Re: Useful Comments Re: DNSO process and Drafts submitted to ICANN

1999-02-10 Thread Einar Stefferud

What you don't understand is that I do not have the technical
understanding at the detailed level that is required to get it all
right, but my mail forwarder at ics.uci.edu is upportive and only puts
in the NMA.COM zone file what I agree to have put there.  He controls
the passward, but does not do anything I do not want done.

On the other hand, I do not argue with him about the details.  I
arrange for the secondary services of FV.COM and ARL.ARMY.MIL, but
there is no magic involved.  Both are just former clients;-)...

In fact, ARL.ARMY.MIL has been my secondary since I first got my
NMA.COM registration using the Registrar support of Geoff Goodfellow
who pioneered the concept of offering Registrar Services in 1987.  My
last contract with ARL.ARMY.MIL was in 1987 with Steve Wolff who left
in mid contract to take over Dennis Jennings NSF management job at NSF.

FV.COM is operated by my friends at First Virtual Holdings Inc, which
has recently changed its name to MessageMedia, so I will someday be
dropping the FV.COM secondary and replace it with somethign at VRX.NET
as Richard Sexton has offered to provide secondary support.

If you were to ask Richard nicely, he would no doubt offer to support
your DNS name with secondary backup too.  He does this for lots of
people who ask for it.  I net the Eberhard woudl do the same if you
ask nicely.  So, there you are with 2 suggestions for secondaries
already.

BTW, have you asked your ISP if they will let you choose your own
secondaries?  Have you even discussed the idea with them that yuou
might like to understand how you might have more say in how they
handle you DNS server support?

If not, then you shodul not be acting like you know all about how it
does or does not work.

Cheers...\Stef

From your message Tue, 09 Feb 1999 02:16:57 -0500:
}
}Einar Stefferud:
}
} And, for Michael's information, the fact that he has contractred with
} an ISP to do everythig for his DNS Zone, and not let him have password
} control of it is his decision and not a feature of the DNS!
}=20
} In my own case, I cvontrol all aspects of the content of my NMA.COM
} zone, and have arranged for its primary to be at ICS.UCI.EDU And
} secondaries at ARL.ARMY.MIL, FV.COM, and have arrranged to add VRX.COM
} some time in the near future, as FV.COM might go away some time soon.
}=20
} All these things are my choices, though I have to negotiate
} arrangements with all the primary and secondary server providers.
} And, yes, I could primary or secondary on my own system.
}=20
} Further, my primary and scondaries do not make any changes that I do
} not approve.
}=20
} Also, I am listed as the Admin, and Tech and billing contacts for my
} zone.
}
}Well, isn't that nice? I'm very happy for you, Stef. So long as you're se=
}t
}up fine, the hell with the 1,000,000 users who haven't got your connectio=
}ns
}and your technical understanding, huh?



RE: Useful Comments Re: DNSO process and Drafts submitted to ICANN

1999-02-10 Thread John B. Reynolds


Michael Sondow wrote:
 It's not delegated to the tech contact. It's arrogated by the
 tech contact.
 There's a big, big difference. The only ISP who lets the client
 have control
 over the zone file is pgmedia, where the client is not only the admin and
 billing contacts but also the tech contact, and there is a web-based,
 user-friendly GUI for altering the RRs in the zone file. With other ISPs,
 it's the tech who decides what goes into file. And his boss, the owner of
 the ISP, won't tell him to put in a change or a new service for the client
 unless he wants to. The client has nothing to do with it. I have been the
 constant subject of this extortion, at five ISPs, and everyone I know has,
 too.


Hurricane Electric (www.he.net), my provider for this domain name, also
allows clients to edit their zone files.



Re: Useful Comments Re: DNSO process and Drafts submitted to ICANN

1999-02-09 Thread Michael Sondow

Einar Stefferud a écrit:

 And, for Michael's information, the fact that he has contractred with
 an ISP to do everythig for his DNS Zone, and not let him have password
 control of it is his decision and not a feature of the DNS!
 
 In my own case, I cvontrol all aspects of the content of my NMA.COM
 zone, and have arranged for its primary to be at ICS.UCI.EDU And
 secondaries at ARL.ARMY.MIL, FV.COM, and have arrranged to add VRX.COM
 some time in the near future, as FV.COM might go away some time soon.
 
