Can ICANN be decentralized?

[Andrew A. Adams]

Milton wrote:
> ICANN actually doesn't control the root servers, which are somewhat autonomously run by various entities around the world.
> Actually it (with oversight from the US Dept of commerce) manages the contents of the root zone file.
> Those contents are then distributed by the root servers.
> As Jorge suggests, it is the need for coordinated uniqueness in top level names that creates the centralization.
> As you noted, ICANN, DoC and others exploit this need for coordination to impose political and regulatory controls on the DNS.
> It is possible, as I and others have argued, to have multiple roots, not centrally coordinated, but this also raises the risk of some incompatibilities.

However, ICANN's and the DoC's reach are reined in somewhat by the knowledge
that technically there is still nothing to prevent the world turning its back
on them and redirecting to an alternative system. This is why country-code
delegations for example have rarely been forcibly changed by ICANN even where
existing delegates refuse to kowtow. If they seriously overstep the consensus
of their power, they run the risk of outright rebellion. An issue like COICA
could for example push the issue too far and have the non-US root controllers
abandon ICANN and set up an alternative system. The IP address number
assignment system is in fact more of a technical barrier should ICANN try to
impose its will. This issue is only now getting the attention it needs due to
the IPv4-6 issue. In the end, the Internet as currently constituted is a
single consensus reality that holds sway because so far the consensus is
preferable to the chaos that might ensue. If the consensus becomes more of a
problem than the chaos, ICANN could fail and fall.

I heartily recommend Milton's book Ruling the Root, by the way, for anyone
getting involved in this area. It gives you the basic background politically
and technically to understand the situation. It's a little old now but it
covers how we got to the current settlement which has more or less remained
for the last nine years.

--
Professor Andrew A Adams                      aaa at meiji.ac.jp
Professor at Graduate School of Business Administration,  and
Deputy Director of the Centre for Business Information Ethics
Meiji University, Tokyo, Japan       http://www.a-cubed.info/