George,
I am quite familiar with boths sides of the argument,
and I am keenly cognizant of the NTIA view that was
recently expressed in the Robert Peterson v. NTIA case
regarding anonymization services in the .us namespace.
While you and I may start out with different views on
the topic, over time it is reasonable to expect that
agreement on some points can be reached and that
eventually a consensus will emerge (especially as more
and more entities have come to respect individual
privacy rights and have implemented protocols that
still serve the needs of both law enforcement and the
intellectual property community).
This process, however, has been ripped asunder by the
intervention of the USG that chooses not to repect the
bottom-up process if it results in determinations that
don't accord with the U.S. view.
This repeated meddling on the part of a single
government is not a "good thing". Will ICANN be able
to develop gTLD policy as it sees fit, or will it
constantly need to kowtow to the NTIA?