ICANN asks the US government to be freed from official control

The Internet Corporation for the Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) made the plea in a lengthy report sent to the US Department of Commerce.

The report will be the focus of a meeting to consider ICANN's progress on objectives the US government set it in preparation for independence.

ICANN argues these objectives have been achieved earlier than planned and now is the time to decide what happens next.

Paul Twomey, president of ICANN, told the BBC news website that the process of meeting the objectives was "essentially complete".

The Joint Project Agreement between the United States government and ICANN will have a mid-term review in March. As part of this review, the US government put out a Notice of Inquiry asking for comments on the continued transition to the private sector of the technical coordination and management of the Internet's domain name and addressing system (DNS). ICANN has responded to this call with several documents: a section in their Annual Report; a letter of submission; and a table of achievements.

You can review the progress ICANN has made on each of the 10 responsibilities in the JPA individually on pages 12 to 18 of the Annual Report. The seven-page submission letter [pdf] outlines the Board's position that it has met fully its obligations and responsibilities.

On the other hand, Milton Mueller argues on the Internet Governance Project blog that ICANN has not met it’s obligations, particularly with regard to transparency.

New York Newsday reports that a "CSX freight train derailed in central New York early Wednesday, dumping more than a dozen cars carrying truck containers from the tracks, authorities said. The derailment just before 7 a.m. near the village of Canastota was about five miles from the site of a fiery CSX train wreck last March .... The derailment required Amtrak to temporarily bus rail passengers between Albany and Syracuse."

Tracks and equipment had passed recent safety inspections. Although it's not an issue in this case, whenever there is an accident involving Amtrak and CSX trains or equipment, it's Amtrak's fault according to the agreements they've made with CSX for track access.

Empire Commuter: In Brief

Catching up after the holidays with a few:

• The Strike is off: From the 1/18 press release: "A tentative agreement on new contract terms was reached today between Amtrak and union coalitions comprised of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division of the Teamsters Union (BMWED), the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS), the National Conference of Firemen and Oilers (SEIU), the American Train Dispatchers Association (ATDA), the Transportation Communications Union (TCU), the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) and the Transport Workers Union (TWU)." On one hand, long-overdue pay raises may raise Amtrak employee morale -- but as Bruce Richardson points out on the United Rail Passenger Alliance site -- both the Amtrak management and the union leadership are at fault for letting things deteriorate to this point.
• A pattern here? Hudson Police are trying to figure out what caused a collision between a tractor-trailer and an Amtrak passenger train around one o'clock last Wednesday morning, January 16th. Later that morning the 6:20 from Albany stopped five miles from Hudson then was put in reverse back to the Rensselaer station -- because of brake problems.
• Congrats to Anne Marie Bologna: A fellow commuter is profiled in AMNY's "Extreme Commuter" column. I gather that an "extreme commuter" is defined as someone who takes longer than ninety minutes one way  -- each of us must be at least two of them!
• It was announced on Christmas Day that the Coffee Beanery at Rensselaer station would begin serving beer and wine. Four days later, Stephanie Abrams broadcasted her radio show "Traveling Feet" from the Rensselaer Rail Station on Saturday (12/29/07). Abrams said "it's really important for people to be reminded of the value and opportunity that traveling with public transportation, particularly with Amtrak, offers them in terms of comfort, efficiency and a wonderful opportunity to relax and unwind while you're getting where you need to go." Sounds like the beer truck was late and she was drinking shoe polish instead!

Friday, January 11, 2008

Empire Commuter: Don't try your own medicine

The latest issue of Arrive, Amtrak's magazine for their passengers in the Northeast, has a fascinating article, Service Agreement, which describes how:

In the face of growing competition, consumer skepticism and shrinking brand loyalty, many companies are taking a renewed look at customer service -- and the results are taking off.

Of course Amtrak is a monopoly so competition isn't an issue -- which might explain why five passengers headed for Rhinecliff ended up in Albany on my train last night. The PA system wasn't working, the Rhinecliff station is pitch-black at night -- no sign is visible -- and the conductors couldn't be bothered to walk through the cars and announce the stop.

Is that "service with a snarl" or what?

 

Friday, January 4, 2008

Empire Commuter: At least in the UK they admit it

The UK Telegraph reported on a recent commuter train outage there:

As the inquest into the shambolic events of the past week began, Robin Gisby, Network Rail's customer services director, apologised to those who had suffered.

With passengers' anger showing little sign of abating, he added: "I am deeply unhappy that we have mucked them (passengers) around. We will get this thing fixed and then we will understand in detail what went wrong."

According to one railway insider the main focus is to restore some semblance of normality to the network. "Then we can worry about people covering their backsides."

If only Amtrak managment had that attitude!

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