Re: [wg-review] Clarifications requested from BoD, Staff, NC, TC, Chair prior to co-Chair elections

[Kent Crispin <kent@songbird.com>]

On Wed, Jan 10, 2001 at 04:40:01PM -0500, Milton Mueller wrote:
> 
> Now we have Kent Crispin, antitrust law expert!

No, we have Milton Mueller, being an expert jerk.

I am certainly not an anti-trust law expert.  But, interestingly enough,
Joe Sims, ICANN's outside counsel, is.  

It is the case that a primary legal concern (perhaps THE primary legal
concern) in the formation of ICANN was how to avoid anti-trust action --
if things went as envisioned, ICANN would be the single controller for
access to two unique resources -- the central root dns registry, and the
central IP address registry.  This is a pure monopoly. 

Without ICANN (or some similar agent -- perhaps a government), the
registries would have to manage the central allocation of these
resources themselves, which would make THEM the object of anti-trust 
scrutiny (or at least increase the level of scrutiny). 

IF (and I say "if") ICANN convinces government anti-trust authorities 
that it's management of these resources passes muster from an 
anti-trust point of view, then the registries don't have to worry about 
it -- or at least their worries are lessened.  This off-loading of 
worry is a service that ICANN potentially provides to registries; and 
it is this service that I fancifully called an "anti-trust product".

> It's pretty humorous,
> but way too off-topic to pursue.  I would encourage others on this list
> to discount what he has to say on the topic pretty thoroughly.  Just
> let's say the concept of a private corporation selling an "anti-trust
> shield product" without any special exemption from government
> would...uh...raise a few eyebrows at the Justice Department. 

Obviously you can't recognize a metaphor when you see it.  In any case,
Joe Sims worked at the Justice Department... 

-- 
Kent Crispin                               "Be good, and you will be
kent@songbird.com                           lonesome." -- Mark Twain
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