[Chapter-delegates] US and Internet

Glenn McKnight mcknight.glenn at gmail.com
Fri Mar 14 21:25:36 PDT 2014


http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/15/technology/us-to-give-up-role-in-internet-domain-names.html?hpw&rref=technology&_r=0&gwh=85565E7DCBDD21D448AD84772CB3F008&gwt=regi

WASHINGTON -- The United States will give up its
role<http://www.ntia.doc.gov/press-release/2014/ntia-announces-intent-transition-key-internet-domain-name-functions>
overseeing
the system of Web addresses and domain names that form the basic plumbing
of the Internet, turning it over in 2015 to an international group whose
structure and administration will be determined over the next year,
government officials said on Friday.

Since the dawn of the Internet, the United States has been responsible for
assigning the numbers that form Internet addresses, the .com, .gov and .org
labels that correspond to those numbers, and for the vast database that
links the two and makes sure Internet traffic goes to the right place.

The function has been subcontracted since 1998 to the Internet Corporation
for Assigned Names and Numbers, or Icann, an international nonprofit
organization, with the expectation that the United States would eventually
step back from its role.
Continue reading the main
story<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/15/technology/us-to-give-up-role-in-internet-domain-names.html?hpw&rref=technology&_r=0&version=meter+at+7&region=FixedCenter&pgtype=article&priority=true&module=RegiWall-Regi&action=click#story-continues-3>RELATED
COVERAGE

   - Announcement From Commerce Department
(ntia.doc.gov)<http://www.ntia.doc.gov/press-release/2014/ntia-announces-intent-transition-key-internet-domain-name-functions>
   - Statement From Icann
(icann.org)<http://www.icann.org/en/news/press/releases/release-14mar14-en>
   -
   Viewing Where the Internet GoesDEC. 30,
2013<http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/31/science/viewing-where-the-internet-goes.html>
   -
   Technophoria: When You Can't Tell Web Suffixes Without a ScorecardAUG.
   17, 2013<http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/18/technology/when-you-cant-tell-web-suffixes-without-a-scorecard.html>

But that transition has taken on a new urgency in the last year because of
revelations that the United States intelligence community, particularly the
National Security Agency, has been intercepting Internet traffic as part of
its global spying efforts.

While other countries have called for the United States to turn over the
keys to the system, many businesses around the world, dependent on the
smooth functioning of the Internet for their livelihood, have expressed
concern about what form the new organization will take.

"We don't want to break the Internet," said Laura DeNardis, a professor at
American University and the author of "The Global War for Internet
Governance," a recent book on the subject.

For consumers who use the Internet to stream movies or send email, nothing
will change, if everything goes according to plan.

"We want to carefully transition to something that doesn't just give the
power to one stakeholder, but that takes into account the interests of
private industry, of large users of the Internet, of the purchasers of
domain names, of governments and of civil society," Ms. DeNardis said.

Lawrence E. Strickling, the assistant secretary of commerce for
communications and information, said on Friday that the United States would
not accept a proposal that replaced it with a government-led or
intergovernmental organization.

The Commerce Department also laid out principles that must govern any new
body, including maintaining the openness of the Internet and maintaining
its security and stability.

Icann will conduct a meeting that will be the first step in the transition
process, beginning March 23 in Singapore.

"We are inviting governments, the private sector, civil society and other
Internet organizations from the whole world to join us in developing this
transition process," said Fadi Chehadé, the president and chief executive
of Icann. "All stakeholders deserve a voice in the management and
governance of this global resource as equal partners."

While the announcements were structured to portray a cooperative global
community, there has been widespread hostility toward the United States
since the former National Security Agency contractor Edward J. Snowden
began releasing documents showing the extent of United States global spying.

