BKK Post / 11 November 1998 US envoy heads mission to Isan A US business mission led by Ambassador William Itoh will visit Nakhon Ratchasima, Khon Kaen, Udon Thani, Nong Khai and Vientiane from November 19-21 to explore business opportunities in the Northeast and in Laos. The delegation, representing 20 American companies, will tour several factories such as Seagate Technology, Advance Magnetic Materials (Thailand), and a non-profit footwear venture between Union Footwear and the Population and Community Development Association. Seminars are planned in each province with representatives of various public- and private-sector groups. Previously, Mr Itoh and the US delegation visited the Eastern Seaboard, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Songkhla, Hat Yai and Phuket. Opium Output in Laos Drops, But Still High HANOI (Nov. 10) XINHUA - The output of opium in Laos has dropped but is still as high as 123 tons this year, according to a report by the Lao official news agency KPL monitored here Tuesday. This was disclosed on Monday by Soubanh Sritthirath, minister to the president's office and chairman of the Lao National Commission for Drug Control and Supervision, at the opening ceremony of a regional drug enforcement seminar in Vientiane, the capital of Laos. The Lao government has pursued a constant policy to supervise and control narcotic drugs in an effort to gradually curb opium production, marijuana plantation, and smuggling of illicit narcotic drugs, the report said. Through bilateral and multilateral co-operation, Soubanh Sritthirath said, opium production in 10 out of the 17 provinces has dropped from 140 tons in 1996 to 123 tons this year. The two-week regional seminar is aimed at emphasizing the increasingly important role played by Laos in the international fight against drug trafficking, KPL said. The participants at the seminar include law enforcement officials from Thailand, China, China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Vietnam, Japan and Laos. The U.S. government appreciates and supports the counter-narcotics efforts of Laos and other countries in East Asia, the U.S. Embassy in Laos said in a press release Monday. International Group Voices Concern over Internet's Stability, Continuity and Maintenance of the Current Internet System and Policies International Group Forms to Preserve Set of Policies That Govern Country-Code Top-Level Domains (ccTLDs) BOSTON, Nov. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- An international group of country-code top level domain (ccTLD) administrators and other Internet leaders have joined together as the International Association of Top Level Domains (IATLD). The IATLD, with a nucleus of 12 ccTLDs, representing a diverse group that includes .LA -- Lao People's Democratic Republic, .MX -- Mexico and .MU -- Mauritius, supported by 66 ccTLDs worldwide, wants to maintain and preserve RFC 1591, written by the late Jon Postel. RFC 1591 has near- universal acceptance and which sets the standards for the conduct and administration of all TLDs today. The IATLD is concerned that recent statements by the newly-formed Internet Corporation on Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) indicate a radical departure from accepted Internet working methods that could threaten the smooth functioning of ccTLDs and the Internet. ICANN released a statement on November 6, 1998, saying that "ICANN will respect each nation's sovereign control over its individual Top Level Domain." But this marks a sea-change in Internet policy, according to Antony Van Couvering, President of the IATLD and former President of NetNames USA. "This would be a major departure from the current administration of top-level domains," he said. "Until now, the domain system, like the Internet, has functioned as an international private network, using RFC 1591 as its framework. While governments should and do have an interest in the administration of top-level domains, they are not the only source of authority, nor should they be. At worst, this could nationalize and segment the Internet, breaking it up into parcels of cyber- territories." "The whole stated purpose of the formation of ICANN was to get government out of the direct administration of the Internet. We don't understand this move at all," Van Couvering continued. "We're hoping that they just overlooked the implications of this move. Governments do have an important role, but they shouldn't be the only authority, and neither should ICANN. What we need is an objective code of conduct, and RFC 1591 provides that. We are very concerned that the stability and flexibility of the Internet could be seriously compromised by the ICANN Board's apparent support for a new kind of arbitrary government control without any counterbalances." Over the past 15 years, Jon Postel and the IANA have developed a wide range of policies and procedures governing the assignment and management of ccTLDs. In 1994, these policies were documented in RFC 1591, and the requirement was set by IANA that all ccTLDs must manage their affairs under the terms of RFC 1591. "Today there are over 220 ccTLDs worldwide up and running under the requirements of RFC 1591, many with decades of experience," said Stafford Guest, administrative manager for the .NU domain in the tiny island-nation of Niue. "A