The US, the EU and the Internet
by admin - October 14th, 2005 10:23 am
This weekend will find the EU, the US and several other large and influential countries arguing over who should have control over the internet, ICANN in particular. If you’re unaware, ICANN is the administrative organization (not for profit) that governs internet real estate. ICANN “reports” to the US Department of Commerce, who, reportedly, has yet to overturn any ICANN decisions since their inception.
What’s of note, is, while the EU wants more evenly-distributed control among the countries of the world, they bring up an important point. While recognizing that the internet originated as a pentagon project, the EU also concedes certain countries and territories may attempt to use their control to limit free speech online (”google” Microsoft and China for some interesting news stories about bloggers and government control).
Obviously, this delves into the realm of politics and international relations, but I think it’s worth noting as a possible blip on our internet technology radar screens (especially since the EU claims, if no deal is reached, the Iternet would “fall apart”). Perhaps, as the EU also claims, redistributed ICANN control could help to level the economic playing field and expand the influence of countries less “fortunate”. The question is, what will happen, if anything, if ICANN is required to report to other organizations and government bodies?
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