December 2011 - nexa - server-nexa.polito.it

Re: [nexa] 37° Mercoledì di NEXA - 14 dicembre 2011

by Giuseppe Futia

REMINDER: Vi ricordiamo che oggi alle ore 18 presso la sede del Centro NEXA, *Salvatore Iaconesi*, interaction designer, terrà un incontro dal titolo: "*Urban sensing, la vita delle città in tempo reale*" *Webcast live all'indirizzo*: http://nexa.polito.it/upcoming-events Il giorno 24 novembre 2011 16:58, Giuseppe Futia <giuseppe.futia(a)polito.it>ha scritto: > > *37° Mercoledì di NEXA* > > *"Urban Sensing, la vita delle città in tempo reale"* > > http://nexa.polito.it/mercoledi-37* > * > > *Mercoledì 14 dicembre 2011 > ore 18 - 20* > (2° mercoledì del mese) > > Via Boggio 65/a, Torino (primo piano) > Live streaming: http://nexa.polito.it/events > > > Le strategie di pianificazione ed evoluzione delle città possono > beneficiare, ad oggi, dell'uso di nuove sorgenti di informazione in tempo > reale che rendono accessibili le emozioni, le progettualità, le tensioni e > le attenzioni espresse attraverso* basi di dati aperte*, *conversazioni > online*, e *sistemi di publishing ubiquo*. > > Lo sfruttamento dei dati, tenendo conto di elementi fondamentali quali > l'interoperabilità e l'adozione di formati aperti, rappresenta dunque un > tassello fondamentale per migliorare le nostre città, partendo dalle *proposte > dei cittadini* e avvalendosi di *strumenti per il monitoraggio*. > Occorrono, in primo luogo, mezzi per il cosiddetto *social network > conversation harvesting*, ovvero l'ascolto in tempo reale delle > conversazioni sui social network da cui emergono osservazioni e dibattiti > sulla città. Il passo successivo consiste nel creare vere e proprie "reti > di sensibilità" (*sensing networks*) attraverso l'uso di sensori capaci > di misurare grandezze ecologiche ed ecosistemiche. > > E' possibile mettere in pratica modalità di osservazione della città > capaci di trasformare in uno strumento concreto le narrative stratificate > secondo le strategie che cittadini, organizzazioni e imprese attuano sul > territorio (*ubiquitous anthropology* <http://www.fakepress.it/FP/?p=37>). > E su tali basi realizzare "*sistemi esperti disseminati*" che coagulino l' > *intelligence* diffusa rappresentata dai contributi di una molteplicità > di soggetti per creare un *framework* di elaborazione delle informazioni > che, in tempo reale, si materializzano nelle città. > > In questo contesto, l'uso dell'*infoestetica* come mezzo per attuare > modalità radicali di accessibilità dell'informazione va in parallelo > all'evoluzione del concetto di *user generated engine*. Attraverso di > essi è possibile immaginare scenari di trasformazione del concetto di > cittadinanza, mirando a visioni del cittadino quale agente consapevole e > attivo che prende parte a un multi-sistema di conoscenza ubiqua in tempo > reale. Di questi temi discuterà *Salvatore Iaconesi*, ingegnere e > interaction designer, con il contributo di *Simone Arcagni*, ricercatore > presso l'Università degli Studi di Palermo, assieme ai Nexiani e a tutti > coloro i quali avranno piacere di intervenire nel dibattito. > > *Biografie*: > > *Salvatore Iaconesi* è ingegnere, *interaction designer*, artista e > consulente strategico per diverse organizzazioni. Si occupa di sistemi > esperti, sistemi