Those spying programs had nothing to do with the role of the United States
or Icann in administering Internet addresses. But the perception that the
United States was pulling all the strings led to a global uproar.
Continue reading the main
story<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/15/technology/us-to-give-up-role-in-internet-domain-names.html?hpw&rref=technology&_r=0&version=meter+at+7&region=FixedCenter&pgtype=article&priority=true&module=RegiWall-Regi&action=click#story-continues-2>
<http://www.nytimes.com/adx/bin/adx_click.html?type=goto&opzn&page=www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/technology&pos=Box1&sn2=1e769007/da88728f&sn1=68f0313/e4725f4f&camp=nyt2014_300x250_module_OvenBakedGrits_hp_ros&ad=DW-D-I-NYT-MOD-MOD-M349-ROS-0314&goto=http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/13/health/sweet-oven-baked-grits-and-millet-with-pecans-and-maple-syrup.html%3FWT.mc_id=DW-D-I-NYT-MOD-MOD-M349-ROS-0314-PH%26WT.mc_ev=click%26WT.mc_c=241538>
Sweet oven-baked grits and millet with pecans and maple
syrup<http://www.nytimes.com/adx/bin/adx_click.html?type=goto&opzn&page=www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/technology&pos=Box1&sn2=1e769007/da88728f&sn1=68f0313/e4725f4f&camp=nyt2014_300x250_module_OvenBakedGrits_hp_ros&ad=DW-D-I-NYT-MOD-MOD-M349-ROS-0314&goto=http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/13/health/sweet-oven-baked-grits-and-millet-with-pecans-and-maple-syrup.html%3FWT.mc_id=DW-D-I-NYT-MOD-MOD-M349-ROS-0314-HDR%26WT.mc_ev=click%26WT.mc_c=241538>

   - Good Irish coffee starts with the
cow<http://www.nytimes.com/adx/bin/adx_click.html?type=goto&opzn&page=www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/technology&pos=Box1&sn2=1e769007/da88728f&sn1=68f0313/e4725f4f&camp=nyt2014_300x250_module_OvenBakedGrits_hp_ros&ad=DW-D-I-NYT-MOD-MOD-M349-ROS-0314&goto=http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/12/dining/good-irish-coffee-starts-with-the-cow.html%3FWT.mc_id=DW-D-I-NYT-MOD-MOD-M349-ROS-0314-L1%26WT.mc_ev=click%26WT.mc_c=241538>
   - Thai peanut sauce marries well with shrimp and
pineapple<http://www.nytimes.com/adx/bin/adx_click.html?type=goto&opzn&page=www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/technology&pos=Box1&sn2=1e769007/da88728f&sn1=68f0313/e4725f4f&camp=nyt2014_300x250_module_OvenBakedGrits_hp_ros&ad=DW-D-I-NYT-MOD-MOD-M349-ROS-0314&goto=http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/11/dining/thai-peanut-sauce-marries-well-with-shrimp-and-pineapple.html%3FWT.mc_id=DW-D-I-NYT-MOD-MOD-M349-ROS-0314-L2%26WT.mc_ev=click%26WT.mc_c=241538>

Continue reading the main
story<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/15/technology/us-to-give-up-role-in-internet-domain-names.html?hpw&rref=technology&_r=0&version=meter+at+7&region=FixedCenter&pgtype=article&priority=true&module=RegiWall-Regi&action=click#story-continues-2>

 President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil canceled a planned visit to the United
States last year and called the activities "an assault on national
sovereignty and individual rights" and "incompatible with relations between
friendly nations."

Brazil also announced it would host Net Mundial, a global meeting on
Internet governance, in April in São Paulo to discuss the coming
transition.

But by announcing its plans before the Brazil meeting, "the U.S. is trying
to make sure the transition happens on its own terms, and that the U.S. is
setting the rules for the transition," said Greg Shatan, a partner at the
law firm Reed Smith in New York.

With its statement that no government-led organization would take over
Icann, the United States also made clear that the International
Telecommunication Union, a United Nations affiliate that oversees global
telephone traffic, would not be allowed to take over Internet governance.
That was an issue last year at an I.T.U. conference in Dubai.

Ms. DeNardis said that a key to a new governance structure would be to keep
in place the expertise that currently allows the Internet to function
smoothly.

"It is very easy to take the stability of the Internet for granted," she
said.
Glenn McKnight
mcknight.glenn at gmail.com
skype  gmcknight
twitter gmcknight
.
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