Background on Internet Governance

“Internet Governance” discussions often center around ownership or control of the Internet’s DNS root server, or “the root”. But a broader “Internet governance” debate includes an examination of the laws, policies, technologies, and customs that regulate the way in which we use the Internet. Currently, the United States Department of Commerce “controls” the Internet’s root server through its contractual relations with the California non-profit corporation, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). But many in the international community are displeased with a single country maintaining sole control over the Internet’s DNS root server, since the Internet is a shared global resource. Some developing countries are pushing for Internet governance under the UN’s International Telecommunication Union (ITU), which is multi-national. The US, Europe, and Japan continue to support the Internet management by ICANN. Developing countries are unhappy with ICANN, which is an undemocratic private California corporation that wields enormous power over the governance of the Internet — a part of any nation’s vital infrastructure. ICANN’s legitimacy has been in doubt since its creation, and its tendency to favor large trademark owners at the expense of Internet users’ rights continues to worry Western consumers and developing countries alike. The inordinate level of influence that the United States Government exercises in ICANN policy making is also of concern to the international community. But even with the general dissatisfaction with ICANN, there is little reason to believe that the ITU would be an improvement and would probably be worse when it comes to protecting freedom of expression values. .
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Other Internet Governance Resources:
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
Internet Governance Project
ICANN-Watch
United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF)
The Public Voice
ICANN Non-Commercial Users Constituency (NCUC)
WSIS Internet Governance Caucus
Internet Democracy Project
Canadian Law Professor Michael Giest Blog
US Attorney Brett Faucett’s Blog on Internet Issues
Brooklyn Law Professor Wendy Seltzer’s Blog
Miami Law Professor Michael Froomkin’s Papers
Karl Auerbach’s CaveBear Blog
Cardozo Law Professor Susan Crawford’s Blog
Internet Governance Project Blog
Stanford Law Professor Larry Lessig’s Blog
UN ICT Task Force Home Page
ICANN-Wiki
“Beyond Internet Governance: The Emerging International Framework for Governing the Networked World”
By Mary C. Rundle
13 December 2005
Sixth Meeting of the ICT Task Force
Meeting Resources and IP Information
March 2004
Markus Kummer Presentation on UN Working Group on Internet Governance (PDF)
May 2004
Internet Governance: The State of Play (PDF)
By Internet Governance Project - September 9, 2004
Making Sense of Internet Governance: Defining Principles and Norms in Policy Context (PDF)
By Internet Governance Project - April 26, 2004
“ITU Workshop: ICANN’s ‘we don’t do governance’ line falls flat”
By Dr. Milton Mueller - Februrary 2004
“WSIS, Internet Governance and the Role of ICANN” (PDF)
By Vinton G. Cerf, Senior Vice President of Technology Strategy for MCI
UN Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) Home Page
Consultations on the Establishment of the Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG)
Geneva, 20-21 September 2004
15 Apr, 2009: Global Civil Society Statement in Support of Petition for a Non-Commercial Stakeholders Group at ICANN
Over 60 Non-Commercial Organizations from all corners of the globe signed in support of the petition from the Non-Commercial Users Constituency (NCUC) for a stakeholder group at ICANN including Article 19, Privacy International, EPIC, FreePress, Asociatia pentru Tehnologie si Internet, EDRi, Public Knowledge, CPSR, Electronic Frontier Foundation, ICT Consumer Association of Kenya, AGEA DENSI, Association for Progressive Communications, Knowledge Ecology ...
19 Mar, 2009: Ralph Yarro and His Anti-Porn Crusaders March on ICANN & Demand Global Censorship
ICANN is accepting comments from the public on the proposed censorship constituency until 5 April 2009. SCO Group Chairman Ralph Yarro III, the ultra-conservative behind what Business Week dubbed "the most hated company in tech" (SCO) for stealing the computer code of thousands of Linux open source programmers is now behind efforts to flood ICANN with identical form letters ...
14 Dec, 2008: Internet Governance Forum: ACTA A Possible Show-Stopper For IP Progress (IP-Watch)
The third annual United Nations-led Internet Governance Forum in Hyderabad, India this month addressed a range of topics related to intellectual property rights and the free flow of information, and provided a venue for doubts about a closed-door international anti-counterfeiting treaty negotiation being led by the United States and Japan. The proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) intended to align ...
2 Dec, 2008: Get Involved in Internet Policy at ICANN: NonCommercial Users Constituency (NCUC) Membership Drive
CALL TO ACTION: Individuals and nonprofit organizations are invited to join ICANN's Non-Commercial Users Constituency (NCUC) to become involved in Internet policy discussions. Protect privacy rights, free expression guarantees, and due process of law regarding Internet domain names by getting involved and joining NCUC today.
17 Sep, 2008: In Geneva: The Debate About Debate (IGP)
"Tuesday the Internet Governance Forum held its consultations about the 3rd Forum at Hyderabad, India. I am sorry to report that there are still intense pressures to sanitize the IGF program and to prevent the Forum from grappling with the real global governance problems. In what was clearly an orchestrated move, key people from multinational business groups, the Internet Society ...
16 Sep, 2008: UN Agency to Curb Anonymous Internet Communications
An alarming report shows that the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations agency that coordinates global telephony policy, is quietly working to make anonymous Internet use impossible. The ITU's "IP Traceback" proposal would enable governments (and some big companies) to spy on every individual's Internet use via embedding specific technical standards in Internet communications protocols. The surveillance ...
6 Jul, 2008: ICAAN – Preventing Hatred v. Censorship of TLD Applications (Digital Journal)
With all the excitement over expansion of IP addresses to be expanded from 4-string to 6-string format, little has been reported on the current and proposed regulations to restrict new domain registration. Watchdogs are deeply concerned over censorship. ....
1 Jul, 2008: ICANN Go-Ahead on GTLDs with “String Criteria” of “Morality and Public Order”
"There has been wide coverage of ICANN’s decision this week to adopt a new process for creating new global Top Level Domains (gTLDs).... Civil libertarians supporting Susan Crawford’s line argue that if governments are able to pressure ICANN into prohibiting .jihad (which has perfectly non-violent meanings in Islam as well as the terrorist connotations it has recently acquired in the ...
1 Jul, 2008: Work Remains For ICANN’s New Top Level Internet Domains (IP-Watch)
Internet Technical Body an Authority on Morality? ICANN announced the "biggest extension of the DNS [domain name system] in 40 years" after its decision last week to finish implementation of a new policy for introducing new top-level domains (TLDs). According to the timeline presented at the ICANN meeting in Paris, new TLDs to compete against the existing .com, .biz ...
30 Jun, 2008: [no title]
The issue of IPRs in technical standards is increasingly seen to be contentious since they at times lead to anticompetitive situations affecting markets and international trade. While standards are adopted internationally and nationally by different standard setting organisations, they are implemented cross border. This has provoked a great deal of serious thought and syllogism over anticompetitive effects created due to ...
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