Müller-Maguhn on Domain Names

The European delegate to ICANN was interviewed about his plans for ICANN - he has a few choice words about the whole situation. He seems to be a fascinating character.

Mr. Muller-Maguhn

[Anonymous Coward]

While I do respect his technical accomplishments, such as his work in white hat hacking, and his political ones (he's spokesman for the CCC [www.ccc.de], a hacker organization that, among other things, fights censorship ), I do have to respectfully disagree with some of his ideals.

First of all, I hate to say this, but he parrots whatever ideas are fashionable at the moment. When the fashions change, his ideas will change instantly, like a weathercock. The key point here is that I sometimes ask myself whether the struggle to express my views is worth all of the potential consequences. And I consistently answer by saying that he has two imperatives. The first is to trade fundamental human rights for a cheap "guarantee" of safety and security. The second imperative is to make a fetish of the virtues of macabre absenteeism. The problem, as I see it, is not a question of who the litterbugs of this society are, but rather that I like to speak of Mr. Müller-Maguhn as "morbid". That's a reasonable term to use, I maintain, but let's now try to understand it a little better. For starters, he claims that the laws of nature don't apply to him. That claim is preposterous and, to use Mr. Müller-Maguhn's own language, overtly ruthless. No history can justify it.

Second, I am sorry to have to put this so bluntly, but if anything, he always sounds like he's reading a prepared speech. And let me tell you, his intimations are continually evolving into more and more quasi-truculent incarnations. Here, I'm not just talking about evolution in a simply Darwinist sense; I'm also talking about how in public, Mr. Müller-Maguhn vehemently inveighs against corruption and sin. But when nobody's looking, Mr. Müller-Maguhn never fails to dismantle the guard rails that protect society from the mudslinging elements in its midst. Accordingly, Mr. Müller-Maguhn's idea of a good time is to pose a threat to personal autonomy and social development. If you don't believe me, see for yourself. I would like to end on a heartfelt note. This is a truth that Mr. Andy Müller-Maguhn's comrades are told by Mr. Müller-Maguhn that they cannot acknowledge, lest they give aid and comfort to the rest of us.

artificial shortage of TLD's

[L-Train8]

I like his comments on the shortage of TLD's. Why the hell is this a problem? Why has ICANN been dragging their feet on setting up new TLD's? To protect trademark holders (read big corporations). And Mueller-Maughan is absolutely right that we should not have to worry about our domains being taken away by a company on the other side of the world that makes a toaster with the same name.

The internet is public space, and the public, the entire world, has a right to it, not just corporations. I hope more of the recently elected representatives on the ICANN boared share his view, and some change is affected soon.

Re:Mr. Muller-Maguhn

[Anonymous Coward]

You are making some severe accusations here, but you fail to back them up by some facts (actually, none of your statements includes facts). You may think, that this is not necessary for the /. audience because we are familiar with Mr. Magun and the CCC. However, this is not the case and even if it were, it would make your post a lot more convincing if it contained some evidence.
Further, your language is somewhat diffuse and complicated: what do you mean by "macabre absenteeism" ? "quasi truculent incarnations" ? You are making some very general statements ("laws of nature", "inveights corruption and sin", "guard rails", "mudslinging elements") when, actually, you could and should use more specific statements/terms.

Basically, your post makes you look bad in the eye of a cautious reader and your decision to post it as an AC is probably a wise one.