strategici territoriali, progettazione di servizi e > processi di innovazione radicale, sistemi in *realtime* per la cattura, > l'elaborazione e la visualizzazione di dati a livello planetario per > diverse organizzazioni. Ha sviluppato nel corso degli anni più di 500 > progetti per operatori come le Nazioni Unite, Nokia, H3G, NttDoCoMo, > General Electric, Sony-Ericsson, Smart Telecommunications, IBM, Telecom > Italia e molti altri. > Attualmente insegna Interaction Design, Progettazione di sistemi > multimediali e Design Cross Mediale a Roma, Firenze e Londra. E' > attualmente presidente e direttore artistico di FakePress Publishing<http://www.fakepress.it/>, > una casa editoriale che si occupa di pratiche di editoria ubiqua. Salvatore > svolge attività di ricerca e divulgazione scientifica e collabora con > laboratori ed organizzazioni in Italia, UK, USA, Brasile, Finlandia e > Slovenia. I suoi progetti artistici, focalizzati sull'analisi della > mutazione dell'essere umano con l'ampia ed ubiqua accessibilità di reti e > tecnologie, sono esposti in tutto il mondo. > > *Simone Arcagni* è ricercatore in "Cinema, Televisione e Fotografia" > presso l'Università degli Studi di Palermo. Docente preso la NABA di > Milano. Studioso e critico cinematografico, collabora con diverse riviste e > giornali tra cui "Nòva - Il Sole 24 Ore", "XL - Repubblica", "Oxygen", > "Close-up", "Segnocinema", "Tutto Digitale", "Bianco & Nero", "Imago", "I > Quaderni del CSCI" e tiene un suo blog ("Postcinema<http://simonearcagni.nova100.ilsole24ore.com>") > sul sito "Nòva 100" del "Sole 24 Ore". > Consulente editoriale per le Edizioni Kaplan, dirige la collana di libri > "One PM", è consulente della View Conference e di Share Festival. Tra le > sue pubblicazioni recenti: *Music Video* (con Alessandro Amaducci), *Oltre > il cinema - Metropoli e media* e la curatela di volumi e numeri > monografici, in particolare su cinema e web, cinema digitale e nuovi media. > * > Link di riferimento: > * > > - Art is Open Source <http://www.artisopensource.net/> > - FakePress Publishing <http://www.fakepress.it/> > > * Letture consigliate:* > > - Kozareva, Z. et al. (2007),* Combining data-driven systems for > improving Named Entity Recognition*, Data Knowl. Eng., vol. 61, pp. > 449-466 > - Lynch, K. (1961), *The Image of the City* , Harvard-MIT Joint Center > for Urban Studies Series > - Mehta, V. (2007) , *Lively Streets : Determining Environmental > Characteristics to Support Social Behavior*, Journal of Planning > Education and Research > - Outram, C. (2008), *City Sense, Constructing an Image of the City > through GEO-tagged data on the web*, Theory of City Form 4.214J > - Ritter, A., et al. (2011), *Named Entity Recognition in Tweets: An > Experimental Study*, Conference on Empirical Methods in Natural > Language Processing, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK > > > *Ufficio Stampa > Centro NEXA su Internet & Società:* > Giuseppe Futia > > NEXA Center for Internet & Society > Politecnico di Torino > Dipartimento di Automatica e Informatica > > Tel. +39 333 1103017 > > _______________________________________________ > nexa mailing list > nexa(a)server-nexa.polito.it > https://server-nexa.polito.it/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nexa > >

