On March 14th, a disturbing news item slipped by unnoticed. We were all entranced by the Malaysian Triangle. I don’t think JFK’s and RFK’s assassinations together with the late President Reagan’s attempted assassination garnered so many news hours…
So what’s the big deal? Supposedly American stewardship of the Internet was always supposed to be temporary (really?). The U.S. government announced plans to relinquish Federal control over ICANN. This would end the long-running contract between the Commerce Department and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a California-based nonprofit group. That contract is set to expire next year but could be extended if the transition plan is not complete.
So? Well, who will pick up the ball? One possibility is the U.N. Would ICANN end up as a U.N agency? I wonder what that would do for free speech and Internet content, considering the current majority in the U.N. I wonder what that might do for the security of the Internet (anyone remember the gas lines of 1973?). Also, our Commerce Department has an agency called NTIA (National Telecommunications and Information Administration) which has contracted IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority) out (since 2000), to ICANN to run. That’ll become part of whoever controls ICANN, too. NTIA Administrator Larry Strickland says no such thing will happen. So what will? Here it is: Strickland has asked ICANN to begin the process for making a formal transition that must be “consistent with other efforts the U.S. and our allies are making to promote a free and open Internet, and to preserve and advance the current multi-stakeholder model of global Internet governance.” – Sen. J.D. Rockefeller (Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee). Right.
Also, would we end up paying taxes to the U.N. for usage of the Internet, for domain registration? Whoever’s at the bottom of the hill. Us.
So, The EU wants to acquire ICANN for lots of reasons, (fees for domain names, etc. being just some) which wants away from the USA because of all the NSA secrets Snowden revealed. More than that, the unified Internet as of two years ago generated 1.5 trillion dollars of commerce. What happens if the net gets splintered? The EU isn’t the only group looking to acquire ICANN.
ICANN says security, etc. fears are nonsense. Especially if China or Russia get control of ICANN, right? I mean, we all know how open and free they are with speech and information. Since when has the EU encouraged free speech? I suppose certain Middle Eastern organizations will actively suppress terrorism and jihad as well in the kumbaya immediate future.
I’m sure the architecture of the Internet will be well preserved when America washes its hands of it.
Sources:
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/61868
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/us-to-relinquish-remaining-control-over-the-internet/2014/03/14/0c7472d0-abb5-11e3-adbc-888c8010c799_print.html