 All these things are my choices, though I have to negotiate
 arrangements with all the primary and secondary server providers.
 And, yes, I could primary or secondary on my own system.
 
 Further, my primary and scondaries do not make any changes that I do
 not approve.
 
 Also, I am listed as the Admin, and Tech and billing contacts for my
 zone.

Well, isn't that nice? I'm very happy for you, Stef. So long as you're set
up fine, the hell with the 1,000,000 users who haven't got your connections
and your technical understanding, huh?



Re: Useful Comments Re: DNSO process and Drafts submitted to ICANN

1999-02-08 Thread Dr Eberhard W Lisse

In message 001401be52fb$9ddc9320$010a@jbr, "John B. Reynolds" writes:
 Michael Sondow wrote:
 
  Einar Stefferud a écrit:
 
   I agree with this concern, and I suggest that the initial membership
   be defined in some other more well defined way.  One suggestion that
   makes sense to me is "Anyone with a DNS Zone file to administer" to be
   used to elect an INITIAL Names Council
 
  Yes, of course you would suggest this, since it puts ORSC into
  the driver's
  seat. Everyone else, who doesn't administer DNS zone files, will have
  another, very different suggestion about how the NC will be elected. And
  Einar Stefferud won't nevessarily be their NC chairman.
 
 
 How would this give control to ORSC?  Every domain name holder directly or
 indirectly administers a DNS zone file.  Are you sure you're not confusing
 "DNS zone" with "root zone"?

There is write permission to a zone file, but many can have it.

I prefer the "Administrative Contact" of a zone.

There are multiple levels of zone files. Root, TLD, Second Levels
within the TLDS. Third and more levels within SLwTLD.

Which ones are we thinking of?

el



Re: Useful Comments Re: DNSO process and Drafts submitted to ICANN

1999-02-08 Thread Einar Stefferud

All of them!  (see Eberhard's question below;-)...

I also agree that the initial members of the startup DNSO should be
the Zone Administrators and not the Technical Contacts!

And, for Michael's information, the fact that he has contractred with
an ISP to do everythig for his DNS Zone, and not let him have password
control of it is his decision and not a feature of the DNS!

In my own case, I cvontrol all aspects of the content of my NMA.COM
zone, and have arranged for its primary to be at ICS.UCI.EDU And
secondaries at ARL.ARMY.MIL, FV.COM, and have arrranged to add VRX.COM
some time in the near future, as FV.COM might go away some time soon.

All these things are my choices, though I have to negotiate
arrangements with all the primary and secondary server providers.
And, yes, I could primary or secondary on my own system.

Further, my primary and scondaries do not make any changes that I do
not approve.

Also, I am listed as the Admin, and Tech and billing contacts for my
zone.

Cheers...\Stef

From your message Mon, 08 Feb 1999 07:43:34 +0200:
}
}In message 001401be52fb$9ddc9320$010a@jbr, "John B. Reynolds" writes:
} Michael Sondow wrote:
} 
}  Einar Stefferud a crit:
} 
}   I agree with this concern, and I suggest that the initial membership
}   be defined in some other more well defined way.  One suggestion that
}   makes sense to me is "Anyone with a DNS Zone file to administer" to be
}   used to elect an INITIAL Names Council
} 
}  Yes, of course you would suggest this, since it puts ORSC into
}  the driver's
}  seat. Everyone else, who doesn't administer DNS zone files, will have
}  another, very different suggestion about how the NC will be elected. And
}  Einar Stefferud won't nevessarily be their NC chairman.
} 
} 
} How would this give control to ORSC?  Every domain name holder directly or
} indirectly administers a DNS zone file.  Are you sure you're not confusing
} "DNS zone" with "root zone"?
}
}There is write permission to a zone file, but many can have it.
}
}I prefer the "Administrative Contact" of a zone.
}
}There are multiple levels of zone files. Root, TLD, Second Levels
}within the TLDS. Third and more levels within SLwTLD.
}
}Which ones are we thinking of?
}
}el



Re: Useful Comments Re: DNSO process and Drafts submitted to ICANN

1999-02-08 Thread Roeland M.J. Meyer

At 09:49 PM 2/7/99 -0500, Michael Sondow wrote:
John B. Reynolds a écrit:

 Every domain name holder directly or
 indirectly administers a DNS zone file.  Are you sure you're not 
 confusing "DNS zone" with "root zone"?