Dec. 14, 2011

I: Frequenze TV: Assoprovider ( Confcommercio) deposita un esposto in Procura e impugna il bando chiedendone l'annullamento in autotutela al Ministero dello Sviluppo.

by G.Battista Frontera

_____ Da: G.Battista Frontera [mailto:gb.frontera@baoad.it] Inviato: mercoledì 14 dicembre 2011 1.31 A: 'nexa(a)server-nexa.polito.it' Oggetto: I: Frequenze TV: Assoprovider ( Confcommercio) deposita un esposto in Procura e impugna il bando chiedendone l'annullamento in autotutela al Ministero dello Sviluppo. .....relata refero. Gb _____ Da: fulvio sarzana [mailto:fulvio.sarzana@lidis.it] Inviato: martedì 13 dicembre 2011 20.34 A: info(a)lidis.it Oggetto: Frequenze TV: Assoprovider ( Confcommercio) deposita un esposto in Procura e impugna il bando chiedendone l'annullamento in autotutela al Ministero dello Sviluppo. Roma, 14 dicembre 2011. LAssociazione di operatori del settore media e delle telecomunicazioni ASSOPROVIDER, aderente a Confcommercio, che riunisce più di 200 piccole e medie imprese nel settore del digitale, ha depositato in data odierna un esposto alla Procura regionale del Lazio della Corte dei Conti in tema di assegnazione di frequenze TV. In particolare lesposto ha ad oggetto un possibile danno alle casse dello Stato derivante dallassegnazione da parte del Ministero dello Sviluppo economico delle frequenze televisive lasciate libere dal passaggio dallanalogico al digitale, che erano state oggetto di polemiche nei giorni scorsi per labbandono della gara da parte di Sky. Secondo il legale dellAssociazione, lAvv. Fulvio Sarzana, <http://www.lidis.it> specializzato nel diritto dei media e delle telecomunicazioni, esiste il concreto rischio, in caso di aggiudicazione con gli odierni criteri di gara che lassegnazione dei multiplex disponibili, ovvero i pacchetti di frequenze, possano essere, secondo la procedura del cd beauty contest prescelta dal Ministero per lo sviluppo economico, solo i soggetti giudicati più meritevoli secondo i parametri imposti dal ministero dello Sviluppo Economico, senza che sia prevista ( secondo quanto riportato da diversi organi di stampa) lentrata di un solo euro nelle casse dello Stato. Secondo alcune stime fatte nei giorni scorsi i sei multiplex oggetto di assegnazione potrebbero invece portare nelle casse dello Stato, se messe regolarmente a gara, la somma rilevante di 2,4 miliardi di euro. Alcuni esperti, contattati dagli organi di stampa nei giorni precedenti, parlano addirittura ( ma in riferimento allintero spettro televisivo) di 16 miliardi di euro. La mancata adozione di un procedimento di gara aperto alla libera concorrenza appare in grado di determinare, secondo lAssociazione- un rilevante danno erariale alle Casse dello Stato. Non si comprende il perché-continua lAssociazione- vi sia questa difformità di valutazione tra le frequenze rese disponibili dal passaggio al digitale, alcune delle quali assegnate in settembre agli operatori di telecomunicazione a valori miliardari ( precisamente 3,9 miliardi di euro) con una procedura di gara aperta ed altre rese disponibili ad pochi operatori televisivi già presenti sul mercato mediante una procedura di beauty contest di fatto non profittevole dal punto di vista economico. Contemporaneamente Fulvio Sarzana, <http://www.lidis.it> per conto dellAssoprovider, ha trasmesso al Ministero dello Sviluppo economico un istanza di ritiro immediato del bando e del disciplinare di gara, sollecitando allo stesso Ministero lattivazione dei propri poteri di annullamento in autotutela, al fine di rinunciare allespletamento delle procedure di gara basate sul beauty contest. continua su www.fulviosarzana.it <http://www.fulviosarzana.it/> ************************************* Avv. Fulvio Sarzana di Sant'Ippolito Studio Legale Sarzana e Associati Via Velletri, 10 - 00198 Roma Tel. +39 06 3211553 Tel. +39 06 97614489 Fax. +39 06 97256424 skype fulvio.sarzana <http://www.lidis.it/> http://www.lidis.it ************************************* This message and any file transmitted are confidential. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, please You should not copy or disclose the contents to any other person. For further information please visit our website at http://www.lidis.it . -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by <http://www.mailscanner.info/> MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

Dec. 14, 2011

Herdict sta cercando "local outreach coordinators"

by J.C. DE MARTIN

Gli amici del progetto "Herdict" del Berkman Center for Internet & Society stanno cercando "local outreach coordinators" anche in Europa e mi hanno quindi pregato di diffondere la call a seguire, da cui si evince il profilo delle persone che stanno cercando e cosa si aspettano da loro. Se siete interessati, contattateli pure direttamente dicendo di aver letto l'annuncio sulla lista NEXA: http://herdict.org. juan carlos Want to help fight Internet censorship and help promote freedom of expression online? Become a Local Outreach Coordinator for Herdict! Herdict <http://herdict.org/>, needs assistance from netizens in Egypt, China, Turkey, and Thailand who are concerned about Internet freedom. Herdict is a crowdsourced project based at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University that is dedicated to collecting and disseminating real-time information about Internet filtering, denial of service attacks, and other blockages. We are seeking Local Outreach Coordinators who would be volunteers that are passionate about Internet freedom and are eager to help Herdict. These coordinators will help shape the future of Herdict, and the Internet as a whole, by conducting outreach activities in their communities, cities, and countries, and by relaying important information back to the Herdict staff. What we're looking for: * Motivated individuals who are excited about furthering Herdict's mission. * Innovative thinkers with creative outreach ideas and strong social networks. * Those with relevant experience in outreach efforts, including (but not limited to) campaign work, fundraising activities, and volunteer recruitment. * Native speakers of Russian, Chinese, Arabic, Turkish, or Thai who are also fluent in English. Benefits: * Gain experience in volunteer recruitment strategies while working on the forefront of new and exciting issues in Internet filtration and access. * Exceptional Local Outreach Coordinators may get the opportunity to blog for Herdict. * Featured Member of the Month opportunities, including Herdict gear giveaways and Herdict site publicity for featured members. * We would be happy to provide references for active Coordinators. Our expectations: * Commit to helping Herdict for five hours per week. * Expand Herdict's user base and increase Herdict activity within your country using social media tools such as Twitter and Facebook. * Mobilize Herdict reporting in response to local/national censorship events. * Produce short weekly updates for Herdict staff regarding relevant current events. * Curate and manage the Herdict website queue for your country. To apply: * Please email the following information to LOC@Herdict<dot>org o A cover letter indicating your interest in the position o A current resume * The deadline for submissions is December 16, 2011, but decisions will be made on a rolling basis throughout the next month. Please direct any questions regarding these opportunities or your applications to LOC@Herdict<dot>org. We look forward to hearing from you soon! The Herdict Team

