Can ICANN be decentralized?

[Dan Krimm]

At 8:30 PM -0800 11/20/10, Marc Perkel wrote:

 ... I think very few
>people grasp the importance of a free internet in the future of human
>evolution and how vital it is that we make sure it stays free.

I think part of the challenge here is that the Internet was initially
designed "free" (i.e., with the open-end-to-end/common-carriage
architecture, and control-of-root on general-purpose computing devices
attached to it), and with relatively few shots across the bow (perhaps
because regulation to protect this architecture has stayed on the table in
some jurisdictions as a threat against overreach) it has for the most part
stayed that way so far.

In short, "free" is what the general public "grew up with" and there is
little understanding that it could actually be any different in the first
place.  It is viewed as axiomatic instead of parametric, there is no broad
understanding of how the parameters can vary.

If they understood how it actually could be different, and what that
difference would mean, it seems to me many people would find those
potentials ominous.  But they have had virtually no tangible contact with
the ramifications of letting go of the free Internet, so most people don't
have any visceral feelings about it, because they have no tangible
associations with it.

If that freedom is taken away, presumably they'd "get it" then (if it isn't
finessed well enough to distract them from the fact that it happened, and
blame their difficulties on other false/manufactured culprits), but it'd be
too late to get it back.

I'm wondering if maybe someone needs to design a really compelling computer
game around the concept and dynamics of losing the open network, to give a
mass audience a tangible experience of what it would mean to lose it.  Open
source, give it away for free.

But, that is not within the scope of DNS governance per se.  An exogenous
endeavor.

Dan


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