From: "Jake Voytko" <jakevoytko@gmail.com>
To: <DNSTransition@ntia.doc.gov>
Date: Mon, Jul 3, 2006 11:11 AM
Subject: Do not privatize the DNS system

The internet is the only tool in recent history with the potential for
such great advancement of the human race. Before regulation, it was
everything for everybody: a way for information to be shared,
entertainment easily accessed. Cheap and fast communication with
people who are connected to the backbone, affordable for every person
who has electricity, a computer, and a phone or cable line. The
internet is usable the exact same way for Bill Gates as it is for a
poor student in a library in Detroit. With the foundation of the
internet, anything became possible for any individual or any
corporation.

However, no perfect system could stay. Many people feel the need to
try to regulate the internet, whether for financial gain, personal
motive, or people who would have perhaps felt more at home in the
Progressive party in the pre-Prohibition era. Whatever.. I can deal
with that. People always want to regulate what they don't understand /
don't follow their (religious/ethical/social) standards of excellence.
The internet has held the test of time fairly robustly, and has yet to
see any kind of worldwide crackdown of any form. This is due in part
to the lack of internationalization of the control of the backbone of
the internet. Societies that are not interested in the rights of
humans have no interest in doing the fair thing for all individuals,
countries, or corporations. There is no reason Iran or China should be
able to have any kind of a say in human rights, and indeed, The Great
Firewall of China proves that they do not have the kind of
understanding that would allow them to take part in any kind of
internationalization of the Internet. Not to mention the task of
getting a group of 10 nations from different backgrounds to agree on
anything, much less every nation that makes up the international
playing field.

Privatization is also a huge problem. Companies are capable of having
a stance for doing good. At least, that is, until they have a public
offering, and then have a lot of shareholders to appease, as well as a
board of directors whose sole purpose is for these shareholders to be
happy. This creates a system purely made for profit. Pure and simple.
There is no humanity left in the system. There is no feeling, there is
no human compassion. There is even some kind of a basic disregard for
laws of this nation. I don't even need some kind of great and complex
proof for this statement. Indeed, the pure volume of convictions and
accusations of faulty or malicious bookkeeping in major corporations
such as Enron show that they are in it for no other entitty but
themselves.

But then if we've shown that neither the international community nor
the private sector are responsible or stable enough, who SHOULD have
the responsibility of the internet, the single greatest tool of our
time? I believe for the time being, especially with President Bush
becoming a lame-duck president, the internet is safe from tampering.
If the United States cooks its DNS servers, there is nothing to stop
anyone else from setting up their own DNS server with all of the
correct values. Firewalls can be stepped around. There is no single
method that could deny internet access to a nation. The system right
now is not broken, so why fix it? If the international community does
not like the way the internet is currently working, they do have
avenues of approach. They have a public forum, they know the phone
numbers of politicians. Just because there is no formal process for
dealing with complaints doesn't mean that they lack avenues of
approach. Just so long as the United States has members of the
Government who ARE willing to stand up for the rights of every user of
the internet in the world, it is one of the better bets for the
continuation of the success of the internet in shaping our future.

As a jest, I also believe that Switzerland should be in full control
of the internet, given that they are a neutral country, and would
probably be the only group that could ensure the continued neutrality
of the internet.