The NTIA announcement of its intent to pass on its role of oversight to the Global Stakeholders is

not a first step, but perhaps could be viewed as one of the conclusive steps in the process of
privatization of the DNS as outlined by the U.S. Government in 1997. This comment takes note
and calls upon all Stakeholders to take note of the original intent as published in the Statement of
PolicydatedJune10,1998:

An increasing percentage of Internet users reside outside of the U.S., and those stakeholders want
to participate in Internet coordination[ICANN] should have a board of directors from around the
world....The Internet community is already global and diverse and likely to become more so over
time. The organization and its board should derive legitimacy from the participation of key
stakeholders

It is reassuring to find continued commitment to the idea of involving all stakeholders in this call
to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to convene global
stakeholders to develop a proposal for coordination of the Internets domain name system (DNS)
without the NTIA oversight NTIA is commendable in its position NOT TO ACCEPT any proposal
thatreplacestheNTIArolewithagovernmentledoranintergovernmentalorganizationsolution.

Participants from the Internet Society India Chennai expressed the following views, by remote
intervention, during the NETmundial Global Multistakeholder Meeting at Brazil, repeated as below
forreaffirmation:

We would like to emphasize that the future of Internet governance should be determined by
multistakeholder deliberations and not by multilateral approach. We believe that the idea of
multilateralgovernanceforInternetshouldbedroppedbyGovernments.

WithaviewtoaddresstherootcauseofstakeholderdifferencesonICANNsproposedprocess
oftransitionandtheprocesstodiscusstheprocess,itisnecessarytogobeyondthescopeof
thediscussiononTransition,onlytopointoutthesolutionstothehurdlesfortheTransition
exerciseinfocus:

1.ThereisenormousvalueincontinuingwiththemultistakeholdermodelforInternet
Governance.Multistakeholdermodel,ifunderstoodwell,wouldbehailedasevolutionof
Democracytoanelevatedlevel.FarsightedPolicymakersinGovernmentwouldseethelong
termrewardsofembracingtheMultiStakeholdermodel,ifICANNreachesouttoall
StakeholdersatalllevelstodefineandpromotethismodelofGovernancewithgreaterclarity,

2.ViewsarisefromGovernmentsthattendtofavormoreofaMultilateralframeworktodisplace
theMultistakeholdermodel.Theseviewsarereflectedinproposalstocreatealegislative
authority,tomakeInternetGovernancerepresentativeanddemocratic.Toquotefromthe
responseonthelistbyBrianECarpenteroftheInternetArchitectureBoard:

theInternethassucceededbrilliantlywithout[alegislativeauthority]onecanhardlybeagainst
theprincipleofrepresentativedemocracyforindividualcountries,runningitonaglobalscalewith
severalbillionvotersisnotanoption.Sowearriveatthemultistakeholderapproach...asa
solution.

3.ThereareaspectsofCoreInternetValuesthataremisunderstoodevenbyverywell
educatedIntellectualPropertyLawyers,becauseofspecializedphrasesinusesuchas
PermissionlessInnovation.Thisfurtheremphasizesthatgreaterclarityneedstobeimpartedto
allStakeholdersontheunderlyingvaluesoftheinherentarchitectureoftheInternet,whichisso
wellunderstoodbytheInternetTechnicalCommunity,butthatwhichtheCommunityhasnt
sufficientlytranslatedforthebenefitoftheGlobaluser.

4.SuchaneffortcouldgoalongwithICANNseffortstoextenttheprocesstoallstakeholders,
intunewithsuggestionsfromstakeholderstomaketheprocessmoreinclusiveandglobal.
Theseproposalstomaketheprocessmoreinclusive,especiallyrequiresafocustoincludea
widersectionofCivilSocietyStakeholdersfromaroundtheworld.ThemeritsoftheInternetasa
OpenandUniversallyaccessible,endtoendarchitecture,themultistakeholdermodelandthe
severalpositivepointsrelatedtoICANNgovernanceneedstobeimpartedwiththerequired
luciditytotheGlobalInternetUsersinamannerthatthefundamentalgoodideasreachthepublic
consciousness.Thiswouldbringinmoreparticipantstothetablewithclearunderstandingof
themeritsandpositiveaspectsofthemultistakeholdermodelofGovernance,foragreater
balance.

5.Thisrequiresscaledupeffort,especiallyifadversenotions,borneoutofmisunderstanding
orcausedbypropaganda,aretobeeffectivelydispelledforthegoodoftheInternet.

Theprocessoftransitionandtheprocesstodiscussthetransitionessentiallycouldbesmoothly
carriedoutbyICANNifittakestherequiredtimeandefforttoreachoutgloballytocreatethe
necessaryunderstandingoftheseveralpositivepoints,withassurancesthattheconcernsofall
stakeholdersareconstantlybeingaddressedbytheparticipativeprocessesofimproving
AccountabilityandTransparencyoftheInstitution.

TheannouncementonU.S.Governmentsintenttostepasidefromitsroleofoversightcouldbe
moreeffectivelyreceived,iftheunderlyingLongTermtasksareseparatedforContinuous
improvementsoveraperiodtimefromtheshorttermtasks.NTIAannouncementpositively
acknowledges:

ICANNasanorganizationhasmaturedandtakenstepsinrecentyearstoimproveits
accountabilityandtransparencyanditstechnicalcompetence.

ThisimpliesthattheUSGovernmentsintenttorelinquishitsroleofoversightispromptedbythe
satisfactoryprogressthatICANNhasalreadymadeinrecentyears,andbyextensionNTIAmight
agreethatICANNhassofarhonoredthefourprinciplesithaslaiddownalready.So,intheshort
term,ICANNcouldcontinueinitsrole,withtheonlydifferencebeingtheabsenceofNTIAsrole
ofoversight,perhapsevenwiththeNTIAinanObserverseatintheGovernmentalAdvisory
Committee.

ThefourprincipleslaidoutintheannouncementmightrequireWorktobecarriedoutovera
longerperiodoftime,especiallybecausethediscussionsrequirewiderparticipationwhichtakes
extensiveoutreacheffortsandcomplexdiscussionswithclarityofcoreconceptsandapositive
understandingoftheinherentgoodnessofthisgovernanceprocessandtheprogressmade.

SivasubramanianMuthusamy
President
InternetSocietyIndiaChennai