Could Trump Administration Reverse ICANN Independency? ITIP Chief Weighs In

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Could Trump Administration Reverse ICANN Independency? ITIP Chief Weighs In

By CircleID Reporter
November 11, 2016, 8:57 pm PST Views: 9,456 Add Comment

“Look for the president-elect to pick a new FCC chairman, limit online privacy protections and stem the flow of tech talent from other countries,” are among some of the discussion points made in a recent Scientific American interview with Robert Atkinson, president of the non-partisan think tank Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF). Among the questions asked was: “Could the Trump administration [which had strongly opposed the transition] reverse the decision to give the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) autonomy from the U.S. Department of Commerce?”

Atkinson response: “I don’t know if the president has the power to change this, but even if they had the power I don’t think they’d do it. The horse has left the barn. There would be too much outrage on the Hill and internationally. This isn’t a fight they’re going to take on. ICANN had an agreement with the U.S. government where the government had some control in the background over ICANN’s role of managing the Internet’s domain name system (DNS). ... That tether has been cut, but I think the Trump will monitor them to make sure ICANN lives up to what they said they would do and not allow other countries to take a larger role in Internet governance.”

More on Trump’s positions on technology and innovation in ITIF Report.

By CircleID Reporter — CircleID’s internal staff reporting on news tips and developing stories. Do you have information the professional Internet community should be aware of? Contact us.
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