At the U.N. Summit on the Information Society in Tunis, the U.S. is fighting hard to keep control over Internet governance via Icann and has proposed, instead, a forum to be held next year. In a move straight out of a political handbook, the U.S. government said it won’t give up control over Internet naming to another country or body, but agreed to create a forum on a wide range of Internet issues, slated to be held in Greece next year.
The move to create the forum is akin to Congress or regulatory agency agreeing to conduct a study on a controversial matter in order to buy time and avoid taking potentially unpleasant action. This bit of political jujitsu was actually a smart move by the U.S., and one that has apparently paid off. According to this Wall Street Journal piece, critics of U.S. control over Internet governance were somewhat appeased by the creation of the forum. But still, no one thinks this issue will go away.
Cynthia Brumfield at 11:05 PM|
Blogs We Read
