Oldest known version of this page was edited on 2005-12-12 23:16:17 by CarpeDiem []
The current internet system runs very well, but has plenty of room for improvement. While the Department of Commerce has not directly denied any of ICANN’s policies, there are instances where it has been influential. For example, ICANN was considering the creation of a .xxx domain for pornographic websites. Under urging by conservative Christian groups, the Department of Commerce contacted ICANN, suggesting it reconsider the new domain. The issue was dropped promptly and quietly (Cornwell). ICANN should not be under the sway of any government, including America. The new domain could not have only been used to consolidate pornographic material online, but assist net-nanny programs and governments that try to filter such content. Politics hinder a great tool like the internet too much, and no one government should influence how it works for everyone else in the world. I propose that the Department of Commerce withdraws it approval requirement, allowing ICANN to be fully privatized. Only when foreign powers attempt to acquire ICANN should the government intervene.

As a regulatory agent, ICANN should have no power. Any regulation of internet material should be left up to each individual nation. Such steps have already been documented in countries including Iran, Egypt and Syria (Middle East: New Report). With internet regulation occurring at the national level, a person cannot be prosecuted for posting something that is legal in his or her country, but illegal and accessible in another. For example, Yahoo!, an US based internet company, would not be liable for selling Nazi material, which is illegal in France, on its auction website. I do not support any regulation of the internet both in America and abroad, but I also do not believe ICANN should act as a regulatory agent. Therefore, every individual nation’s regulation of the internet is a separate matter, except in the United States.

As a very valuable American corporation and asset, ICANN should be protected from being bought out or sold to a foreign power. Outside of that though, America should maintain its distance from ICANN. The US should take the necessary steps, however, if a foreign nation attempts to exert any sort of control over the ICANN government. Any regulation of the internet within America should be carried out by the government without the use of ICANN. On that note, however, the only regulation should be of material that is in direct violation of US law. One example would be the posting of child pornography on a US based site. Another example would be material that is an immediate threat to the security of the United States. More specifically, the threat would have to put active or future missions, personnel, or the American people in direct danger. Anything that can be published or written, such as how to assemble a household bomb, is legal, where as the revelation of an undercover CIA agent is not. I expect controversy over a law that vague, as it is subjective despite the number of examples that I give. I believe it to be a necessary evil though, in order to avoid a greater pain upon the American people. The government should also not prosecute individuals who use the internet to exchange copyrighted materials, such as music and videos. The individual business should pursue the copyright infringements, and it make it their responsibilities to gather evidence and present it in a Civil suit. The internet in America should remain a realm of free-flowing knowledge, art, culture, information, opinions, and beliefs.