Internet Governance

Internet Governance / Recently Commented

Revisiting Internet Governance

You might recall that I played an advisory role to the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) in 2012 in Dubai. In the run-up to that event -- as well as during and after it -- I gave my opinion on the role of internet governance, plus an analysis of what was happening. At that time I held a more conciliatory position on the issue, but you may have noticed that, in the wake of the Snowden revelations and the illegal NSA activities, as well as many other similar activities from ASIO in Australia and no doubt the Russian, Israeli and Chinese authorities, my position has shifted significantly. more

NTIA Directs Smoke Signals Toward LA

On September 25th-26th the Cross Community Working Group developing enhanced accountability measures to accompany the IANA functions transition, and replace the "backstop" role played by the U.S., will meet in Los Angeles to review the 90 comments filed on their second draft Proposal and consider responsive modifications... As NTIA will be the primary evaluator of whether the transition & accountability package that is eventually forwarded by ICANN meets the criteria it set when it announced the transition in March 2014, CCWG participants in LA will be carefully reading the tea leaves of this latest NTIA statement. more

November 2016 U.S. Elections and the Fate of Internet Privatization

The currently ongoing process of privatizing the Internet technical functions under the IANA Contract -- outside the direct control of the U.S. government -- will not happen before March 2017, predicts Sophia Bekele in an op-ed published in The Hill. more

Xi Insists on China’s Right to Regulate Its Own Internet

Chinese President, Xi Jinping, in response to concerns about China's new Internet regulations and restrictions, says "rule of law also applies to the Internet, with the need to safeguard a country's sovereignty, security and development interests as relevant as in the real world." more

IANA Stewardship Transition: Full Steam Ahead

Last week the IANA Stewardship Transition Coordination Group (ICG) met in Los Angeles to review and discuss public comments concerning the Proposal to Transition the Stewardship of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) Functions. Upon review of the comments received, the ICG decided to continue advancing the proposal as planned, aiming to make as much progress as possible by the time of ICANN 54, scheduled for October 19-22. more

ICANN Turning into a FIFA-Like Organization, Says the Guardian

A story published today in the Guardian warns that the US government's plan to give up control of ICANN may create the web's answer to Fifa. more

55 Days Remain Until the 10th Internet Governance Forum in Joao Pessoa, Brazil

On behalf of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG) I would like to extend the official invitation from the United Nations Secretary-General which cordially invites and encourages all stakeholders to participate in the upcoming 10th annual meeting of the Internet Governance Forum, being held this year in the beautiful coastal city of João Pessoa, Brazil. more

One Step Closer to an Accountable ICANN

We believe that certain updates in the latest draft that limit the scope of ICANN's Mission, as specified in paragraph 188, could explicitly prevent ICANN from actively enforcing its contracts with Registries and Registrars or use contracts as a tool to implement consensus policies in the future. We suggest in our comments that revised bylaw text be added explicitly stating that the enforcement and creation of ICANN's contracts with Registries and Registrars... more

Efforts to Curb Cyber Espionage Will Further Fragment Internet Regulatory Environment

Ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Washington at the end of September, the White House reportedly is ready to announce sanctions against Chinese entities allegedly involved in industrial espionage. more

Working Group Gets Cold Shoulder in Talks to Formally Appoint Internet Community Within ICANN

Kieren McCarthy reporting in the Register: "The process to bring greater accountability to domain-name overseer ICANN descended into farce last week when the organization's board tried to skewer plans to force it to answer to the internet community while simultaneously claiming it supported the idea. more

Internet Society Submits Comments on IANA Stewardship Transition Proposal


Internet Society submitted its comments today in response to the Call for Public Comment by the IANA Stewardship Transition Coordination Group. "The Internet Society has consistently advocated for the globalization of the IANA functions, said President and CEO Kathryn Brown in a related post today. "We firmly believe that the global community is ready now to assume this important stewardship role and that a successful completion of this process is a critical step in providing additional confidence in the collaborative and multistakeholder Internet governance model." more

The Mission Has Already Crept

ICANN's mission, and the avoidance of "mission creep", is currently the subject of intense debate in the Internet community. Multiple cross-community working groups are dealing with the proposal by an agency of the United States government, NTIA, to give up the last vestiges of its control of the IANA function. Many of the new organizational structures under consideration purport to deal with ICANN's expanding mission. more

IANA Contract Extended by One Year, Announces Department of Commerce

United States Department of Commerce on Monday announced the official date for privatization of the DNS to be September 30, 2016 -- formerly set to expire on September 30, 2015. more

The IANA Stewardship Transition - Now Is the Time to Share Your Views

The IANA Stewardship Transition process may have started more than a year ago, but last week it reached its pinnacle with the publication of the compiled Proposal to Transition the Stewardship of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) Functions from the US Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to the Global Multistakeholder Community" by the IANA Coordination Group (ICG). more

ICG Seeking Public Feedback on Key Internet Governance Proposal

The IANA Stewardship Transition Coordination Group (ICG) on Friday released for public comment the proposal for the transition of the stewardship of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions from the U. S. Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to the global multistakeholder community. The ICG is encouraging the public to review the proposal and share their reactions and comments during the public comment period here. more

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