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Andy
Sernovitz is the founder and
president of the Association for
Interactive Media. A vocal
opponent of the IAHC plan, he
testified before the House
Science Committee, 30 September
1997. Below is an excerpt, which
he requested to have forwarded to
Esther Dyson.
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- Andrew
L. Sernovitz President
- Assn.
for Interactive Media
- Washington,
DC
- Voice:
(202) 408-0008
- Fax:
(202) 408-0111
- http://www.interactivehq.org
- mailto:andy@interactivehq.org
- (c)
1998 by Andrew
Sernovitz.
- Used
with permission.
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Mr.
Chairman, the IAHC plan is a poorly veiled
attempt to take over the domain name
system by the Internet Society and the
Internet Assigned Numbers Authority.
[IANA]. As is documented in my
written testimony, the IAHC plan grants
unprecedented authority to a puppet
organization controlled by Dr. John
Postel, Mr. Don Heath and technocrat
trustees of the Internet Society. The IAHC
plan sets up it's backers with total rule
and veto power over an offshore
corporation that has complete protection
from legal liability, its own kangaroo
trade-
mark courts, all under the protection of
the Swiss Civil Code. This action has
significant implications for the authority
of the U.S. government, U.S. courts and
American Internet businesses.
We call on this
committee to stop the Internet Assigned
Numbers Authority in this unprecedented
breach of trust by a federal contractor.
IANA controls the central assets necessary
to keep the current domain name system
working and represents a vital national
resource. Now this contractor has begun
taking these assets developed for the U.S.
government, paid for by the U.S.
government, and essential to the
operations of the Internet and begun
transferring them to the puppet operation
in Geneva that they control. This action
demands immediate investigation by this
committee and the GAO of IANA and the
Univ-
ersity of Southern California (who
received much of
the funding) and Dr. Postel.
[Snip]
My final point
today is that the IAHC, the Internet
Society and IANA are actively working to
subvert the efforts of this committee and
the Administration's task force. They
intend to take control of the domain name
system in the next 120 days, intentionally
preempting the U.S. govern-
ment [forestalled]. They do this
without regard to the wishes of the U.S.
or risks to the stability of the Internet
created by such an ill-considered action.
They have been
accepting and empowering domain name
registrars; they have a bid out that
closes on Friday to purchase
[Emergent] software to run their
shared registry, and they have announced
that they will be operating a full domain
name system by January 15.
When they attempt
to delay your investigation with promises
of change, remember that their intent is
clear and well documented. They are
playing a stalling game, attempting to
distract this committee until their
control is secure. Mr. Chairman, hold them
accountable by demanding a sign of good
faith. Ask them to stop implementation of
their plans until this committee completes
its work. Ask them to give up their
total
veto power over the IAHC system.
[snip]
We in the
Internet industry ask that this committee
and the Administration take immediate
action to secure the stability of the
Internet by proactively stopping the
illicit implementation of the IAHC's
takeover. We also ask that immediate
measures be taken to secure control of the
Internet Assigned Numbers Authority before
it is trans-
ferred outside of U.S. jurisdiction. That
will enable us to take the time necessary
to follow the original, well-considered
plan of action of this committee.
For a copy of Mr.
Sernovitz' full written testimony, call
AIM or visit http://www.interactivehq.org/docs/9-30.htm
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