No, the domain holders don't administer zone files. That's done by the ISPs
and the layers above them in the hierarchy. My name isn't in my ISP's
permissions file for changing RRs. I have no control over the MX records, or
the CNAME aliases, or who is the secondary NS, or anything else to do with
the zone files. I've been reading the BIND manual in my spare time. You
can't kid me.

Hello Michael,

Not only do I manage all three MHSC zone files (MHSC.COM, MHSC.NET, and
MHSC-SYSTEMS.COM), I also manage the DNSO.NET zone and my own IN-ADDR.ARPA
zone. It doesn't stop there, I also run the ORSC root.zone. That's public
access. In addition I have three private zones for our internal VPN usage,
that are only accessible from within MHSC.NET, via private name servers.
Anyone with knowledge, a Unix system, and a full-time Internet connection
can do the same. One does not have to be an ISP. Pacific Bell, MCI, and
Wells Fargo Bank also control their own zone files.
___ 
Roeland M.J. Meyer - 
e-mail:  mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Internet phone:hawk.lvrmr.mhsc.com
Personal web pages: http://staff.mhsc.com/~rmeyer
Company web-site:   http://www.mhsc.com
___ 
   KISS ... gotta love it!




Re: Useful Comments Re: DNSO process and Drafts submitted to ICANN

1999-02-08 Thread Dr Eberhard W Lisse

Michael,

John is right.

In message [EMAIL PROTECTED], Michael Sondow writes:
 John B. Reynolds a =E9crit:
 
  You administer your zone indirectly by controlling which ISP runs it
  directly.
 

 Administer the zone indirectly? What are you talking about? Is this
 a game of semantics to you? It's a file. How do I change it's
 contents when it's on a server in the house or office of someone
 else, and I don't have write access? Would you like to tell everyone
 who may be witnessing this inane discussion just what in the name of
 mother McCreedy you're talking about?

It's nothing to get excited about.

Let's take .NA as an example:

the zone file sits on grumpy.net.na as per an agreement with a local
ISP. Whether they give me physical write access is not the issue,
rather that I decide what gets written into it.

In practice it configured to use linux.lisse.na as hidden primary, or
if my leased line is bothering me (or rather the municipality tries to 
light christmas trees frying half the town) I copy the file with
scp. It does reload regularily.

Write permission means the person who decides on the changes being
made (Admin Contact or Technical Contact), not the person that
actually makes the changes (staff member).

Or take iciiu.org for example. ICIIU has probably a contract with
perfekt.net. If you tell them you want another secondary (after making 
arrangements) they would enter the change and reload).

 
  You have the power to move your zone file to another provider
 
 Move the zone file? What, copy and paste it from one server to
 another? Is that how zone files are transferred? Horse-puckey! And
 even if it were, what average domain name holder even knows how to
 access zone files, or has access to a unix machine to do it with?

Don't get excited. It's not the issue who knows what. It's the issue
who has the right to make the decison. *IN PRACTICE* most often this
is delegated to the Technical Contact.

Moving the zone file means downloading a copy thereof, uploading it to 
the new server, making appropriate changes, reloading the server,
informing NSI of the change, waiting for the delegation to change to
the new server and then removing the old one altogether.

 
  to your own server (assuming sufficient Internet connectivity)
 

 How many domain name holders have unix boxes with BIND running on
 them, or know how to configure BIND? Even the ISPs can't do it
 correctly.

It's not the issue if someone indeed (*IN PRACTICE*) knows what he
should know.

Configuring bind is trivial. It's small things like incrementing
serial numbers that are overlooked, which is why I do this with a perl
script connected to my mySQL database.
 
  or to a service
  that would permit you to administer it directly.
 

 No such service exists. But I see your game. You're not interested
 in useful discussion, but in seeing if you can manipulate people. I
 won't waste any more time with you.

Such services do exist. 

It is rather trivial to give you secure access to your own zone file,
secure clients for Windoze and Macs exist.


It's really not necessary to get excited about technical issues...

