RIAA / MPAA: lobbied hard for Orrin Hatch to push enFORCE bill, which grants RIAA & MPAA immunity from future antitrust lawsuits. See: http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/34191.html Campaign contributions / Lobbyists Examples: enFORCE & INDUCE acts
Administered by International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Rendering standards ratified by World Wide Web Consortium (W3) Networking / connectivity protocols from Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) From IETF web site: Mission Statement The goal of the IETF is to make the Internet work better. The mission of the IETF is to produce high quality, relevant technical and engineering documents that influence the way people design, use, and manage the Internet in such a way as to make the Internet work better. These documents include protocol standards, best current practices, and informational documents of various kinds.
Established in 1998, under Clinton administration Comprised of technical and business experts from related industries Non-profit, w/close ties to U.S. government Administers Top Level Domains (TLDs): “.com”, “.net”, etc TLD examples: “.edu” = Education institutions only “.org” = Non-profit institutions only TLD / Country Code examples: Amazon.com (USA) Protects “root servers” that comprise the heart of the domain system Servers serve as central directories for accessing web sites If knocked offline, entire sections of Internet would become inaccessible Protects trademarks, developed pro-cedures to resolve domain disputes ( Uniform Dispute Resolution Process, or UDRP) Amazon.co.uk (England) Amazon.ca (Canada) Amazon.co.jp (Japan) ICANN gained control of the Internet's domain name system through a 1998 agreement with the Commerce Department. But the deal was only supposed to be a transition, and control was supposed to be ceded to another private company or organization in 2000. ICANN has been fraught with infighting and delays, and the deal was extended to September of this year. The company has governed the creation of new domain names, such as .info and .name, and created more competition in domain name sales. It was supposed to develop security policies to protect the 13 "root servers" that are the heart of the Internet's domain system. These servers, positioned all over the world, serve as central directories so that every Web user can find addresses like microsoft.com and whitehouse.gov. If those servers were somehow knocked offline or attacked by hackers or terrorists, entire swaths of the Internet would be unreachable to most people. -- CBS News http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/06/12/politics/main511948.shtml
Go to ICANN video clips Examples, Domain Disputes Dennis Miller Michael Rowe iTunes Benedict XVI DisneyWorldShopping.com Zunior.com
“ Hillary2000” domain dispute Matthew T. Sanderson. Election Law Journal: Rules, Politics, and Policy. March 2009, 8(1): 3-29. doi:10.1089/elj.2008.0013.
Fought for ownership of: http://www.dennismiller.com http://www.dennismiller.net “ Dennis Miller convinced his Beverly Hills lawyers to send a demanding letter to Manhattan physician, Dr. Dennis Miller, who owns the domain name, dennismiller.net.” -- Domain Notes “ The letter informed Dr. Miller that Dennis Miller was famous, and should be the proper owner of dennismiller.net” -- Domain Notes Domains were already bought by existing individuals / businesses
http://news.cnet.com/Time-for-a-.xxx-domain/2010-1028_3-6002925.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8556364.stm http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/03/11/scitech/pcanswer/main6287988.shtml http://www.domainnews.com/en/icann-takes-into-consideration-.xxx-domain-names.html While this clip covering the proposed .XXX generic top level domain (gTLD) is from 2007, the issues addressed continue to be debated by ICANN in 2010. How do you feel about this? Would having an area of the Internet specific to pornographic content help "corral" it, in order to shield it from children? Or, would doing so instead actually legitimize such content, essentially giving it tacit approval by the very agency that governs the Internet? http://www.clipsyndicate.com/video/play/1426216
See: US Net Dominance Questioned at: http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Dec/12082003/business/118003.asp Essentially a Western organization Developing nations complain that ICANN does not adequately represent their interests As of 2007, over 50% of Web users will be Chinese Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) owns more domain names than all of China “ it is time for the rest of the world to have a larger voice in Internet governance.” -- UN Information & Communication Technology Task Force Is UN Control the answer? “ The whole world is looking for a better solution for Internet governance, unwilling to maintain the current situation,” “ Today the management by ICANN (is something that) people consider to be management by the United States, by one government. People definitely want to see some changes.” http://news.com.com/2102-1028_3-5643972.html?tag=st.util.print
2003: Geneva / 2005: Tunis / 2009: Geneva Leaders from almost 200 countries convened to discuss whether an international body, such as the U.N., should be in charge of running the Internet. Summit provided a forum where world leaders had the ability to approve a statement of ideals and goals. Primary objectives: Analyzed the way Web sites and e-mail addresses are doled-out and how online disputes are resolved Analyzed the growing problem of spam Analyzed how to tax Internet-based transactions. “ 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.” --WSIS official Several key questions arose
(public vs private, profit vs. nonprofit, national vs. international)