Evening Quickie: US loosens it’s grip on the Internet
The Beeb is reporting that the “US government is expected to relax control over how the internet is run when it signs an accord with net regulator Icann on Wednesday.”
Earlier this year, the EU called on the US to relinquish its control and Icann to become “universally accountable”. “The US government is the only body to have had formal oversight of Icann’s policies and activities since its inception in 1998,” it said.”The Commission believes that Icann should become universally accountable, not just to one government but to the global internet community.”This is particularly relevant given that the next billion of internet users will mainly come from the developing world.”
It’s a shame that this move won’t mean complete independence from the US government. But it’s good news for the developing world:
Icann is a not-for-profit private sector corporation – set up by the US government – which oversees critical parts of the internet, such as the top-level domain (TLD) name system. Top level domains include .com and .uk. The body recently voted to relax the strict rules on TLDs, meaning companies could turn brands into web addresses, while individuals could use their names. Icann also agreed to introduce domain names written in Asian, Arabic or other scripts.
Let the competition begin in earnest.