It's much more interesting to talk about whether the commercial
Technical Contact of a smal ccTLD is the decision maker or the travel
agent in country that he hires as the Amdinistrative Contact, pro
forma.


el



Re: Useful Comments Re: DNSO process and Drafts submitted to ICANN

1999-02-08 Thread Dr Eberhard W Lisse

In message [EMAIL PROTECTED], "Roeland M.J. Meyer" wri
tes:
 At 09:49 PM 2/7/99 -0500, Michael Sondow wrote:
 John B. Reynolds a écrit:
 
  Every domain name holder directly or
  indirectly administers a DNS zone file.  Are you sure you're not 
  confusing "DNS zone" with "root zone"?
 
 No, the domain holders don't administer zone files. That's done by the ISPs
 and the layers above them in the hierarchy. My name isn't in my ISP's
 permissions file for changing RRs. I have no control over the MX records, or
 the CNAME aliases, or who is the secondary NS, or anything else to do with
 the zone files. I've been reading the BIND manual in my spare time. You
 can't kid me.

Michael,

that may be true, but is not the issue.

whois ICIIU.ORG yields:

   Administrative Contact:
  Sondow, Michael  (MS17032)  [EMAIL PROTECTED]
  +1 (718) 846-7482
   Technical Contact, Zone Contact:
  Wianecki, Chris  (CW618)  [EMAIL PROTECTED]
  (718) 318-6444
   Billing Contact:
  Sondow, Michael  (MS17032)  [EMAIL PROTECTED]
  +1 (718) 846-7482

Whether you contract with perfekt.net to have physical write access to
the iciuu zone file is a matter of convenience (by way of contract
between ICIIU and PERFEKT.NET) and maybe a matter of security.

el



RE: Useful Comments Re: DNSO process and Drafts submitted to ICANN

1999-02-08 Thread John B. Reynolds

 You contact with an ISP to create and maintain a zone file on your behalf.
 If you don't like what they do with it, you can move to another 
 ISP or make
 other arrangements.  Ultimate control remains vested in you.  I don't see
 how I could make this any more clear than I already have.

Oops, should be "contract", not "contact".



Re: Useful Comments Re: DNSO process and Drafts submitted to ICANN

1999-02-08 Thread Bret A. Fausett

Kent Crispin wrote:
Running the hearing slows down the process, intrinsically.  A hearing
takes time that would have been spent doing other things.  As long as
I am guaranteed a "fair hearing" at will, I can slow down the
process.

If a hearing catches and corrects a problem before the process moves too 
far down the road, then it has actually *saved* time, as that obstacle 
won't have to be faced later after the policy is more fully developed or 
when it is implemented. No one claims that this doesn't add some time to 
the process. But it does not slow the process down "indefinitely," which 
is all I was trying to address. 

And really were talking about a couple of weeks here. You need to send 
notice to the community at large that you'll be holding a hearing, and 
then set aside a day to hold it. That's it. 

Put it this way -- what prevents the fair hearing from becoming a 
fillibuster?

Because there is no procedural mechanism permitting filibusters. If you 
keep talking, the members of the Research Committee will simply pick up 
and leave. Or at least that's the way it should work. If that's unclear, 
then perhaps we can add language giving the committee discretion to open 
and close discussions.

 -- Bret


Original series of posts:
On Sun, Feb 07, 1999 at 10:37:39PM -0500, Bret A. Fausett wrote:
 Einar Stefferud wrote:
 
 Here I am in strong agreement that the whole concept of Fair Hearing
 Panels has been subvertted by inavertant editing whcih converts them
 into a mecahisim to be used to stop progress on any Research Committee
 proposal that someone does not like. 
 
 I don't think that's a fair reading of the sections. A Fair Hearing 
 allows an aggrieved party the opportunity to explain a problem, propose a 
 better solution, and discuss the issues with the Research Committee. 
 Nothing requires the Research Committee to accept the proposal or slow 
 down the process.



RE: Useful Comments Re: DNSO process and Drafts submitted to ICANN

1999-02-08 Thread Bret A. Fausett

John B. Reynolds wrote:

 5.11 Further Review of Changes

 Whenever a proposal has been changed as a result of
 the preceding processes, any changes resulting from
 such processes shall be republished on the DNSO
 website and subject to review under the prior
 provisions of this section.

My concern is that this could pave the way for repeated invocations of 5.8
as a filibuster tactic.

Fair point. A couple of thoughts. You only get the "preceding processes" 
if there has been a change in the policy, so if the Research Committee 
disagrees with the concerns and keeps the draft the same, this provision 
cannot be invoked. So at some point, the policy will become fixed, and 
this will no longer apply. 