Dec. 13, 2011

Berkman Center Webcast live oggi ore 18.30 - [December 13] Celebrating the Online Media Legal Network's (OMLN) 2nd Anniversary

by Giuseppe Futia

*Celebrating the Online Media Legal Network's (OMLN) 2nd Anniversary *<http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2011/12/jarvis>* * http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2011/12/omln Today, 6.30 pm Webcast live: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/interactive/webcast http://nexa.polito.it/berkman-webcast-live The Online Media Legal Network ("OMLN") was created at the end of 2009 by David Ardia, Kim Isbell, and Helen Fu as part of the Citizen Media Law Project, in order to respond to the lack of experienced legal advice available to independent news organizations, online content creators, and solo digital journalists. As the OMLN nears the end of its second year, it has helped over 160 clients with more than 330 separate legal matters, and has more than 225 firms, clinics and individual attorneys in its roster with coverage in all 50 U.S. states. At this event, timed to celebrate the OMLN's second anniversary, the staff of the OMLN will discuss the history and growth of the project, the accumulated data regarding the nature and geographic distribution of clients and legal issues that have come to the OMLN, and the OMLN's efforts to meet those needs. They will also discuss potential future uses of the OMLN in connection with research and tracking of legal trends. *Links* * Online Media Legal Network <http://www.omln.org/> * Citizen Media Law Project <http://www.citmedialaw.org/>

Dec. 13, 2011

Website knows what you've illegally downloaded

by fabio chiusi

Che ne pensate? http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45646527/ns/technology_and_science-security/?oc… Ciao, f.

Dec. 13, 2011

Fwd: [ NNSquad ] The real YouTube pirates: Firms that claim public domain footage as their own!

by J.C. DE MARTIN

-------- Original Message -------- Subject: [ NNSquad ] The real YouTube pirates: Firms that claim public domain footage as their own! Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2011 16:09:11 -0800 From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren(a)vortex.com> To: nnsquad(a)nnsquad.org The real YouTube pirates: Firms that claim public domain footage as their own! http://j.mp/vLcZqE (Guardian) "Malamud's 146-page report from FedFlix to the Archivist of the United States documents claims that companies such as NBC Universal, al-Jazeera, and Discovery Communications have used ContentID to claim title to FedFlix videos on YouTube. Some music royalty collecting societies have claimed infringements in "silent movies". ... YouTube offers very little help for FedFlix. ContentID's dispute resolution mechanism allows FedFlix to contest these claims under only three circumstances: first, ContentID has generated a false match (that is, the video isn't what ContentID thinks it is); second, the uploader has the right to the file, as demonstrated by written permission from its proprietor; or third, the use is acceptable under the US doctrine of fair use, or its counterpart in other laws, fair dealing. But FedFlix can't contest on any of these bases. ContentID isn't mistaken - the files are exactly what ContentID thinks they are. But no rights holder can send a written permission notice to YouTube about these files, because they have no rights holders - they are in the public domain. The posting of these files isn't "fair use". Fair use is a copyright infringement that is lawful because it serves some allowed purpose. FedFlix's posting of public domain files is not a copyright violation, so they can't be fair use. Malamud's report documents these troubles in Kafkaesque detail." - - - I've heard from persons who shot their own videos in their own houses, using ancient classical music they performed on their own instruments, who have gotten multiple Content ID hits and strikes. When they attempt to contest, the false "rights holders" simply takedown again. Most of these people don't have the resources to hire lawyers to go further, and escalating such issues with Google is an exercise in frustration for most of them. On the other hand, Google is between a rock and a hard place on this. The amount of new video flowing into YouTube each day is vast, and only automated systems can deal with them effectively. YouTube's Content ID has been an honest attempt to hold back far more draconian content control schemes (such as SOPA/PIPA) which would do even more damage. Note that I'm not even talking here about arguments over "fair use" -- right now we're discussing materials that are public domain or owned wholly by the uploaders. I have my own ideas on how to deal with this unbalanced situation, but in the current SOPA/PIPA environment aimed at giving even *more* power to the entities that abuse Content ID, et al., it hardly even seems worthwhile to discuss my concepts regarding this now. --Lauren-- Lauren Weinstein (lauren(a)vortex.com) http://www.vortex.com/lauren Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org Founder: - Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org - Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance: http://www.gctip.org - PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com Google+: http://vortex.com/g+lauren Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com _______________________________________________ nnsquad mailing list http://lists.nnsquad.org/mailman/listinfo/nnsquad

