back to article 'Internet Freedom Panel' to keep web overlord ICANN out of Russian hands – new proposal

A seemingly independent panel with authority over domain name system overseer ICANN has been proposed in a new US law bill. The Defending Internet Freedom Act [PDF], put forward by Congressman Mike Kelly (R-PA), would see the creation of a board made up of techies and reps from the domain name world, as well as a new …

  1. Grikath

    Still..

    Is he going to allow ...let's see... Russians, Chinese, Iranians, etc.etc.etc. in then ?

    Thought not.

    1. Dan Paul

      Re: Still..

      And why should we? Because YOU say so?

      Any country that practices the kind of propaganda and censorship that THOSE countries do, does not deserve any involvement in the Internet. I'll take the NSA morons and their meddling over the Russians, Chinese and Iranians ANY DAY.

      1. Trevor_Pott Gold badge

        Re: Still..

        Whereas I don't trust the NSA (or the censor-happy Brits or Aussies, for that matter) any more than the Russians, Iranians or Chinese. Why should we trust your government? Because you say so? You're nobody!

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "The requirements will guarantee that the internet remains unchained and out of the grasp of bad actors and hostile powers that actively limit freedom."

    That sounds good. Unfortunately it seems like excluding the US gov, NSA (and friends), and other self interested greedy fucks isn't what he means.

  3. Mephistro
    Angel

    "...that the Panel considers to threaten freedom of expression, the openness, stability, resiliency, or security of the internet"

    So are they going to dismantle the NSA at last???? About fucking time!!! ;-)

  4. imanidiot Silver badge
    Holmes

    Independant?

    Yeah right. A committee set up with US funding, through US law, by the US government is going to be independant...

    1. Yes Me Silver badge
      FAIL

      Re: Independent?

      What US politicians don't seem to understand is that their laws only affect the US. Since all this stuff, even ICANN, operate internationally anyway, Congress should simply be silent. I am told this bill has only the tiniest chance of success, fortunately.

  5. thomas k.

    baby steps

    "... to threaten freedom of expression, the openness, stability, resiliency, or security of the internet, responsiveness to the user community"

    Why not start by applying those priciples to American ISPs? Have to learn to crawl before you can walk.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    what a joke...

    How about they release the role upwards to a UN style oversight committee, have a representative from each Continent that makes up the board and they decide a chairperson to oversee it on a rotating basis. The Continental rep has the position for a year before moving to the next country in that continent, whether its made up of a country level rep from the government or a decision body that represents a group of countries is kind of irrelevant - if you think that they make their own decisions keep drinking the kool aid!

    ICANN gets international sponsorship and an oversight committee that can veto its decisions and its board. 'Merica doesnt need to be the "Team America - World Police" for the internet and the balance of power gets shifted to a global scale - I'm sure they'd be happy to share the running costs with other countries.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Clarification Please

    What/Who the fuck is an R-PA? A member of the Rugby Players Association?

    Fucking gratuitous acronyms. :(

    1. Dan Paul

      Re: Clarification Please @AC

      If you have an interest in American politics you should really try to learn something.Those letter are after the name of each elected official (R=Republican) (PA is the state abbreviation for Pennsylvania)

      The letter after your name is "I" and it doesn't stand for Indepedent.

      1. Trevor_Pott Gold badge

        Re: Clarification Please @AC

        Why should we learn American political acronyms? Fuck America!

        1. Robert Helpmann??
          Childcatcher

          Re: Clarification Please @AC

          Why should we learn American political acronyms?

          Same reason Americans should know the difference between MP and PM.

          1. Trevor_Pott Gold badge

            Re: Clarification Please @AC

            "Same reason Americans should know the difference between MP and PM."

            Um...they don't? Most of them don't even know what a prime minister is. Why the hell should we waste our time on their worthless nation when they can't be assed to make the effort for the rest of the world? I'm rather sick of the presumption that rest of the world will - or should - know shitty litlte esoteric tings about the US. Their little politislang for branding the interchangable corruption globules that run that shite-hole is a great example.

            CA means Canada, not California. Georgia is a country, not a state. Etc and so forth. We can have this converation again when US citizens reading technology websites are expected to know Canadian political slang, or recognize Azerbaijani cities and tier 2 political divisions from context. Then we're talking about a level playing feild in which I feel it's okay to expect the rest of the world to "just get" Americanisms.

            Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go learn the subtle differences between Oblasts, Okrugs, Krais, Republics, Federal Cities and the Jewish Autonomous Oblast in Russia. Far more interesting, and I don't loathe their government quite as much as I loathe the United Citizens of MoneySpeech.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: Clarification Please @AC

              "Why the hell should we waste our time on their worthless nation when they can't be assed to make the effort for the rest of the world?"

              We all know you are more anti US than an ISIS website but this is ridiculous statement.

              "We can have this converation again when US citizens reading technology websites are expected to know Canadian political slang, or recognize Azerbaijani cities and tier 2 political divisions from context."

