1. Legal Mechanisms for Governing the Transition of Key Domain Name Functions to the Global Multi-stakeholder Community
- Author:
- Aaron Shull, Paul Twomey, and Christopher S. Yoo
- Publication Date:
- 11-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation
- Abstract:
- The US government has announced that it is prepared to unilaterally relinquish its historical control of the key technical functions that make up the modern-day Internet. This control stems from the foundational role played by the United States in the creation of the Internet, and has been exercised through the law of contract over the organization that performs these functions, a not-for-profit corporation based in California, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). Under the existing contractual arrangement, ICANN has been accountable to the US government for the performance of these functions. However, if the US government is no longer party to this agreement, then to whom should ICANN be accountable?
- Topic:
- Science and Technology, Communications, and Governance
- Political Geography:
- United States and California