I know there's been a previous discussion about whether you draft rules 
tightly (expecting abuse and trying to prevent it up front) or loosely 
(allowing flexibility, seeing what happens, and amending the rules later 
if they're abused). This looks like a place where the latter approach was 
taken. 

In any event, the language you pointed out could be clearer. I'd be 
interested in thoughts about how it could be corrected and how to balance 
the concerns noted above.

   -- Bret



RE: Useful Comments Re: DNSO process and Drafts submitted to ICANN

1999-02-08 Thread David Schutt

Translation: Expediency is more important than fairness

David Schutt

 
 Running the hearing slows down the process, intrinsically.  A hearing
 takes time that would have been spent doing other things.  As long as
 I am guaranteed a "fair hearing" at will, I can slow down the
 process.
 
 Put it this way -- what prevents the fair hearing from becoming a 
 fillibuster?
 




 -- 
 Kent Crispin, PAB Chair   "Do good, 
 and you'll be
 [EMAIL PROTECTED] lonesome." -- Mark Twain
 



RE: Useful Comments Re: DNSO process and Drafts submitted to ICANN

1999-02-08 Thread David Schutt

Not a good example, my browser timed out.

There are lots of experimental and/or educational systems out there, I'm
more interested in commercial services that can take a spike without
gasping.

David Schutt

 Linux and BIND are both free software.  The real sticking point is the
 requisite permanent Internet connection and static IP address.

 
   or to a service
   that would permit you to administer it directly.
 
  No such service exists. But I see your game. You're not
  interested in useful
  discussion, but in seeing if you can manipulate people. I won't
 waste any
  more time with you.
 

http://soa.granitecanyon.com .



Re: Useful Comments Re: DNSO process and Drafts submitted to ICANN

1999-02-08 Thread Alex Kamantauskas


On Mon, 8 Feb 1999, Roeland M.J. Meyer wrote:

 At 09:49 PM 2/7/99 -0500, Michael Sondow wrote:
 John B. Reynolds a écrit:
 
 Every domain name holder directly or indirectly administers a DNS zone
 file.  Are you sure you're not confusing "DNS zone" with "root zone"?

 No, the domain holders don't administer zone files. That's done by the
 ISPs and the layers above them in the hierarchy. My name isn't in my
 ISP's permissions file for changing RRs. I have no control over the MX
 records, or the CNAME aliases, or who is the secondary NS, or anything
 else to do with the zone files. I've been reading the BIND manual in
 my spare time. You can't kid me.
 
 Hello Michael,
 
 Not only do I manage all three MHSC zone files (MHSC.COM, MHSC.NET, and
 MHSC-SYSTEMS.COM), I also manage the DNSO.NET zone and my own IN-ADDR.ARPA
 zone. It doesn't stop there, I also run the ORSC root.zone. That's public
 access. In addition I have three private zones for our internal VPN usage,
 that are only accessible from within MHSC.NET, via private name servers.
 Anyone with knowledge, a Unix system, and a full-time Internet connection
 can do the same. One does not have to be an ISP. Pacific Bell, MCI, and
 Wells Fargo Bank also control their own zone files.

I am not an ISP.  I run my own root zone and nameservers which I use, and
which are used by several other people who want to use their own TLD's,
mostly to stop spamming.  I delegate the TLD's to them directly, and they
control the zone files for them, yet they don't lose their ability to use
.com, .net, .gov, etc.

-- 
Alex Kamantauskas
Tugger Networks



Re: Useful Comments Re: DNSO process and Drafts submitted to ICANN

1999-02-08 Thread Kent Crispin

On Mon, Feb 08, 1999 at 12:16:50PM -0500, Jay Fenello wrote:
 At 2/8/99, 11:48 AM, Kent Crispin wrote:
 
 I am not talking about there being just *one* hearing.  As soon as
 the first FH concludes, the second one will be requested, and then
 after that the third, and so on.  As far as I can see, there is 
 nothing to stop an infinite regress.
 
 
 Hi Kent,
 
 That's not how the process works.

 Please read the Paris Draft before making 
 any further inaccurate statements.

John Reynolds just quoted chapter and verse about how the language
permitted repeated hearings, and Bret just allowed as to how it might
be good to clean up that language. 