              When the article is about a subject you do not know every term or acronym about then doing a little research on those terms or acronyms is not unexpected. I would do the same type research for any word, term, or acronym I did not know regardless of the subject of article - storage related, UK gov, security, etc. Luckily there is this new thing called the internet that allows people to learn the meaning of words, terms, and even acronyms with very little effort.

              "CA means Canada, not California. Georgia is a country, not a state"

              Oddly enough, things like names, acronyms, and all sorts of other things get reused in this world. In your example, CA represents Canada in the country code listing and California in the US state code listing. Georgia the name of both a state in the US and a Country in Eurasia.

              1. Trevor_Pott Gold badge

                Re: Clarification Please @AC

                "We all know you are more anti US than an ISIS website but this is ridiculous statement."

                No, it's not.

                "When the article is about a subject you do not know every term or acronym about then doing a little research on those terms or acronyms is not unexpected. I would do the same type research for any word, term, or acronym I did not know regardless of the subject of article - storage related, UK gov, security, etc. Luckily there is this new thing called the internet that allows people to learn the meaning of words, terms, and even acronyms with very little effort."

                Actually, I was taught to explain the acronyms in my articles, especially when I felt there was a more than reasonable chance that my audience wouldn't know them. This is my issue: the presumption that we would (or should) "know" these acronyms. We shouldn't. There's no reason for us to know them. Thus expansion of them - or a link to an explanation - is good form, and recognizes that there is a world outside the US borders. The concept that the onus should be on the reader to hunt that down is, to me at least, nothing more than USian arrogance and pride.

                "Oddly enough, things like names, acronyms, and all sorts of other things get reused in this world. In your example, CA represents Canada in the country code listing and California in the US state code listing. Georgia the name of both a state in the US and a Country in Eurasia."

                Yes, but what I abhor is when an international tech magazine, like The Register - or pretty much anything else on the internet - will say things like "Mountain View, CA". It's just assuming you'll know that CA is a second level administrative division within the US because you automatically think everything is in the US first. Instead of, I don't know, assuming you're saying "City, Country"...like those same publications do for ever fucking city in a non-US country.

                I won't say "Edmonton, AB" unless I'm writing for a Canadian paper. I will say "Edmonton, Canada". Because I don't expect my readers to know what "AB" stands for. It's a second-level administrative division.

                Even more - and this one really pisses me off I wouldn't just use the city name. If I just said "Vancouver", for example, there's no reason to assume I'm talking about Vancouver, BC.CA. The yanks have one of their very own in Washington.

                Similarly, if I talk about London, I wouldn't just use "London", because in addition to the proper one in Ontario I understand that there's also one in the UK.

                The issue here is the assumption that we're either all American, or that we should be thinking like Americans. That "America first, last and always" is the "proper" way of thinking, instead of a little bit of effort to put yourself into the mind of the Azerbaijani who might be reading your scribblings.

                depending on how technical the article is, I don't expect too people who don't know what a SAN is to read an article about how to resize LUNs. So in a really technical article I won't spell out LUN or SAN. (Though I will if the target is more CIOs than sysadmins, or a far more general audience than ultra-deep-dive nerds.)

                I will, however, spell out other acronyms like Software as a Service (SaaS) (and do so in exactly that manner, the first time) in a storage article. This is because I don't expect a hard-boiled storage nerd to know all the cloudy acronyms. It's not his job.

                This particular article may have been about american politics, but it's topic affects the entire fucking world. The results of this are of critical import to everyone around the world. There is no reason whatsoever to assume that all readers are conversant with US terminology, idioms and abbreviations.

                So, could someone go and look that stuff up on the internet? Sure. But it is about respect. It is about checking your assumptions and knowing your audience. Just like CA California/Canada is.

                I, for one, am sick and tired of non-Americans being treated as though we're second class global citizens. But I wouldn't expect an American to understand the first thing about any of that. It's not about "one little incident". It's about a fucking lifetime of it.

                It's not a malicious thing on behalf of the author, or even the commenters defending the practice. I am sure that it is entirely subconcious. In a way, that makes it even worse. It's just...ingrained. This externalization of non-Americans. The diminution of them, rendering them - in thought at least - as something "other". Secondary. Not quite people.

                It is something I've had to put up with when I deal with Americans my whole life, and it is irritating as hell. And, to be blunt, now that they're not the world's only superpower anymore...I don't see why I should "just take it". It's time they learned to respect the rest of the world.

                1. Anonymous Coward
                  Anonymous Coward

                  Re: Clarification Please @AC

                  So you have an issue with the way the article is written, and with the way The Register publishes articles. It sounds like you are throwing a tantrum and making a mountain out of a mole hill.

                  When a tech site publishes an article about Mountain View, CA you can be sure that they are not talking about the scenic views from the top of Mt. Logan.

                  "This externalization of non-Americans. The diminution of them, rendering them - in thought at least - as something "other". Secondary. Not quite people. It is something I've had to put up with when I deal with Americans my whole life, and it is irritating as hell."

                  People treat you the way you treat them. Yes you will have the occasional A-hole who is rude to you without reason, which is the exception, but if everyone is treating you the same way then the fault is with you.

