At 15:50 12/06/2012, Marc Perkel wrote: >http://redtape.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/12/12172042-is-flame-virus-fallout-a-chinese-russian-plot-to-control-the-internet?lite > >Not the best article but United States abuse of the Internet by >creating super viruses could lead to ICANN losing control. I >personally think Flame and Stuxnet will end up being a huge mistake. Marc, do not worry. The ICANN has absolutely no control on the Internet. It plaid the role that at the end of the day everyone accepted it to play. Then the took seriously their IANA maintenance task and wanted to take control of it (Paul Towmey and Chris Dispain and the mad vTLD scheme) and make it endorsed by the USG as a lesser evil. I am afraid this may come to an end soon enough with the fist court actions over the vTLD IPR issue. You know, there is no virus that can affect the internet, but there is a IANA DoS bomb (the langtag registry, due to it size and lack of update solution) by the US Industry. The Internet architecture surprisingly turns out to be extremely robust and open, but it is under employed to the advantage of its current dominance. The real issue is the USB (US Bluff): as long as it stays accepted, it protects us with the US umbrella of stability, what is acceptable to everyone - except in case of cyberwarfare actions. This is why the vTLD project was absurd: because it will start an intra-US legal loss of ICANN credibility, and as a consequence will question the USB. This will lead to the "internet+", with the same inner protocol, cute external additions and an entire new governance. Lead by Google/ISOC instead of ICANN/ISOC, at least they will have a try at it: decision will be with the users. Who do they want to control them? Cheers ! jfc