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Quietly, symbolically, US control of the internet was just ended


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It’s early March in Marrakech, and a gleaming conurbation of hotels run in the kind of rare equilibrium of slick organisation and genuine friendliness that Tyler Brûlé might dream about.

 

Inside, the people who run the internet’s naming and numbering systems have been meeting with some of the governments who would rather be doing the job themselves. Eventually they cut a deal, and then negotiators from countries mostly in the northern hemisphere staggered blinking into the sunlight and splayed like lizards around the azure swimming pools, almost too tired to drink. Almost.

What they have agreed is a plan for Icann, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, to end direct US government oversight control of administering the internet and commit permanently to a slightly mysterious model of global “multi-stakeholderism”.

 

Like any settlement of a long-running conflict, the trick is to spread the unhappiness evenly and not celebrate too much, lest anyone think they’ve lost more than they’d reckoned. Though the French government was still seething over a spat about “dot champagne”, it rallied the naysayers the weekend before the official meeting started. Yet the real worry was the United States.

 

Larry Strickling, assistant secretary at the US Department of Commerce, is a man who defines jovial calm, but I pity any rug salesman who tries to get one over on him at the medina. He has steadily navigated the US government towards fulfilling its original commitment to Icann’s independence almost 20 years ago, but he has a tough crowd back home. To avoid spooking Republican congressmenor presidential candidates, Icann won’t big up last week’s historic achievement. Make no mistake, though, Thursday 10 March 2016 was a bright shining day on the internet. Internet Independence Day, no less.

 

But why did we even need a carefully brokered deal to make managing the internet the world’s business, and not America’s prerogative?

 

When Icann was founded in 1998, the plan was to keep its anchoring contract with the US National Telecommunications and Information Administration(NTIA) for a year or two, and for Icann to become independent in 2000. But in the meantime, the internet became just too important for the US to let go of the reins........

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/mar/14/icann-internet-control-domain-names-iana

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securitybreach

Whaaaat !! just happened. :hmm: Methinks something fishy fishy . Something open .. What just closed ... :ermm:

 

Right...

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I don't , in this case. the US Dept of Commerce having jurisdiction was really just a matter of convenience at the time. The problem was , and is, what was the best way to do this? Having one country in charge has its benefits but could also be quite problematic. They really didn't want something like the UN Security Council either.

To me it seems that if it gets messed up, something else will come in to take over. and/or the darknet will become mainstream.

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