Wampum

The process of delegation embarked upon by Jon Postel after he settled on iso3166-1 as the organizing principle had its ups and downs. The .us zone became a playpen where six people "owned" 40% of the major US metropolitan areas. Pitcarin's Island went to someone in the UK. It got weirder from there, with Verisign buying the Comoros Islands for a ".cc" product, Tuvela became a streaming media play as ".tv", and the colonization, sometimes surprisingly self-inflicted continues. India is now Afilias' ".in" property.

The redelegation process was consensual. That is, the idiot who had the Pitcarin Island delegation had to agree to transfer the delegation to someone who actually paid attention to the company-sized population of on-islanders who wanted to use .pn. He didn't and the IANA got "this close" to doing a non-consensual redelegation, but in the final moments the idiot blinked and agreed to walk away from the registry.

The import of IANA's never having redelegated an iso3166-1 code point from party A to party B without the express prior consent of both parties A and B was that the DNS was not a legitimate military target. Whatever happened in Elbonia (Lower), coups, elections, corruption trials, ... did not effect a change in the control over the ".el" registry.

Until Iraq. ICANN in, and not in, the news, July 2004.

The .iq delegation handed over to agents of the regime put in place by the United States, without the consent of the delegee which had operated the .iq registry until it was shut down by agents of the United States. The DNS, and therefore its technical coordinating body, became a legitimate military target, with the first belligerent state targeting the DNS being ... the United States.

With that as a prelude, here's what those of us registered for the ICANN meeting next month in Nairobi got on the 11th:

Subject: New Information related to ICANN Nairobi Meeting
Updated Security Information as of 11 February 2010
Date:
Thursday, 11 February 2010

Dear ICANN Community,

Within the last 24 hours, we received an unclassified report from the United States’ Department of State related to the Kenyatta International Conference Center, the venue for our upcoming meeting (attached below).

The types of threats outlined in that communication are difficult to assess. ICANN is now reaching out to different parties in Kenya and elsewhere to see if it is possible to better assess the situation, and of course will share any further information with you.

Sammy Buruchara, Chairman of the ICANN 2010 Local Steering Committee in Nairobi has already provided the following information:

“In relation with the Security threat by Al Shabaab to US Embassy and KICC, I wish to on behalf of ICANN 2010 Local Organizing committee and on behalf of the relevant Kenya Government Security Agencies state the following:

The Kenya Government is aware of the Security Threat by Al Shabaab on KICC and on the United States Embassy in Nairobi. Our security organs that include National Security Intelligence Service (NSIS) and Kenya Anti-Terrorism Police have been alerted and will make appropriate security responses to deal with this threat. Through their network of security agents, they have made contingency plans to thwart any possible terrorist plot that will target Nairobi City, including KICC and all the Hotels in which delegates will be hosted, and the US Embassy.

I wish to assure ICANN Community that the Kenya Government is committed to ensure your safety during the ICANN event and will take necessary security measures to guarantee the safety of all participants during the Conference.”

In the most transparent manner possible, ICANN will continue to share information as it becomes available. Just like you, we’re processing this information, and seeing how and if we need to update procedures and plans for the upcoming meeting.

Sincerely,
ICANN

Information from U.S. State Department

“As of early February 2010, individuals affiliated with al-Shabaab al-Islamiya were planning suicide bombing attacks on the US Embassy and Kenyan International Conference Center in Nairobi, Kenya. The individuals were targeting the KICC because it was deemed the largest and oldest building associated with the Kenyan government. The US Embassy was targeted for its support of the Kenyan government. As of early February, the individuals planning to carry out the attacks were living in Somali communities in Kenya. We have no additional information regarding the possible individuals involved in the plot, timing, or method of the attack.

This is all the information we have at this time, and we will continue to keep you updated if there are any potential updates.”

And ICANN chose to become a legitimate military target the day it said "yes" to the pseudo-military claims of the 21st Secretary of Defense of the United States, Donald Rumsfeld, and the pseudo-legal claims of the 79th Attorney General of the United States, John Ashcroft.

I suppose ICANN can find hotel space in LA or Vegas, or risk being the target of some very sincere, very determined "lobbyists".