It is certainly possible that I could make a mistake -- there are
lots of documents floating around, and it sometimes is hard to keep
track of them all.  If I do make a mistake I will apologize.  But it
appears that in this case I was accurate. 

-- 
Kent Crispin, PAB Chair "Do good, and you'll be
[EMAIL PROTECTED]   lonesome." -- Mark Twain



Re: Useful Comments Re: DNSO process and Drafts submitted to ICANN

1999-02-08 Thread Dr Eberhard W Lisse

In message [EMAIL PROTECTED], Michael Sondow writes:

 The average client of an ISP, that is, the average domain name
 holder, cannot tell the ISP what to put into their zone file. I've
 had trouble with every single one of the five ISPs I've used because
 of this, and I've heard the same stories from everyone I know. The
 same exact story from every single domain name holder I know: that
 the ISP will NOT do what the client asks, when it's a matter of
 changing the zone file.

Michael,

one reason is that many ISP's, especially the new ones, are run by
people who rate 4 to 5 on the Kent-Meter. 

It's the same here, by the way, one of the biggest dialup ISP's in
South Africa sells "The Internet" in what is called a Big Black Box,
which you can order form the Pizza delivery service. They are unable
to fill in an application template to have their domain registered
under .com.NA. (I am waiting for the other one to apply for "DNS in a
Can" so you can guess what their marketing line is :-)-O)

If I needed a zone file hosted elsewhere, I'd ask the ISP concerend
beforehand how this is going to work and write a memorandum of
understanding. 

ANd I only work with ISP's that rate a 1 or less on the Kent-Meter.

 
 Your situation or that of Roeland Meyer or John Reynolds has nothing
 to do with this. You are not average domain name holders. Far from
 it. This discussion is about average domain name holders. So your
 personal experience as the NIC for .NA doesn't apply here.

Actually it does.  It's called capacity building. And, I have some
genuine experience in it.

It is a real problem, I do concede, but it's not an intrinsic DNS
problem, rather a customer service problem.

el



Re: Useful Comments Re: DNSO process and Drafts submitted to ICANN

1999-02-08 Thread Michael Sondow

Roeland M.J. Meyer a écrit:

 There is some argument that one can use a Windows machine  for primary DNS.

I'm a typical end-user. I have a laptop running Windows95. There are
configuration pop-ups for TCP/IP and DNS confirguration. But I've never seen
a book anywhere, and I've been looking for over a year, that explains how to
use those capabilities.

 At MHSC, we've never tried this. We've always found either Linux or OS/2 to
 be much more reliable, for server operations.

I've been told that even WindowsNT wasn't completely compatible with BIND. I
looked through the WindowsNT DNS server manual once, but it looked
mind-boggling. The trouble with all those pop-ups and stuff is that you
can't see what it's doing, and it gives you no access to the files. Someone
on one of the lists said there was a program for Wndows95 that allowed full
lookup and Unix file facilities, but I've never seen or heard of it. And,
you know, the ISPs don't want to give us shell accounts any more. PPP is so
much easier for them to set up, and they don't have to worry about people
tampering with their files, or looking into their directories. So even if an
end-user learns how to change the records, there just isn't any way to do
it.


 It is very certain that in order to serve DNS, one needs a static IP
 address for at least two name servers, according to the RFCs. For those in
 dynamic IP land, this becomes a serious problem. They must find, or pay
 for, a host with a permanent static IP connection. This is the primary
 barrier to entry. With such a host, one can arrange secondary DNS services
 with ones ISP, as part of the "bandwidth" arrangement. 

I have a static address. Actually, I have three, because I have three SLDs.
But I can just imagine what my ISP would say if I told him I was going to do
the primary DNS myself. He'd have a fit. Although I'd like to, frankly. For
the first few months of service, I was losing about one out of every four
e-mails, because the records for my domain names were written all wrong into
the zone file. The ISP never read the part in the manual about not using
aliases in the A and MX records. I only found out what was wrong because an
engineer at the .MX NIC in Monterrey, after the DNSO.org conference, took a
look at the zone file at my ISP and told me it was all wrong. There's still
no authoritative host for iciiu.org, if you do a lookup. This is the 
the end-users go through all the time.



RE: Useful Comments Re: DNSO process and Drafts submitted to ICANN

1999-02-07 Thread John B. Reynolds

I would have to see the specific wording, but my initial reaction is that
the changes you suggest would largely answer my concerns (although I would
still prefer explicitly defined initial constituencies), along with a
revision to Section 5.9 similar to that suggested by AIP and NSI.

