UNintended Consequences

It’s the law. I see bad things coming. Various countries are complaining about the internet infrastucture. And worse, they want the UN to be in charge of it.

Many developing nations complain that the world’s most visible Internet governance body — the U.S.-based Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) — does not adequately represent their interests and should be scrapped in favor of a group allied with the United Nations.

I can think of no better way to destroy the internet. I say let these countries develop their own infrastructure, and either fold it into the existing internet or compete head to head. Either way it’ll be better than letting a massive bureaucracy take charge.

Companies such as AT&T say the Internet has benefited from ICANN’s ability to set policies and resolve disputes quickly with minimal government oversight, but some countries complain that the United States wields too much control over ICANN and that the body is unresponsive to their needs.

“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.

Here’s what Instapundit had to say.

And Slashdot.