Thursday, October 09, 2003
VeriSign Takes "Innovation" Debate to Washington - Computer Business Review
VeriSign Takes "Innovation" Debate to Washington - Computer Business Review: "VeriSign Takes 'Innovation' Debate to Washington
By Kevin Murphy
Should VeriSign Inc be allowed to 'innovate' with the internet's infrastructure? Is its Site Finder 'innovation'? Or does it prevent future innovation? These were the key issues raised at a meeting of VeriSign and its critics yesterday in Washington DC.
The gathering was arranged by the Internet Corp for Assigned Names and Numbers' [Ed: ICANN] security and stability advisory committee (SECSAC), following the massive outcry that followed VeriSign's introduction of Site Finder on September 15."
If it turns out that VeriSign wins this war (and make no mistake- this is a major conflict), then there will be no limits and any of the TLD masters can do whatever they want. That is not good. You could wake up some morning to find all of the links on your website broken because of the actions of a TLD. Or, even worse, you might find that your customers and audience can't get to your site at all.
I've said it before: the Internet is no longer a simplistic playground to be changed around at wim. There are way too many billions of dollars riding on the Internet working in a stable and predictable manner to let some outfit try to make money from it by screwing with that setup. If we're lucky, VeriSign will fold and the government won't get involved in taking over the net. If there isn't some body that can enforce sensible rules, then one needs to be created. Not tomorrow, yesterday! That's the base of arguments, here.
By Kevin Murphy
Should VeriSign Inc be allowed to 'innovate' with the internet's infrastructure? Is its Site Finder 'innovation'? Or does it prevent future innovation? These were the key issues raised at a meeting of VeriSign and its critics yesterday in Washington DC.
The gathering was arranged by the Internet Corp for Assigned Names and Numbers' [Ed: ICANN] security and stability advisory committee (SECSAC), following the massive outcry that followed VeriSign's introduction of Site Finder on September 15."
If it turns out that VeriSign wins this war (and make no mistake- this is a major conflict), then there will be no limits and any of the TLD masters can do whatever they want. That is not good. You could wake up some morning to find all of the links on your website broken because of the actions of a TLD. Or, even worse, you might find that your customers and audience can't get to your site at all.
I've said it before: the Internet is no longer a simplistic playground to be changed around at wim. There are way too many billions of dollars riding on the Internet working in a stable and predictable manner to let some outfit try to make money from it by screwing with that setup. If we're lucky, VeriSign will fold and the government won't get involved in taking over the net. If there isn't some body that can enforce sensible rules, then one needs to be created. Not tomorrow, yesterday! That's the base of arguments, here.
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