North American Network Operators Group
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Re: Fascinating interview with Verisign CEO

  • From: Howard C. Berkowitz
  • Date: Fri Oct 17 13:17:23 2003 
At 10:59 AM -0500 10/17/03, Eric A. Hall wrote:

on 10/17/2003 3:17 AM Hank Nussbacher wrote:


 http://news.com.com/2008-7347-5092590.html

First reaction is that this guy *really* needs some schooling in the value
of having public-interest bodies facilitate and regulate interstate
commerce in a federated system. Second reaction is that "commercializing
the infrastructure" is a fairly dumb way to frame the debate, since we're
not talking about the entire infrastructure but instead are talking about
a couple of zones. Third reaction is that his opinion of what the Internet
"needs" is not only wrong, but even if it were correct it would not give
him the authority to usurp control over those zones. What next, all
domains below the root have to pay a tax to the new emporer?
A subtlety often lost in this discussion is that while we might want to get government out of the process, privatization does not necessarily mean commercialization. On one hand, privatization can go to a not-for-profit. Another alternative is to commercialize, but to treat the commercial enterprise as a regulated utility. Verisign is operating as a totally free entity.