - The ARIN Board has a governance committee, and so I'll leave responding to your ARIN specific governance points to the Chair of that committee (Paul Andersen)... With respect to entire Internet name and number ecosystem, I do not agree with the characterization that "... we are ruled by self-perptuating monopolies which lack oversight and accountability", but also in the spirit of being constructive, let me agree that: 1) It is a very strange family of organizations with rather uneven governance practices. 2) There is a real risk that one or more of these organizations could evolve into "self-perptuating monopolies which lack oversight and accountability", and this risk is definitely worthy of folks attention considering NTIA's IANA announcement. In particular, it would be wise idea to folks to think about the what should be the underlying principles for the governance of all of these organizations... The IANA transition announcement that I forwarded earlier is about building a plan which meets the NTIA's requirements for transiting its oversight role - <http://www.ntia.doc.gov/press-release/2014/ntia-announces-intent-transition-key-internet-domain-name-functions> "... NTIA has communicated to ICANN that the transition proposal must have broad community support and address the following four principles: • Support and enhance the multistakeholder model; • Maintain the security, stability, and resiliency of the Internet DNS; • Meet the needs and expectation of the global customers and partners of the IANA services; and, • Maintain the openness of the Internet." That third requirement (meet the needs and expectations of the global customers) is going to be hard to satisfy without really good governance practices - it would be good if folks who feel like you do take a moment to remind NTIA what exactly you think good governance practices are; paraphrasing your points, that might be elements such as: - Simple terms and conditions for contracts with registries - Membership organizations for registries with term limits for Board and advisory bodies - Board diversity (meaning real world users) - Competitive registries - ... There will shortly be a process to share such input into the transition plan; I will make sure its well known on this list and the ARIN lists. Folks should begin thinking so that they can provide insight into what they expect from the Internet name and number registry system as conditions necessary for USG/NTIA to effect a transition of its stewardship role to these organizations collectively. Thanks! /John John Curran President and CEO ARIN