Dec. 13, 2011

Gigaom: "Why Spotify can never be profitable: The secret demands of record labels"

by J.C. DE MARTIN

Why Spotify can never be profitable: The secret demands of record labels By Michael Robertson, MP3tunes Dec. 11, 2011, 9:00am PT 68 Comments <http://gigaom.com/2011/12/11/why-spotify-can-never-be-profitable-the-secret…> Imagine a new hot-dog selling venture. Let's also say there's only one supplier to purchase hot dogs from. Instead of simply charging a fixed price for hot dogs, that supplier demands the HIGHER of the following: $1 per hot dog sold OR $2 for every customer served OR 50 percent of all revenues for anything sold in the store.In addition, the supplier requires a two-year minimum order of 300 hot dogs per day, payable all in advance. If fewer hot dogs are sold, there is no refund. If more than 300 hot dogs are sold each day, payments to the supplier are generated by calculating $2 per customer or 50 percent of total revenues, so an additional payment is due to the supplier. After the first two years, the supplier can unilaterally adjust any of the pricing terms and the shop can never switch suppliers. Would this imaginary hot dog establishment be able to generate a profit? Never, because the economics are one-sided. The supplier will always elect the formula that captures the largest amount of money for themselves, completely disregarding the financial viability of the store. If the store miraculously managed to generate a profit, the landlord would simply raise the rates after two years. Such economic demands may be imaginary for the hot dog business, but they are the stark reality that every digital-music subscription service such as Spotify, Rhapsody, MOG, Rdio, and others must confront. These details aren't well-known because digital music service deals are always wrapped tightly with strict non-disclosure agreements. For the first time, people are talking, and these previously secret demands are being made public. [...] Continua qui: http://gigaom.com/2011/12/11/why-spotify-can-never-be-profitable-the-secret…

Dec. 12, 2011

Fw: [Creis_Terminal] Fwd: Info DEL/CNRS : colloque à Alger,mai 2012

by Mariella Berra

----- Original Message ----- From: Chantal richard To: CREIS Sent: Monday, December 12, 2011 5:00 PM Subject: [Creis_Terminal] Fwd: Info DEL/CNRS : colloque à Alger,mai 2012 -------- Message original -------- Sujet: Info DEL/CNRS : colloque à Alger,mai 2012 Date : Mon, 05 Dec 2011 18:20:00 +0100 De : INFOS Réseau DEL/CNRS <info.del.cnrs(a)free.fr> Pour : destinataires inconnus:; -------- Message original -------- Sujet: Fwd: Tr : bonjour Date : Thu, 01 Dec 2011 16:39:39 +0100 (CET) De : Fabienne Greffet <Fabienne.Greffet(a)univ-nancy2.fr> Pour : Gérard LOISEAU <loiseau(a)univ-tlse2.fr> Pour les collègues du réseau DEL Bonjour à tous Une collègue algérienne sollicite des spécialistes des réseaux sociaux soit comme membre de comité scientifique, soit comme contributeur à un collqoue qui aura lieu à Alger en mai 2012. Cf. documents ci-dessous et joints pour se manifester si vous êtes intéressés. Bien à vous, Fabienne Bonjour, Je vous envoie ces documents pour solliciter votre participation au comité scientifique et aux travaux du colloque que l'université d'Alger compte organiser au mois de mai. J'espère que vous serez intéressé (e) de coopérer avec nous. La directrice du labo et présidente du comité d'organisation est ouverte à toute information. Cordialement. -- Gérard Loiseau, CERTOP/CNRS (loiseau(a)univ-tlse2.fr) Stéphanie Wojcik, Université Paris-Est, Céditec (stephanie.wojcik(a)u-pec.fr) Réseau de recherche "Démocratie électronique" / Research network "Electronic Democracy" www.certop.fr/DEL Pour vous désabonner, envoyez un mail à loiseau(a)univ-tlse2.fr" / "To unsuscribe from the DEL mailing list, send an e-mail to loiseau(a)univ-tlse2.fr -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ Creis_terminal mailing list Creis_terminal(a)lecreis.org https://listes.globenet.org/listinfo/creis_terminal