I am not sure that a meld of the two drafts can be achieved without losing
support from key players on each side, nor do I believe that I would be the
best person to try to accomplish it.

Einar Stefferud wrote:

 Good constructive and useful criticism as I read it;-)...

 From your message Sun, 7 Feb 1999 10:42:42 -0600:
 }
 }William X. Walsh wrote:
 }
 } I call for a vote of participants on this list for which draft
 } they support.
 }
 } It is time to vocalize your support, and clearly indicate who you
 } represent.
 }
 }OK, I'll bite:
 }
 }There are number of problems with the Paris draft.  Section 2.1
 leaves the
 }issue of who is eligible for DNSO membership up to ICANN by making it
 }coextensive with ICANN's membership.  It is not yet clear what
 the makeup of
 }this membership will be or whether it would be appropriate for the DNSO.
 }

 I agree with this concern, and I suggest that the initial membership
 be defined in some other more well defined way.  One suggestion that
 makes sense to me is "Anyone with a DNS Zone file to administer" to be
 used to elect an INITIAL Names Council that is defined to have rather
 limited powers to decide on plicy matters, but has lots of power to
 set in motion both Research Committees and Fair Hearing Panels to
 comence the work of sorting out the mess that the DNSO will have to
 resolve.

 }
 }Section 3.2 requires the General Assembly to "self-organize into diverse
 }constituencies" without providing any mechanism for doing so.  If
 }discussions on these mailing lists are any indication, this is likely to
 }generate endless squabbles about the proper number and type of
 }constituencies that would likely not be resolved until ICANN
 stepped in to
 }impose a solution.
 }

 This is one more reason to start with an Initial NC with limited
 powers as suggested above.

 }
 }The real show-stoppers are in Article V, specifically Sections
 5.8 through
 }5.11.  The "Fair Hearing" provisions of Sections 5.8, 5.10, and
 5.11 make it
 }possible for any special interest or special interest group to
 delay almost
 }indefinitely any policy that they disagree with.  Section 5.9 goes even
 }further.  It elevates the particular special interest group of registries
 }above all others by giving it veto power and by requiring an essentially
 }unachievable 3/4 supermajority of registries for approval.  These
 }provisions, taken individually and in toto, would make it nearly
 impossible
 }for the DNSO to produce any substantive policy recommendations
 whatsoever.
 }That is unacceptable to me.  It is my hope and expectation that it will
 }prove to be unacceptable to ICANN as well.
 }

 Here I am in strong agreement that the whole concept of Fair Hearing
 Panels has been subvertted by inavertant editing whcih converts them
 into a mecahisim to be used to stop progress on any Research Committee
 proposal that someone does not like.  In his us, Fair Hearing Panels
 become a mecahism for objaingin cort-like injunctive relief.

 My original concept was tht they would be a method by which DNSO (or
 ICANN) would and could assure fair hearing and thus assure a hearable
 voice to all concerned.  My proposal called for Fair Hearing Panels to
 be created upon a petition to the NC or the BoD, which immediately
 guanatees that the NC or the BoD must read it and act upon it, and
 cannot claim they never knew anything about it.  Thus, guaranteeing
 that any voice can at least be heard.

 Behond that, there was no requiremtn that anything or action be
 stopped because of sucha request.  It is my beleif that just exposing
 the call for fair hearing and forcing the issue onto the table will be
 enough to keep things from being done in secret where stakeholders
 find themselves threatened.

 This needs further refinement, but I strongly object to the curent use
 of Fair Hearing Panels for providing court like injunctive relief.
 There was never any intention to creat a new court-like system!

 }
 }The flaws in the Washington draft are relatively minor by comparison.
 }Business interests are overrepresented, and there is no mechanism for
 }individual users or domain holders to participate directly (Section I.B).
 }It also fails to make clear whether Names Council members are
 elected by the
 }constituencies they represent or by the entire membership
 (Section I.E).  I
 }regard the former approach as necessary to prevent the Names Council from
 }being captured by a special interest group or groups
 constituting a majority
 }of the membership.
 }

 So, lets meld the good parts of the "Wahington Draft" into the Paris
 draft and proceed from there.  I suggest that you propose how such new
 or revised text might be applied!

