Could the U.N. be given broad authority over the Internet? If countries such as China and Cuba have their way at the World Summit on the Information Society meeting next week in Geneva, U.N. administration of the Internet might become a reality. Currently, the main governing body for the Internet is ICANN, a not-for-profit organization based in the U.S. ICANN is responsible for managing the Internet's addressing system, handing out domain names, and resolving disputes. However, many developing countries are critical of current Internet governance, feeling that the current approach is too pro-business. Their solution? Put a U.N. organization in charge of the Internet.
The ITU, a 138-year-old trade body that among other things established country code rules for international telephone dialling (sic), has been put forth by the developing world as the governing body that will best address its needs. "What we are looking at is the future management of the Internet. It's not about who owns it or who will be regulating the laws, but what is best way to manage what has become a natural resource for all of humanity," a summit official said.
Supporters of the current Internet governance mechanism are quick to point out that the Internet benefits greatly from ICANN's ability to move quickly (and with little governmental oversight) in resolving disputes and setting policies. That's not enough, say the critics:
"That sentiment is very much out there . . . and although [ICANN] has evolved and has tried to bring in a lot of engagement from a lot of places, there have to be ways to open up the process even a little bit more," said Sarbuland Khan, head of the United Nations' Information and Communications Technology Task Force. Khan said world governments, for instance, have no central authority to coordinate rules for Internet security and taxing online transactions. He added that the United Nations is not trying to transfer ICANN's powers to its own International Telecommunications Union (ITU), as some countries have advocated, but he conceded that such recommendations would be on the table in Geneva.
Should Internet governance be brought under control of an international group, ostensibly working in the public interest, or are we best-served by keeping the current setup? Getting a bloated institution such as the U.N. involved with managing a medium such as the Internet would be a setback for its development. Indeed, one of the strengths of the current setup with the ICANN is its ability to move nimbly to address problems. "Nimble" is not even in the U.N. vocabulary. The last thing Internet management needs is to be mired in multiple levels of bureaucracy. Don't make the cure worse than the problem.
Update: negotiators working in advance of the summit's opening have reached an agreement to table the question, instead sending it to a comittee which will report back in 2005 at a similar summit in Tunisia.