Dec. 12, 2011

Re: [nexa] EU e open data: lunedì l'annuncio

by Federico Morando

Il rif. resta il link segnalato da J.C. (http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/policy/psi/index_en.htm) Cominciano inoltre ad uscire vari resoconti dell'annuncio... http://www.guardian.co.uk/government-computing-network/2011/dec/12/eu-open-… tra le cose giustamente evidenziate: "Expand the reach of the directive to include libraries, museums and archives for the first time." anche se la press release ufficiale: http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/11/891&format=… <http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/11/891&format=…> ricorda che resteranno esclusi: "Educational and research establishments; Performing cultural institutions such as operas, ballets and theatres as well as public service broadcasters". Ciao, Federico On 12/10/2011 06:28 PM, J.C. DE MARTIN wrote: > Come forse sapete, lunedì (dopodomani) la Commissione Europea > annuncerà il futuro della Direttiva Public Sector Information (aka, > open data). > > Se volete prepararvi all'annuncio > qui http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/policy/psi/index_en.htm > trovate, oltre a molto altro: > > - a survey on existing findings on the economic impact of public > sector information conducted by the European Commission in 2011 > (Vickery study) the overall direct and indirect economic gains are > estimated at EUR140bn throughout the EU. Increase in the re-use of PSI > generates new businesses and jobs and provides consumers with more > choice and more value for money; > > - A Communication on Open Data (versione provvisoria); > > - A proposal for a revision of the Directive (provisional version); > > - A proposal for a revision of the Commission's rules on access to the > information it holds (provisional version). > > Buona lettura! > > juan carlos > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > nexa mailing list > nexa(a)server-nexa.polito.it > https://server-nexa.polito.it/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nexa

