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Thx for this Robin. <br>
<br>
Nicolas<br>
<br>
On 3/31/2011 6:01 PM, Robin Gross wrote:
<blockquote
cite="mid:4F2FD982-48D3-4B5A-9737-B4E31685C9D0@ipjustice.org"
type="cite">
<div>
<div>FYI: IP Justice statement on NTIA request for comments on
IANA - ICANN.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Begin forwarded message:</div>
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<div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family:
'Helvetica'; font-size: medium; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><b>From:
</b></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica';
font-size: medium;">Robin Gross <<a
moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:robin@ipjustice.org">robin@ipjustice.org</a>><br>
</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family:
'Helvetica'; font-size: medium; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><b>Date:
</b></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica';
font-size: medium;">March 31, 2011 2:59:34 PM PDT<br>
</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family:
'Helvetica'; font-size: medium; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><b>To:
</b></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica';
font-size: medium;"><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:IANAFunctions@ntia.doc.gov">IANAFunctions@ntia.doc.gov</a><br>
</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family:
'Helvetica'; font-size: medium; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><b>Cc:
</b></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica';
font-size: medium;">Robin Gross <<a
moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:robin@ipjustice.org">robin@ipjustice.org</a>><br>
</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family:
'Helvetica'; font-size: medium; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><b>Subject:
</b></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica';
font-size: medium;"><b>ICANN’s Responsibility to Respect
International Human Rights Principles - [Docket No.
110207099-1099-01 /// RIN 0660-XA23]</b><br>
</span></div>
<br>
<div style="word-wrap: break-word;">Please see attached Word
file (and text below) comments from IP Justice
<div><!--StartFragment-->
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14pt;">RE:<span
style="">
</span>Docket No. 110207099-1099-01<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14pt;"><span
style=""> </span>RIN 0660-XA23<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14pt;"><span
style=""> </span>Request for comments on
the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) Functions<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14pt;"><br>
</p>
<div>
<div style="font-size: 12px;">
______________________________________________________________________________________<br
style="" clear="all">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14pt;">United
States Department of Commerce<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14pt;">National
Telecommunications and Information
Administration (NTIA)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14pt;"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14pt;">RE:<span
style="">
</span>Docket No. 110207099-1099-01<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14pt;"><span
style=""> </span>RIN 0660-XA23<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14pt;"><span
style=""> </span>Request for comments on
the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA)
Functions<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14pt;"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14pt;"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;"
align="right">31 March 2011</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14pt;">Fiona
M. Alexander<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14pt;">Associate
Administrator<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14pt;">Office
of International Affairs<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14pt;">National
Telecommunications and Information
Administration<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14pt;">U.S.
Department of Commerce<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14pt;">1401
Constitution Avenue, N.W. Room 4701<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14pt;">Washington,
DC 20230 </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;"
align="right">Via email to:<span style=""> </span><a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:IANAFunctions@ntia.doc.gov">IANAFunctions@ntia.doc.gov</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<div class="MsoNormal"> </div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"
align="center"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>ICANN’s
Responsibility to Respect International
Human Rights Principles</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14pt;">IP
Justice<a moz-do-not-send="true" style=""
href="x-msg://255/#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span
class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="">[1]</span></span></a>
appreciates this opportunity to provide comment to
US Department of Commerce National
Telecommunications and Information Administration
(NTIA) regarding improvements
to the functions of the Internet Assigned Numbers
Authority (IANA) and its
relationship with the Internet Corporation for
Assigned Names and Numbers
(ICANN).<o:p></o:p></p>
<div class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">IP Justice would like to focus
NTIA’s attention on one issue
fundamental to all of ICANN’s responsibility -- one
that impacts all of ICANN’s
functions: ICANN’s obligation to respect
internationally recognized human
rights principles in carrying out its duties.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">With power, comes
responsibility.<span style=""> </span>As the
organization responsible for the global governance
of
certain functions of the Domain Name Space (DNS),
ICANN must also be willing to
live up to the same high standards as other
legitimate governance organizations
in respecting the fundamental rights of Internet
users.<span style=""> </span>Until a suitable
legal framework is in
the place that can hold ICANN accountable for
circumventing internationally
recognized human rights guarantees, ICANN is in no
position to receive
additional autonomy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">As a private corporation, there
is very little to hold ICANN
in compliance with international legal standards and
