yeah - probably raises the risk of exploitation too by those who would game the system for fraud. On 11/22/2010 7:40 AM, Milton L Mueller wrote: > Mark > ICANN actually doesn't control the root servers, which are somewhat autonomously run by various entities around the world. > Actually it (with oversight from the US Dept of commerce) manages the contents of the root zone file. > Those contents are then distributed by the root servers. > As Jorge suggests, it is the need for coordinated uniqueness in top level names that creates the centralization. > As you noted, ICANN, DoC and others exploit this need for coordination to impose political and regulatory controls on the DNS. > It is possible, as I and others have argued, to have multiple roots, not centrally coordinated, but this also raises the risk of some incompatibilities. > >> -----Original Message----- >> From: NCSG-NCUC [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On >> Behalf Of Marc Perkel >> Sent: Saturday, November 20, 2010 11:22 AM >> To: [log in to unmask] >> Subject: [NCSG-NCUC-DISCUSS] Can ICANN be decentralized? >> >> Just wondering. >> >> It seems that ICANN is the point where it is most vulnerable to >> government control because it is a point where domains can be removed >> from the Internet. I'm wondering if there is a way to decentralize that, >> and if it would be a good idea to do so if it could be done. >> >> As I understand the technology, ICANN controls the root servers. Would >> it be possible to have multiple root server systems outside of central >> control? Or is there a way ICANN can operate outside of US control? To >> be able to say NO to US law? >> >> Just trying to think outside the box.