[LINK] US dropping ICANN role

[Jan Whitaker]

[Interesting fallout from the NSA revelations.]

U.S. Government Letting Go Of Key Internet Oversight Role
Posted: 03/14/2014 6:10 pm EDT Updated: 03/14/2014 6:59 pm EDT
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/14/us-government-internet_n_4967271.html

The U.S. government announced Friday that it is 
relinquishing it's hold on a key Internet oversight role.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the 
Commerce Department announced the decision to 
transition out of managing domain names and 
addresses for the Internet Corporation for 
Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). The move is 
planned for September 2015, when the current 
contract runs out, the Journal added.

According to the Journal, the move is considered 
a response to international backlash that the 
U.S. faced as a result of the National Security 
Agency spying scandal. The Washington Post adds 
that the move is likely to please those critics, 
but business leaders could be concerned.

Back in January, ICANN CEO Fadi Chehadé warned 
HuffPost Live that the "biggest threat" to 
innovation on the Internet is a fragmented web.

"If we cannot find a way to govern the Internet 
in an equal footing, in an open transparent way 
this year, we might descend into a fragmented 
version of the Internet," Chehadé said. "The 
moment we fragment the Internet it is possible 
there will be tariffs between borders, there will 
be rules... it will not be the internet as we know it."


Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jwhit at janwhitaker.com

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, 
you're gonna die, so how do you fill in the space 
between here and there? It's yours. Seize your space.
~Margaret Atwood, writer

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