US transfer of Internet control years in the making, fueled by foreign pressure

Fox News ^ | 03-18-14 | Judson Berger

[Mozilla]

The decision was announced nonchalantly, in trademark Washington fashion on a Friday afternoon: The U.S. government will cede its last bit of control over the Internet.

The government has maintained that influence through contracts with the organization that administers the Internet, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit called the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN. But a Commerce Department agency announced Friday that it would relinquish control over ICANN, presumably when its contract expires in September 2015. The office said it wants the group to next convene "global stakeholders" to come up with a transition plan -- a transition to what remains unknown.

But that sudden and highly controversial decision was years in the making, and it arguably dates back close to two decades. Further, despite the Internet being hatched in the U.S., the move to transfer control to the "global" community has accelerated in recent years -- under heavy pressure from foreign governments.

It came as little surprise, then, that United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday praised the U.S. Commerce Department's decision.

"The Secretary-General takes note of this important development," a statement from Ban's office said, calling for all stakeholders to pursue a "single, open, free, secure and trustworthy Internet."

But whether that goal can be achieved is the big question. The decision Friday by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has raised concerns that, in the void left by America's transfer of oversight, other nations that don't share the United States' commitment to free speech and expression could make a grab at Internet influence.

FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai said Tuesday that the current model of Internet governance has been a "tremendous" success, and he cautioned against moving too quickly to change it.

[Jack Hammer]

“Just wait in line, citizen, and fill out these eight forms in triplicate; then wait in that other line over there to file them and, once you’ve done that, go home and wait and we’ll get back to you in a few months.”

[tacticalogic]

“Just wait in line, citizen, and fill out these eight forms in triplicate; then wait in that other line over there to file them and, once you’ve done that, go home and wait and we’ll get back to you in a few months.”

"Nuts."

[Jack Hammer]

I suspect - although I couldn’t prove it - that General McAuliffe at Bastogne said something a good deal stronger, such as “F*** you - eat sh*t and die, you Kraut b*stards.”

As the wonderful experiment in democracy, the United States, goes down for the last count, the one thing one can say is that witnessing the fall will yield first-hand comprehension of various historical precedents such as the fall of Rome.

[PhilDragoo]

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