US loosens its grip on the Internet
ICANN, or the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers to use its full name, has signed a momentous agreement with the US Department of Commerce (DoC) effectively relinquishing America's high level control of the Internet.
ICANN is the group that makes most of the high level decisions regarding the allocation of the Internet address space, protocol identifier assignment, top-level domains and root server systems, meaning that it more or less rules the roost when it comes to how all things Internet related are organised.
This Affirmation Agreement will see ICANN being run by an international committee of parties chosen by the chairman of its Governmental Advisory Committee, who represents 100 countries around the world, and the chief executive officer.
"This new Affirmation marks an exciting new stage in ICANN's development as a truly international entity and it confirms once and for all, that the ICANN model of public participation works, and works effectively," said Rod Beckstrom, chief executive officer of ICANN.
"One world, one internet, everyone connected - this is our goal at ICANN. This agreement gives international stakeholders an even more powerful voice in our activities moving forward."
Although the US government's influence has not been severed completely, the agreement will see other countries and industry groups having a much greater say in ICANN's decision-making processes.
"This means that there can no longer be any doubt that the Internet belongs to the world and is not under the control of any single government or special interest group," said Dennis Jennings, a member of ICANN's Board of Directors.
"This historic agreement is only one part of this internationalisation process. Soon because of ICANN's Internationalised Domain Name (IDN) program, all portions of an Internet domain name may be made-up of characters from almost any language. This will lead to a huge increase in Internet users from regions in the world, such as the Middle East or Asia, where people may not be using computer keyboards with Latin-based characters."
The move was universally praised across the industry, with Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media simply saying, "An historic opening... things are moving in the right direction."
"The Affirmation of Commitments by ICANN and DoC fulfils a long-standing objective of the original formation of ICANN: to create an organisation that can serve the world's interest in a robust, reliable and interoperable Internet," added Vint Cerf, co-inventor of the Internet.
As well as voicing their support for the announcement, many registrars and interest groups - such as the Internet Society and VeriSign - have pledged to work with ICANN to bring about the changes necessary to ensure the complete internationalisation of the Internet. µ
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Was my country somehow unjust in how it carried out its affairs? Was anyone denied access? Was anything broken?
With the rest of the world moving to some type of censorship, this seems like a really bad move.
I pity the country that gets internet sanctioned first.
First person to register GÓÓgle.com wins!
All I can say it is a relief!!!
America is like "stalin" in disguise. Give it a finger and it will bite the whole hand off.
What Americans should stop doing is consuming things they can not afford (fat bastards)
And maybe, just maybe they should stop delivering their "freedom" all over the world, otherwise somebody might just get angry one day ;)
It's funny how a country without history trying to teach the rest of the world how to live. 300 years ish - wow !!!
You're like monkeys on the trees with a fat wallet to people of China, Russia and Europe too.
I've heard that Americans teach their children that they won the second world war - that made me laugh :)
Maybe they should tell their children how they cowardly waited up till 1944 to grab the share of the European pie
Oh, yes, good move for the internet :)
Have a good day.
Ah yes, there's one on every forum: the guy who takes any opportunity, no matter how out of context or ridiculous, to air the unrelated dirty laundry of America. Do us a favor and just stay on the BBC "Have Your Say" section with the rest of your kind, we don't need even more pollution with Drashek around.
@BB as much as I don't like his attitude, Stitch has some valid points - in the last 20 years USA acquired too much control over the technologies (Software/Hardware and Internet).
Considering the absurd patent system, pro-monopolistic politics/lobbyism, and recent attitude against those-who-dare-not-to-agree commissions - the rest of the world is understandably concerned.
Thou your military invented it, Internet is not something that only concerns your country's economy anymore. Like the electricity, fuels, medicines, etc. - this is a resource no country should be denied of, as it could influence its economy badly. Yet you still want to be able to control it, as if your politicians are flawless and impartial. Sorry, but we've all seen how their judgment ended up for the Iraq, hence the World does not trust them anymore...
P.S. Although ICANN is an "independent" US corporation it still complies with all of your government's laws and decrees.
Can't wait to see how this goes, mostly with every Muslim country dictatorships or mulla starts to voice their disapproval what ever gets them crazy ever few minutes.
I can see how it was an issue, but since I did not see it been something that was broken I see nothing new here and only possible complaints from ever dick and harry government.
Let me get my popcorn and watch the craziness ensue.
"I've heard that Americans teach their children that they won the second world war - that made me laugh :)
Maybe they should tell their children how they cowardly waited up till 1944 to grab the share of the European pie"
Psst: the US & UK invaded Europe in September of 1943 (Italy). Your facts are wrong. Actually, much of what you said shows the same bias.
Its probably time that the USA stepped away from the web as its become bigger than any one country. I don't have too much hope that the international community can do a better job (really, ICANN did an OK job) but hopefully it won't schtuff it up too much. There's only one internet.
As the US moves ever closer to a corporate controlled fascist state, this excellent move will insure that a future GW Bush ( and he will arrive; AmeriKKKans are very stupid, cowardy, provincial, and an amazingly ignorant people ) will be unable to quash International opinion, stifle dissent, or flood propaganda about some threat (WMD) to the world.
Hopefully, the next time the AmeriKKKans try to drag the world into Armageddon, they can be effectively isolated to their own sad Internet shores. At least their vile vomit can me shut down.
Good move ICCAN! Long live the INTERNATIONAL net!
Oh.... I am an American, fighting to restore democracy, peace, and justice to a lost and dying imperialist power. We are not ALL idiots over here. Just most!
--
"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power." -- Benito Mussolini
Are we entirely sure that DRASHEK isn't running another script? I know the lunatic left is universally stupid, regardless of country of origin, but some of these guys shouldn't be able to figure out how to use keyboards.
Why do you think the US has had "control" over such technologies? Could it be because they were invented or at least commercialized in the US? These kinds of things take time, research, and money--investments that people want to earn returns on.
But that's not the real issue here.
It's not "why is the US in control over such technologies?"--but rather "why have others *failed* to take control of them?" Surely, Amercians aren't any "smarter" than people in other places--and surely, industrialized nations like those in Europe should be well equipped with universities, a well educated populace, and resources?
I think it comes down to this sense of "entitlement." The quote: "Like the electricity, fuels, medicines, etc. - [the Internet] is a resource no country should be denied of, as it could influence its economy badly" reflects this. It's the idea that what others create should be shared, no matter how little your contribution (if any). People call them "rights."
But that's not how the world works. Where are the "rights" to electricity, fuel, medicine, etc. for people in Africa? It's not being paid for by Europe that's for sure. Nobody likes to subsidize *other* countries. So they're "rights" only for "citizens"--i.e. the people who are paying for it.
Likewise, the US and others don't subsidize technologies for other countries. The US doesn't manufacture computer chips to help Chinese or European citizens computer--not for free anyway.
Does this really hurt the economies of countries? Sure, those who expected a free ride. But for others, it means they create their own innovations and technologies. When Microsoft stopped updating IE for Apple's OSX the response was a home-grown solution: Safari. Likewise, keeping the US's GPS network controlled by the US is spawning other initiatives, like Europe's Galileo network.
The US will continue to control technologies until other competitors enter the fray. If you don't like it, do something, or accept your dependence.