NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] Susan Crawford
"Internet law expert Susan Crawford has joined President Barack Obama's lineup of tech policy experts at the White House, according to several sources." Since ICANN is mentioned below, I must note that I found Susan's vocal support of the proposed dot-ex-ex-ex TLD, and what many observers viewed as her mischaracterization of alleged support for that TLD, to be extremely disappointing. Her failure to acknowlege the complexitities and depth of negative free speech impacts that could result from such efforts (either in the past or upcoming under new ICANN rules) caused me to question her understanding of "second order" effects in terms of non-neutral filtering efforts, coercion of sites into such "black light districts," and other related impacts. In general, I find all the talk about opening up more TLDs to be largely a waste of time and a diversion from much more important Internet issues. In fact, most new TLDs are proposed these days for one of only two reasons -- creating a new profit center (often by encouraging a rush of protective registrations by trademark owners and others who have no real interest in being in the new TLD) or establishing easier ways to "censor" or otherwise control content. As each new TLD is established, dot-com becomes even more valuable since it stands out from the TLD clutter in the public's mind. I believe that ICANN's new policies that may pretty much allow new TLDs for anyone with sufficient money in hand will prove this point over time. I realize that Susan's portfolio in the Obama administration is *far* different from her ICANN activities, and I wish her great success in her new role, but I thought a bit of history was still in order as relates to the topics of interest to this list. --Lauren-- NNSquad Moderator - - - OneWebDay Founder Tapped By Obama Monday, March 23, 2009 Internet law expert Susan Crawford has joined President Barack Obama's lineup of tech policy experts at the White House, according to several sources. She will likely hold the title of special assistant to the president for science, technology, and innovation policy, they said. Crawford, who was most recently a visiting professor at the University of Michigan and at Yale Law School, was tapped by Obama's transition team in November to co-chair its FCC review process with University of Pennsylvania professor Kevin Werbach. Her official administration appointment has not been formally announced. Crawford may be best known for her work with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the California-based nonprofit group that manages the Internet address system. She served on ICANN's board for three years beginning in December 2005. She also founded OneWebDay, a global Earth Day for the Internet that takes place every Sept. 22. Crawford, a Yale graduate, clerked for U.S. District Judge Raymond Dearie before joining Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering where she worked until the end of 2002.