                  1. Trevor_Pott Gold badge

                    Re: Clarification Please @AC

                    "People treat you the way you treat them. Yes you will have the occasional A-hole who is rude to you without reason, which is the exception, but if everyone is treating you the same way then the fault is with you."

                    Obviously that only applies to people agree with you, eh? Because the fact that America has so many people that loathe it can't possibly because America's actions, culture and the attitude of it's citizens have earned it the overwhelming enmity it experiences. No, no...it's clearly that those who dislike America have earned America's douchbaggery by not worshiping America.

                    Yup, I see it all now...

                2. Anonymous Coward
                  Anonymous Coward

                  Re: Clarification Please @AC

                  Dear sweet Jesus, Trevor...you are really off the leash today. Just remember, you reap what you sow. Your lack of self esteem put that chip on your shoulder and you are the only one who can remove it.

                  I bet you even forgot to be apologetic like the other "good" Canadians that come over here and buy out our stores so they look like the hordes of Attila were here. At least they say "Sorry" when they grab the last extra large shirt out of your hand..

                  Technical articles on The Register don't have the formality of those for the National Academy of Sciences.

                  Live with it and grow up. Oh, and Fuck off AGAIN!

                3. Anonymous Coward
                  Anonymous Coward

                  Re: Clarification Please @AC

                  > Actually, I was taught to explain the acronyms in my articles, especially when I felt there was a more than reasonable chance that my audience wouldn't know them.

                  At least Mr. Pott got my point. I look forward to reading your articles, even though I find them as long-winded and soporific as your posts (I do enjoy your anti-US rants though!) :-)

            2. Robert Helpmann??
              Childcatcher

              Re: Clarification Please @AC

              I believe you missed at least part of my point. I believe Americans should learn about other countries, their people, their cultures, as well as both the good and bad each have to offer. It's not possible to learn everything about every place, but we should strive not to be completely uneducated.

              Nice rant, though, Mr Pott. If you will excuse me, I feel the need to look up some things (Oblast, Krais, et cetera).

              1. Anonymous Coward
                Anonymous Coward

                Re: Clarification Please @AC

                > Nice rant, though, Mr Pott. If you will excuse me, I feel the need to look up some things (Oblast, Krais, et cetera)

                For info and as a (non-native) Slavic speaker, those names mean different things in different languages and countries, particularly the latter.

            3. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: Clarification Please @AC

              No Trevor, I see you are off your meds again. Time for another trip to B.C. for you. Get the white widow!

              These things that upset you so are no more than simple search fodder for most of us, but I digress.

              Some of us in the USA know what the Parlimentary system is, the ones over 40 at least. The ones that live on the border between the US and Canada do for sure. The same companies that own our politicians own most of yours so I don't understand what you are so upset about.

              CA has meant California longer than your country has been out from under the thumb of British rule.

              Georgia has been a state longer than Georgia has been a separate country and not a region of a larger country.

              Azerbaijan is in the Caucuses, I'm not real sure about their cities but I think there is one you would enjoy called "Ganja". Too close to Russia and Iran to be more than a battleground and smugglers paradise.

              Gosh, when you get like this, you sound like a Tory, almost. They're more coherent though.

              Perhaps you should call the rehab center that Rob Ford used. According to CTV he had the same kind of foam flecked spittle I always imagine drooling from your lips, though with less heroin.

            4. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: Clarification Please @AC

              > Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go learn the subtle differences between Oblasts, Okrugs, Krais, Republics, Federal Cities and the Jewish Autonomous Oblast in Russia.

              And in the meanwhile, perhaps Americans could also learn to pronounce properly the names¹ of British cities and counties. :-)

              ¹ At least the English ones. Happy to cut them some slack on the Gaelic names.

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Clarification Please @Robert Helpmann??

            Some of us do. They don't teach that stuff anymore though.

            Just "Common Core" crap to make us all into Bill Ayer's, Obama's and Sharpton's. Figure that one out.

            If you thought we Americans were ignorant before, just wait for the next generation.

            They won't know the difference between the PM (Prime Minister) and MP (Member of Parliment) or whether they have their head up their ass.

            (You folks really should do something about those folks with royal titles in Parliment. Seems ridiculous in this daya and age.)

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Clarification Please @AC

          Fuck Trevor Pott! He's a godless, communist sympathizing canadian, burn him at the stake. Probably spends too much time on Queen St.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Clarification Please @AC

            > Probably spends too much time on Queen St.

            Queen Saint?

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Clarification Please @AC

        > If you have an interest in American politics

        No particular interest. I was trying to read this article and got distracted by the unfamiliar acronym and wishing ElReg reporters would remember they are writing for a fairly global audience and, more generally, avoid overusing acronyms.

        In any case, thanks for the explanation. :-)

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Shut your pie hole....

    ...and finish your kool aid!

    1. Fatman

      Re: Shut your pie hole....

      ...and finish your kool aid!

      Someone give me an address, and I will drop ship a 55 gallon drum of it!!!!

      </snark>

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