Dec. 12, 2011

Fwd: [IP] from Dyson -- ICANN What’s the .rush? - The Washington Post

by J.C. DE MARTIN

-------- Original Message -------- Subject: [IP] from Dyson -- ICANN What’s the .rush? - The Washington Post Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2011 11:19:41 -0500 From: Dave Farber <dave(a)farber.net> Reply-To: dave(a)farber.net To: ip <ip(a)listbox.com> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: *Esther Dyson* <edyson(a)edventure.com <mailto:edyson@edventure.com>> Date: Mon, Dec 12, 2011 at 11:17 AM Subject: Re: [IP] ICANN What’s the .rush? - The Washington Post To: David Farber <dave(a)farber.net <mailto:dave@farber.net>> Cc: ip <ip(a)listbox.com <mailto:ip@listbox.com>> Dave - Thanks so much for reposting this. I know everyone is concerned (and justly) about SOPA right now, but ICANN is unaccountable to anyone except its own coterie of registries, registrars, trademark lawyers. In theory, it's accountable to the public, but the public pays no attention.... So, everyone, please pay attention! In 5 years, people will use Google et al. instead of URLs anyway, but in the meantime a TLD 1 percent is going to get rich by confusing and "protecting" the 99 percent. here is my own written testimony for the Senate Commerce Committee hearing last week: Thank you,Chairman Rockefeller, Ranking Member Hutchinson, esteemed Senators, Committee staff and others, for your attention to this important issue.As a private citizen with a variety of affiliations but beholden to no single employer or institution, I am honored to be here today. My name is Esther Dyson. I was the founding chairman of ICANN's board, from its inception in September 1998 until late in 2000. I continued as a member of the ICANN At-Large Advisory Committee for a year or two after that, and subsequently went on with the rest of my life.I am a casual user of domain names; I have a couple registered that I don't use, and then I have owned and used edventure.com <http://edventure.com> since before my ICANN tenure.As an investor, a board member of non-profit and for-profit companies and as a user of the Internet, I do have a substantial interest in freedom of speech and freedom to innovate. Other than that, I have no particular business interests in the domain name system, and I paid my own way here today. Moreover, unlike most of the public, I have the private resources, the time and the insider knowledge to come here to give you what I hope you will find to be an informed and useful perspective. I come as a loving critic to improve ICANN, not to bury it. *Some brief history* When I joined the board of ICANN back in 1998, the majority of its members had almost no experience with the Internet and attempted to serve the interests of a broad public.At the time, our primary mission was to break the monopoly of Network Solutions (which managed .com among other registries), first by separating the functions of registry (which manages the list of names in a particular top-level domain) and registrar (which resells second-level domain names to the public). We succeeded in that, and we also managed to launch a few new TLDs, including .biz, .info, .museum and .coop. Of those, only .biz and .info have had much success.Separately, a number of creative people – whose initiative I sincerely applaud – made special-purpose TLDs out of country codes (ccTLDs) such as .tv (Tuvalu), .md (Moldova), .ly (Libya) and most recently .co (Colombia). At the same time, it's fair to say that .com retained its first-mover advantage as by far the leading TLD.Users instinctively type COMPANYNAME.com <http://COMPANYNAME.com> into their browsers. I myself was a big fan of the concept of new TLDs. I believed that it would broaden the market, encourage innovation (as with the repurposed ccTLDs I mentioned above)...and besides, why should ICANN enforce artificial scarcity? But I have since changed my mind.Now I would like to explain why, and finally to suggest some paths forward. *Why I changed my mind – Confusing to the public* After my two-year term as chairman of ICANN expired in 2000, I joined the At-Large Advisory Committee.Our mission was to make sure the voice of the ultimate users – not just the sellers, resellers and buyers of domain names – was heard.That turned out to be an almost impossible task.Naturally enough, normal members of the public did not have the time or interest (or funds) to involve themselves in ICANN's business.Despite numerous attempts, we failed to atttract more than a few thousand people at best to our various meetings, online conversations, requests for comment and the like.Our online message board was mostly painful to read.When I finally resigned from the ALAC, I too found ICANN too removed from my daily interests to pay much attention to its activities. *Why I changed my mind – Lack of oversight* Our premise for new TLDs was that we would select registry managers who would add value to theirTLDs and monitor the behavior of their registrars, who would in turn make sure that the registrants followed whatever requirements the registries imposed.In fact, the business overall has become one of sleazy marketing practices, front-running (where registrars or related parties buy names for their own accounts, competing unfairly with their customers) and a high proportion of spammy domains.Unfortunately, the ease and lack of accountability with which someone can buy a domain name has led to a profusion of spam, phishing and other nefarious sites. There's no reason to think the situation would be any better with the next set of new TLDs; there would simply be more of them. And as the case of .xxx shows, many of the second-level domain-name purchasers who do have honest intentions will probably be more interested in defensive registrations rather than adding value to the system.(One such case is that of Meetup.com <http://Meetup.com>, out of whose office I work and on whose board I sit. Meetup has attempted to register Meetup.xxx, but has been told the name has been reserved on the "premium queue" to be auctioned off to the highest bidder. Even more perversely, Meetup cannot even bid at auction for its own trademarked name unless it somehow becomes registered as a member of the "adult community," which is at odds with the very nature of its business and the very reason it sought to reserve the name. Meetup's only remedy ultimately will be to file an expensive and time-consuming trademark lawsuit.) *Why I changed my mind – Misallocation of resources* Our initial assumption was that new TLDs would be relatively cheap.But ICANN's current plan envisions an expensive application process and expensive registrations. The amount of money likely to be spent on these new TLDs - both by new applicants and registrants, and by incumbents protecting their names - is huge, at a time when businesses and consumers are just scraping by.I believe in innovation, but only if it adds value. In this case, most of the new domains would simply add friction. As with .xxx, where many of the registrants are actually companies who want to make sure their name is /not /used in .xxx, I predict that many or most of the new registrations will be defensive.Marriott.com <http://Marriott.com>, for example, works fine; why do they need marriott.hotels except defensively?