Obama U.S. to Hand Over Administration of the Internet?

Under Obama U.S. to relinquish control next year Texas Insider Report: Washington D.C.   If the Obama Administration gives away its oversight of the Internet it will be gone forever warned Daniel Castro a senior analyst at the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation responding to the recent announcement that the United States is bowing to global pressures to  hand over government control and administration of the Internet.  It is too important to get wrong Castro says.   The internet connects billions of people around the world and the move is meant to ease fears following last years revelations of NSA spying as well as questions surrounding government surveillance uncovered by Edward Snowden and other internet privacy organizations.. U.S. officials on recently announced plans to relinquish its oversight role over the group that manages the Webs critical infrastructure said Lawrence Strickling the head of the National Telecommunications & Information Administration at the U.S. Department of Commerce. But not everyone welcomed the news particularly business leaders and others who were glad to accept tight U.S. control on the Internets administration as it ensured the Web operated smoothly and openly. The U.S. has vehemently opposed ceding authority to the International Telecommunication Union run by the U.N. over fears that control of the Web could fall into the hands of nations with problematic relationships with the open flow of information such as Russia or China. The world could be faced with a splintered Internet that would stifle innovation commerce and the free flow and diversity of ideas that are bedrock tenets of worlds biggest economic engine wrote Castro (right) in an op-ed titled Is the U.S. Government About to Give Away the Internet?

Editors Note:  Since this piece was published on March 14 2014 the Obama Administration has indicated that it will hand over its Internet governance role. Read more about that move in this Ideas Lab post.

Castro and other industry experts believe that without U.S. oversight the Web may not hold together as a single entity. Said Castro;

Internet users and businesses worry that countries such as Russia or China may manipulate ICANN to censor online content that is outside their borders. Currently the U.S. government acts as a deterrent since it has publicly committed to ensuring that ICANN operates openly and transparently. I t is unreasonable however to expect all foreign governments to continue to respect ICANNs operating principles in the absence of the U.S. governments oversight and protection of core values.

The transition will come in 2015 when the Commerce Departments contract with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names & Numbers (ICANN) expires next year. But the announcement comes with a major caveat: As part of the transition an independent international oversight authority must be established so as to earn the trust of the world Strickling said. We will not accept a proposal that replaces the NTIA role with a government-led or an intergovernmental solution Strickling said. ICANN the California-based nonprofit that coordinates the Webs various systems of identifiers has been pushing for increased global participation in the administration of the Internet particularly since Edward Snowdens leak of thousands of classified NSA documents last summer revealed the U.S. had been snooping on foreign nationals and governments.

I welcome the beginning of this transition process that you have outlined said Fadi Chehade president of ICANN. The global community will be included in full. We thank the U.S. government for its stewardship for its guidance over the years Chehade said and we thank them today for trusting the global community to replace their stewardship with the appropriate accountability mechanisms.

Says Castro While the NSA revelations have rightly angered many people around the world they have nothing to do with Internet governance. The U.S. Department of Commerce has not once abused its oversight of ICANN to aid the intelligence community. Second there is currently no viable alternative arrangement for the management of ICANN that would preserve the integrity of the architecture of the Internet. Without the current oversight by the United States ICANN would not be accountable to anyone.