 }

RE: Useful Comments Re: DNSO process and Drafts submitted to ICANN

1999-02-07 Thread John B. Reynolds

Michael Sondow wrote:

 Einar Stefferud a écrit:

  I agree with this concern, and I suggest that the initial membership
  be defined in some other more well defined way.  One suggestion that
  makes sense to me is "Anyone with a DNS Zone file to administer" to be
  used to elect an INITIAL Names Council

 Yes, of course you would suggest this, since it puts ORSC into
 the driver's
 seat. Everyone else, who doesn't administer DNS zone files, will have
 another, very different suggestion about how the NC will be elected. And
 Einar Stefferud won't nevessarily be their NC chairman.


How would this give control to ORSC?  Every domain name holder directly or
indirectly administers a DNS zone file.  Are you sure you're not confusing
"DNS zone" with "root zone"?



Re: Useful Comments Re: DNSO process and Drafts submitted to ICANN

1999-02-07 Thread Michael Sondow

John B. Reynolds a écrit:

 How would this give control to ORSC?  

Alright, perhaps my reaction was slightly exaggerated. Let's just say it's
strictly in their interest, to the direct detriment of other interests, my
own for example.

 Every domain name holder directly or
 indirectly administers a DNS zone file.  Are you sure you're not 
 confusing "DNS zone" with "root zone"?

No, the domain holders don't administer zone files. That's done by the ISPs
and the layers above them in the hierarchy. My name isn't in my ISP's
permissions file for changing RRs. I have no control over the MX records, or
the CNAME aliases, or who is the secondary NS, or anything else to do with
the zone files. I've been reading the BIND manual in my spare time. You
can't kid me.

This suggestion of a leader of ISPs and the layers above them
disenfranchises simple domain holders like me, and the layers below in the
tree. It's right in line with Einar Stefferud's former insistence that
connectivity providers represent the users: a blatant misrepresentation of
the facts, which are that the users, as pure consumers who gain nothing by
increased costs up and down the hierarchy, are not represented by anyone in
that hierarchy.

But enough. Neither Einar Stefferud, nor Kent Crispin, nor Michael Heltzer,
nor Dennis Jennings, nor anyone else is going to run the DNSO to the
disadvantage of myself and people like me. Not so long as I can still speak
and write and send e-mail messages.



RE: Useful Comments Re: DNSO process and Drafts submitted to ICANN

1999-02-07 Thread John B. Reynolds



Michael Sondow wrote:

 John B. Reynolds a écrit:

  Every domain name holder directly or
  indirectly administers a DNS zone file.  Are you sure you're not
  confusing "DNS zone" with "root zone"?

 No, the domain holders don't administer zone files. That's done
 by the ISPs
 and the layers above them in the hierarchy. My name isn't in my ISP's
 permissions file for changing RRs. I have no control over the MX
 records, or
 the CNAME aliases, or who is the secondary NS, or anything else to do with
 the zone files. I've been reading the BIND manual in my spare time. You
 can't kid me.

You administer your zone indirectly by controlling which ISP runs it
directly.  You have the power to move your zone file to another provider, to
your own server (assuming sufficient Internet connectivity), or to a service
that would permit you to administer it directly.




Re: Useful Comments Re: DNSO process and Drafts submitted to ICANN

1999-02-07 Thread Michael Sondow

John B. Reynolds a écrit:

 You administer your zone indirectly by controlling which ISP runs it
 directly. 

Administer the zone indirectly? What are you talking about? Is this a game
of semantics to you? It's a file. How do I change it's contents when it's on
a server in the house or office of someone else, and I don't have write
access? Would you like to tell everyone who may be witnessing this inane
discussion just what in the name of mother McCreedy you're talking about?

 You have the power to move your zone file to another provider

Move the zone file? What, copy and paste it from one server to another? Is
that how zone files are transferred? Horse-puckey! And even if it were, what
average domain name holder even knows how to access zone files, or has
access to a unix machine to do it with? 

 to your own server (assuming sufficient Internet connectivity)

How many domain name holders have unix boxes with BIND running on them, or
know how to configure BIND? Even the ISPs can't do it correctly.

 or to a service
 that would permit you to administer it directly.

No such service exists. But I see your game. You're not interested in useful
discussion, but in seeing if you can manipulate people. I won't waste any
more time with you.