(Or why do they need to own .marriott?) The rationale is that there's a shortage of domain names... but actually, there's a shortage of space in people's heads.When you add, for example, .hotel, you are not creating new space; you are carving up the «hotel» space in people's heads into .com and .hotel.So was that Marriott.com <http://Marriott.com> or Marriott.hotel?or dyson.com <http://dyson.com> or dyson.hotel? if I decide to rent out my apartment.Consumers will inevitably be confused, and the primary beneficiaries will be Google, trademark lawyers...and of course the registries and registrars. In short, it's as if you owned a field, and you paid a border guard.Now the border guards want you to pay separately for each little chunk in your field; it's still the same field, but now it's carved into ever-smaller pieces. To use my own small field as an example, the field was originally called edventure.com <http://edventure.com>.Now the new chunks could be labeled edventure.angel, edventure.blog, edventure.nyc, edventure.post, edventure.fin .... and perhaps I'll also be solicited to buy the TLD .edventure so that some educational or editorial group won't get hold of it. In the end, new domain names are somewhat like derivatives: They add complexity and transactions and lots of rights and obligations without actually creating anything of value. *Context: Innovation can happen without new TLDs* I have heard from people who say that the new TLDs will lead to great innovation.I once thought so too.I had visions of .fin as high-value, highly secure TLD for regulated financial services, for example. Right now, there are people who want to launch .eco and .green as the foundation of a «green» marketing campaign that would purportedly do untold good for the world at large.But what's wrong with edventure.com/green? <http://edventure.com/green?> Meanwhile, there is innovation in namespaces, but it comes with overall innovation.One of the best and simplest examples I can think of is twitter, where I am @edyson or http://twitter.com/#!/edyson <http://twitter.com/#%21/edyson>- a fine use of an /existing/ TLD. *Remedies ....* Of course, my task here does not end with complaining.What should be done?First of all, it is not the role of Congress to tell ICANN what to do. ICANN is accountable to the worldwide public, not to the US Government (except through one limited contract).But it /is/ the role of Congress to shed light on issues of public interest, and to suggest politely that ICANN follow through more fully on its acknowledged obligation to solicit public feedback.As I discovered during my time at ICANN, it's hard to get the public interested in these matters.(In that respect too, domain names are like derivatives.) As I mentioned, ICANN has indeed followed the process of soliciting public opinion, but I do not believe they have obtained «informed consent,» in the sense that people actually understand the issues. *Much broader consultation with the public* Therefore, although personally I would like to see ICANN simply abandon this program, I have been told again and again that this is not «realistic.» If that is indeed the case, I would recommend that ICANN rapidly re-launch its consultation process with much broader outreach.Perhaps these hearings and the subsequent press coverage will help to inform the broader public and shade ICANN's approach to new TLDs. *Much stronger front-end protection* At the same time, ICANN could offer much broader and easier protection (from similar-sounding TLDs) to existing registrants, akin to what ICANN itself has and what the Red Cross is asking for.Of course, this would obviate much of the interest in the new domain names, but it is a proper obligation for ICANN to undertake, in my opinion. *Conclusion* The current domain name system in some ways is an accident of history.ICANN was created to regulate it, independently of any government and on behalf of the Internet – and world - community as a whole.Just as with fishing rights, communications spectra, taxi medallions and other «commons,»there's a delicate balance between too few and too many domain names, which this new initiative may well upset if it goes forward without more serious study.As the old saying goes:If it ain't broke, don't fix it! I would welcome any questions. On Dec 12, 2011, at 9:46 AM, David Farber wrote: > > > http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/whats-the-rush/2011/12/09/gIQA5Ms9nO… > > ICANN reports to no one — a decision made when the group was created > during the Clinton administration to protect Internet independence. > The group has made some adjustments in response to concerns, including > creation of a trademark clearinghouse and a “rapid response” process > to allow legitimate rights holders to quickly knock out imposters. > Officials have said that some nonprofits may be permitted to pay lower > fees. > > Although the plan has been six years in the making, it is not ready > for prime time. ICANN officials acknowledge that they are still > working out some details, including certain protections for trademark > holders. The Justice Department and other law enforcement agencies > have expressed concerns about enforcement. > > ICANN should not approve new names until enforcement and protection > issues are resolved. Even then, it should approve at most a few, to > allow the marketplace to absorb and weigh the changes. ICANN would be > wise to move slowly; its legitimacy and Internet efficacy are at stake. > > snip > > ------------------------------------------- > Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now > RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/124966-899eea08 > Modify Your Subscription: https://www.listbox.com/member/?& > <https://www.listbox.com/member/?&> > Unsubscribe Now: > https://www.listbox.com/unsubscribe/?&&post_id=20111212094620:0B2BF592-24D0… > <https://www.listbox.com/unsubscribe/?&&post_id=20111212094620:0B2BF592-24D0…> > Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com Esther Dyson edyson(a)edventure.com <mailto:edyson@edventure.com> c/o Meetup HQ 632 Broadway, 10th floor New York, NY 10012 USA www.edventure.com <http://www.edventure.com> www.flickr.com/photos/edyson <http://www.flickr.com/photos/edyson> @edyson Always make new mistakes! 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Dec. 12, 2011