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As usual, the Americans started it.
But today we learned that they are to cede control of the internet.
What you may not know about the internet is that, like everything else in the world, it is largely ruled by the US Government. But this is all set to change shortly under plans to privatise the company that administers the domain name system and root servers which form the basis of the internet as we know it. Predictably, criticism of American control has been building, and the future of the net was the focus of a public debate in Washington DC today. The meeting is a big turning point in the development of the internet, as the delegates decided that the US Government must cede control and open up administration of the net to secure its future.
Founded in 1998 under contract to the US Government, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), is a not-for-profit company which dictates which names can and can't be registered. When you register a domain name, like a .com, you do so through a registrar which operates under a contract from ICANN, and ICANN requires the approval of the US Commerce Department to make any changes to the domain name system. What this means is whenever you register a domain, you do so under the authority of the US Government.
With the existing contract set to expire on September 30th, the US Government has been under increasing pressure from critics and foreign governments to relinquish control of ICANN, and allow it to develop into an international organisation. This will be necessary if ICANN is to maintain its legitimacy over the now global phenomenon of net use for commerce and communication.
The world currently relies on ICANN to maintain the domain name system, but if the US doesn't relinquish control over the organisation then individual countries could set up their own systems and operate them according to their own rules. China announced back in March that a new set of domains were to be launched based on Chinese characters. It is feared that this could break the internet up into multiple domain systems, a bit like the multiple phone systems around the world.
The debate was fuelled recently by the controversial ICANN decision not to establish a new .xxx domain for porn sites. It was hoped that the restriction of adult sites to one domain would make it easier to filter them, but the US Government feared it could signify a legitimisation of pornography. Still, after today at least we know that if the internet gets too disorderly and thwarts his plans for world domination, Bush can't just switch it off completely.
But today we learned that they are to cede control of the internet.
What you may not know about the internet is that, like everything else in the world, it is largely ruled by the US Government. But this is all set to change shortly under plans to privatise the company that administers the domain name system and root servers which form the basis of the internet as we know it. Predictably, criticism of American control has been building, and the future of the net was the focus of a public debate in Washington DC today. The meeting is a big turning point in the development of the internet, as the delegates decided that the US Government must cede control and open up administration of the net to secure its future.
Founded in 1998 under contract to the US Government, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), is a not-for-profit company which dictates which names can and can't be registered. When you register a domain name, like a .com, you do so through a registrar which operates under a contract from ICANN, and ICANN requires the approval of the US Commerce Department to make any changes to the domain name system. What this means is whenever you register a domain, you do so under the authority of the US Government.
With the existing contract set to expire on September 30th, the US Government has been under increasing pressure from critics and foreign governments to relinquish control of ICANN, and allow it to develop into an international organisation. This will be necessary if ICANN is to maintain its legitimacy over the now global phenomenon of net use for commerce and communication.
The world currently relies on ICANN to maintain the domain name system, but if the US doesn't relinquish control over the organisation then individual countries could set up their own systems and operate them according to their own rules. China announced back in March that a new set of domains were to be launched based on Chinese characters. It is feared that this could break the internet up into multiple domain systems, a bit like the multiple phone systems around the world.
The debate was fuelled recently by the controversial ICANN decision not to establish a new .xxx domain for porn sites. It was hoped that the restriction of adult sites to one domain would make it easier to filter them, but the US Government feared it could signify a legitimisation of pornography. Still, after today at least we know that if the internet gets too disorderly and thwarts his plans for world domination, Bush can't just switch it off completely.
When I see this 'style' of post, I always know a Freeola newsletter is on its way...
;¬)
;¬)
As usual, the Americans started it.
But today we learned that they are to cede control of the internet.
What you may not know about the internet is that, like everything else in the world, it is largely ruled by the US Government. But this is all set to change shortly under plans to privatise the company that administers the domain name system and root servers which form the basis of the internet as we know it. Predictably, criticism of American control has been building, and the future of the net was the focus of a public debate in Washington DC today. The meeting is a big turning point in the development of the internet, as the delegates decided that the US Government must cede control and open up administration of the net to secure its future.
Founded in 1998 under contract to the US Government, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), is a not-for-profit company which dictates which names can and can't be registered. When you register a domain name, like a .com, you do so through a registrar which operates under a contract from ICANN, and ICANN requires the approval of the US Commerce Department to make any changes to the domain name system. What this means is whenever you register a domain, you do so under the authority of the US Government.
With the existing contract set to expire on September 30th, the US Government has been under increasing pressure from critics and foreign governments to relinquish control of ICANN, and allow it to develop into an international organisation. This will be necessary if ICANN is to maintain its legitimacy over the now global phenomenon of net use for commerce and communication.
The world currently relies on ICANN to maintain the domain name system, but if the US doesn't relinquish control over the organisation then individual countries could set up their own systems and operate them according to their own rules. China announced back in March that a new set of domains were to be launched based on Chinese characters. It is feared that this could break the internet up into multiple domain systems, a bit like the multiple phone systems around the world.
The debate was fuelled recently by the controversial ICANN decision not to establish a new .xxx domain for porn sites. It was hoped that the restriction of adult sites to one domain would make it easier to filter them, but the US Government feared it could signify a legitimisation of pornography. Still, after today at least we know that if the internet gets too disorderly and thwarts his plans for world domination, Bush can't just switch it off completely.
But today we learned that they are to cede control of the internet.
What you may not know about the internet is that, like everything else in the world, it is largely ruled by the US Government. But this is all set to change shortly under plans to privatise the company that administers the domain name system and root servers which form the basis of the internet as we know it. Predictably, criticism of American control has been building, and the future of the net was the focus of a public debate in Washington DC today. The meeting is a big turning point in the development of the internet, as the delegates decided that the US Government must cede control and open up administration of the net to secure its future.
Founded in 1998 under contract to the US Government, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), is a not-for-profit company which dictates which names can and can't be registered. When you register a domain name, like a .com, you do so through a registrar which operates under a contract from ICANN, and ICANN requires the approval of the US Commerce Department to make any changes to the domain name system. What this means is whenever you register a domain, you do so under the authority of the US Government.
With the existing contract set to expire on September 30th, the US Government has been under increasing pressure from critics and foreign governments to relinquish control of ICANN, and allow it to develop into an international organisation. This will be necessary if ICANN is to maintain its legitimacy over the now global phenomenon of net use for commerce and communication.
The world currently relies on ICANN to maintain the domain name system, but if the US doesn't relinquish control over the organisation then individual countries could set up their own systems and operate them according to their own rules. China announced back in March that a new set of domains were to be launched based on Chinese characters. It is feared that this could break the internet up into multiple domain systems, a bit like the multiple phone systems around the world.
The debate was fuelled recently by the controversial ICANN decision not to establish a new .xxx domain for porn sites. It was hoped that the restriction of adult sites to one domain would make it easier to filter them, but the US Government feared it could signify a legitimisation of pornography. Still, after today at least we know that if the internet gets too disorderly and thwarts his plans for world domination, Bush can't just switch it off completely.