radical change, such as implementing arbitrary national authority over private businesses and organizations, could put the whole Internet in jeopardy. You'd have to be concerned about the Internet's stability, continuity and basically the ability to maintain the current Internet system and policies." The US Government recently extended its contract with Network Solutions Inc. (Nasdaq: NSOL), giving it two more years to manage the registration of .com, .net and .org domain names, but has not yet finalized an agreement with the newly created ICANN to eventually take over responsibility for managing all domain name registrations. "It is very important to maintain the current ways that ccTLDs operate, and are delegated, and governed," said Daniel Camacho, Administrator for .MP, the ccTLD for the Northern Mariana Islands. "We must preserve the stability and diversity of the current system, and RFC 1591 is the simplest and most stable way to do that," continued Guest. About the International Association of Top Level Domains The International Association of Top Level Domains was formed to assure stability and continuity of the Internet by promoting the continued use of the policies in RFC 1591 for managing ccTLDs. IATLD came about as the result of the US Government's June, 1998, White Paper on privatizing domain name management, which set the stage for the creation of ICANN. With the untimely death of Jon Postel, who started the ccTLD system, has directly overseen it for over a decade, and was himself a ccTLD administrator (for the .US domain), it became clear there was a need to organize a support group to make sure RFC 1591 was respected and maintained within any new system established by ICANN. IATLD is a private, nonprofit business association incorporated in Boston, Massachusetts with the following international members: Antony Van Couvering -- President of IATLD Brian Cartmell -- .CC, Cocos & Keeling Island Juan Edgar Nunez --.DO, Dominican Republic Nigel Roberts -- .GG, Guernsey (and others) Sisomphet NHOYBOUAKONG, -- .LA, Lao People's Democratic Republic Oscar A. Robles Garay -- .MX, Mexico Daniel Camacho -- .MP, Northern Mariana Islands Yann Kwok -- .MU, Mauritius Dr. Eberhard W. Lisse, -- .NA, Namibia J. William Semich -- .NU, Niue William X. Walsh -- .TJ, Tajikistan Dr. Patrick Hosein -- .TT, Trinidad and Tobago Sean Jackson -- .VG, British Virgin Islands (and others) As its first act, the IATLD petitioned the ICANN, the private corporation the US Government has picked to replace IANA, to include RFC 1591 in its bylaws. So far, 66 Administrators of Top Level Domains worldwide have signed on to support that petition. Supporters are: .AI - Anguilla .AM - Armenia (RIPE/CENTR Member) .BI - Republic of Burundi .BO - Bolivia .BR - Brazil .CC - Cocos & Keeling Islands .CD - Democratic Republic of the Congo .CG - Republic of the Congo .CL - Chile .CN - China .CR - Costa Rica .CV - Cape Verde Islands .DO - Dominican Republic .DZ - Algeria .EG - Egypt .ER - Eritrea .GD - Grenada .GF - French Guiana .GG - Guernsey .GH - Ghana .GM - The Gambia, West Africa .GP - Guadeloupe .GS - South Georgia and Sandwich Islands .GT - Guatemala .HN - Honduras .JE - Jersey .KW - Kuwait .KZ - Kazakhstan .LA - Lao People's Democratic Republic .LC - Saint Lucia .LR - Liberia .LS - Lesotho .LY - Libya .ML - Republic of Mali .MP - Northern Mariana Islands .MS - Montserrat .MT - Malta .MU - Mauritius .MW - Malawi .MX - Mexico .NA - Namibia .NU - Niue .NZ - New Zealand .PE - Peru .PG - Papua New Guinea .PH - Philippines .PN - Pitcairn .QA - Qatar .RW - Republic of Rwanda .SB - Solomon Islands .SC - Seychelles .SG - Singapore .SV - El Salvador .TC - Turks and Caicos Islands .TF - French Southern Territories .TJ - Tajikistan .TO - Tonga .TT - Trinidad and Tobago .UA - Ukraine .UG - Uganda .UY - Uruguay .UZ - Uzbekistan .VE - Venezuela .VU - Vanuatu .VG - Virgin Islands (British) .ZW - Zimbabwe Australians Claim World-First in Dengue Fever Control CANBERRA (Nov. 10) XINHUA - Australian scientists said Tuesday they had achieved a world-first in dengue fever control using a biological method against the mosquito that spreads it. In a project in North Vietnam, Brian Kay of Australia's Queensland Institute of Medical Research said Tuesday at the Control of Communicable Diseases Conference in Canberra that he had wiped out the Aedes Aegypti mosquito in one village selected as a pilot. Kay and John Aaskov of Queensland University of Technology are using a microscopic shrimp called a copepod to feed on the mosquito larvae which breeds in drinking water. However, the success of the project hinges on the participation of villagers in maintaining high levels of the little predator and in recycling old tyres and other rubbish which otherwise become mosquito breeding grounds, Kay said. His report on the successful eradication in a village of 400 people about 30 km from Hanoi has been published in the journal of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. The project has now expanded to cover 11,000 households in three provinces. Kay said it appeared to have reduced the incidence of dengue fever this season. Negotiations are now underway to use the copepod technique in Laos and Cambodia as well. Aaskov said he was developing a cheap diagnostic test for dengue which could eventually be manufactured locally.