human rights protections
that nation states must respect.<span style="">
</span>As a private corporation ICANN does not
believe it owes any legal duty
or ethical obligation to respect internationally
recognized legal principles.<span style=""> </span>Some
contend that the legal structure
of ICANN as a private corporation serves as a legal
“loop hole” through which
the organization can escape any responsibility to
uphold human rights in the
space where it governs.<span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">ICANN’s connection to the
United Stated Government through
its contractual arrangement with NTIA is one of the
few ways that ICANN can be
held accountable to upholding fundamental rights and
freedoms.<span style=""> </span>The US Government
is legally obligated
to respect human rights, while private corporations
are not.<span style=""> </span>ICANN has provided
mixed messages about
the extent to which it owes an obligation to uphold
international legal
principles including human rights. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">Legitimate governance
organizations are rooted in legal
traditions that respect human rights and have means
of enforcing them.<span style=""> </span>For
example, the US Government is
prohibited from restricting the speech of its
citizens except in narrowly
defined circumstances under the First Amendment to
the US Constitution.<span style=""> </span>Furthermore
the US (and most governments
that participate at ICANN) have signed the Universal
Declaration of Human
Rights, including Article 19, which “guarantees
everyone the right to freedom
of expression in any medium and regardless of
frontiers”.<span style=""> </span>Unfortunately
ICANN remains unwilling to
commit to human rights principles, preferring to
remain without any legal duty
or ethical obligation to ensure the public’s most
fundamental rights are
protected in the critical realm over which it claims
authority.<span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">ICANN must affirmatively answer
that it will uphold
internationally recognized human rights, but to date
ICANN has flouted any
obligation to protect the public in this manner.<span
style=""> </span>At the Rome ICANN Meeting in
2004, a European Union Privacy
Commissioner said that ICANN’s “whois” policies
violate international privacy
protections.<span style=""> </span>ICANN has done
nothing to rectify this deficiency of privacy
protections in its policies.<span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">ICANN sees no duty to protect
freedom of expression in the
DNS either.<span style=""> </span>Proposed
policies for
new top-level domains that would prohibit
“sensitive” words as domain names are
in stark contrast to internationally recognized
freedom of expression
guarantees.<span style=""> </span>Internationally
recognized legal principles of “due process” which
ensure fairness can also be
easily skirted in a private corporation that
believes it owes no duty to the
public.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">Unfortunately ICANN’s lack of
commitment to internationally
recognized fundamental rights and freedoms threatens
the healthy growth of the
DNS and the global public interest.<span style="">
</span>ICANN’s structure must be rooted in a firm
foundation and a legally
enforceable obligation to uphold basic rights.<span
style=""> </span>Today more than ever, we see
the promise and the power of a
free and open Internet to empower citizens and
strengthen democracies.<span style=""> </span>And
we recognize the critical need to
ensure the Internet remains an engine of human
progress and freedom.<span style=""> </span>Respect
for human rights in the
policies governing the DNS is critical to furthering
the global public
interest.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">Since ICANN claims its
objective is to promote the global
public interest, it ought to be willing to adhere to
internationally recognized
legal principles that guarantee the public basic
rights and fundamental
freedoms.<span style=""> </span>Removing any duty
or
legal obligation to respect human rights, which
ICANN may have by virtue of its
relationship with the US Government, would leave the
public defenseless in
cyberspace.<span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">Without a legal mechanism to
ensure ICANN will respect
internationally recognized human rights, the same
way a legitimate governance
organization must respect human rights, it would be
dangerous to grant ICANN
further autonomy. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">Respectfully submitted,<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">Robin Gross<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">IP Justice<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.ipjustice.org/">http://www.ipjustice.org</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a
moz-do-not-send="true" style=""
href="x-msg://255/#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1"
title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span
style="">[1]</span></span></a> IP Justice
is an international civil liberties organization
that promotes balanced
intellectual property rights and freedom of
expression on the Internet <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.ipjustice.org/">http://www.ipjustice.org</a>.<span
style=""> </span>IP Justice is a member of
ICANN’s
Non-Commercial Users Constituency (NCUC) <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://ncdnhc.org/">http://ncdnhc.org</a>.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div style="font-size: 12px;">IP JUSTICE</div>
<div style="font-size: 12px;">Robin Gross, Executive
Director</div>
<div style="font-size: 12px;">1192 Haight Street, San
Francisco, CA 94117 USA</div>
<div style="font-size: 12px;">p: +1-415-553-6261 f:
+1-415-462-6451</div>
<div style="font-size: 12px;">w: <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.ipjustice.org/">http://www.ipjustice.org</a>
e: <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:robin@ipjustice.org">robin@ipjustice.org</a></div>
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<div>IP JUSTICE</div>
<div>Robin Gross, Executive Director</div>
<div>1192 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA 94117 USA</div>
<div>p: +1-415-553-6261 f: +1-415-462-6451</div>
<div>w: <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.ipjustice.org">http://www.ipjustice.org</a>
e: <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:robin@ipjustice.org">robin@ipjustice.org</a></div>
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