voices.in.my.head

Now, let's see how long internet free speech remains free.

United States cedes control of the internet – but what now? | The Register — In a meeting that will go down in internet history, the United States government last night conceded that it can no longer expect to maintain its position as the ultimate authority over the internet.

Having been the internet's instigator and, since 1998, its voluntary taskmaster, the US government finally agreed to transition its control over not-for-profit internet overseeing organisation ICANN, making the organisation a more international body.

Ultimately, what came out of a gathering of the (English-speaking) great and the good regarding the internet was two things:

1. That the US government recognises it has to transition its role if it wants to keep the internet in one piece (and it then has to sell that decision to a mindlessly patriotic electorate)
2. That ICANN has to open up and allow more people to decide its course if it is going to be allowed to become the internet's main overseeing organisation

Related stories:

Future of the net to be decided tomorrow
US government urged again to end net role
US government told to take its hands off internet

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