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ENUM: Convergence of Technology and Interests?

ENUM: Convergence of Technology and Interests?. ITU Tutorial Workshop on ENUM Geneva, February 8, 2002. Robert Shaw <robert.shaw@itu.int> ITU Internet Strategy and Policy Advisor International Telecommunication Union.

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ENUM: Convergence of Technology and Interests?

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  1. ENUM: Convergence of Technology and Interests? ITU Tutorial Workshop on ENUMGeneva, February 8, 2002 Robert Shaw <robert.shaw@itu.int> ITU Internet Strategy and Policy Advisor International Telecommunication Union The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect the opinions of the ITU or its membership.

  2. What do you mean by IP Telephony? • Carried solely across the public Internet? • IP as underlying transport or signalling technology for PSTN services (e.g., using SS7)? • IP telephony on full end-to-end “private” IP networks (e.g., using “softswitch technology”)? • Combinations of the above with gateways between Internet or private IP-based networks and the PSTN? • These are all often treated differently from policy or regulatory perspective

  3. What’s this really about? • To address something is to assign it a unique value from a bounded range of values. Uniqueness is critical to functionality. • To ensure that addresses are unique, each assignment must be coordinated with all other assignments. • The existence of this coordination problem usually means that names and numbers are administered by some form of collective action. That is, by groups rather than by individuals or a firm.

  4. What’s this really about? • Most interesting and difficult policy problems are created by the need for collective action among businesses and organizations that might otherwise be rivals or autonomous. • The institutional agent for the exercise of collective choice and the processes used are always the difficult part. • In the case of ENUM, the historically different treatment of E.164 TNs and the DNS makes this very difficult

  5. ENUM: Technical Convergence • Problems of addressing calls that pass from one network service to another: • Now widely possible to originate calls from IP address-based networks to other networks • But uncommon to terminate calls from other networks to IP address-based networks • To access a subscriber on an IP address-based network, some sort of global addressing scheme across PSTN and IP address-based networks needed • ENUM seen as “glue” solution… • But (shhhh..…) ENUM is also roundabout way to assign E.164 resources to SIP terminals

  6. ENUM: IETF & ITU Convergence of Interests • In telephone numbering, regulators and policy makers have played increased “public policy” role.. • DNS has widespread commercialization, speculation, unintended use, abuse • ITU & IETF “convergence of interests”: • commercialization of DNS has dissolved original IETF vision of doing the “right thing” • RFC 1591 speaks of “service to the community” and not “rights of ownership” • these sound remarkably like government public policy objectives…

  7. One Example of Mischief(thanks to E. Porteneuve in France & ccTLDWatch) • www.nic.td claims “The International Caribbean Telecom” is responsible for the country code .td (Chad) which it has called the “Trade Domain” • this is not true • One authoritative name server for .td points to tomcash.com & contactbytel.com as authoritative for Chad • This should not happen. The country code looks as if it is being “hijacked”. • Name servers for contactbytel.com and www.nic.td are on same Internet host computer • Contactbytel.com deals in “audiotext” services (ahem..). • Contact information give for domains is dubious – addresses for the same party are given as NYC, British Virgin Islands, London (only anonymous email addressis likely valid contact) • Imagine this scenario in ENUM • Malicious redirection to high-tariffed audiotext services…?

  8. Many public policy issues… • INTUG View: ENUM may have effects on: • integrity of national numbering schemes • competition between service providers • telecommunications network security • number portability • carrier selection • emergency services calls (including passing of location information) • privacy • control over personal records • control of slamming

  9. From Secretary-General’s Report to ITU Council 2001 • ENUM potentially renews the question of the appropriate framework for management of naming and addressing in an increasingly converged telecommunications and Internet/IP environment …at national and international levels… • For example, countries are clearly starting to look at their ccTLDs as part of their national communications infrastructure

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