Who will control the Internet? Published in Israel Today on March 31, 2014

1. Turkey aside – about Internet freedom
Published in Israel Today on March 31, 2014
The issue of Internet control was raised in recent weeks following a few
dramatic events, including blocking of Tweeter and YouTube in Turkey on the
one hand, and the US administration announcement that it will stop managing
IANA, the organization responsible to managing Internet addresses (URL’s).
The American move means it is waiving its control of a body with substantial
Internet infrastructure rights, and this is good news to all those who support
online freedom. This step supports the common approach that the Internet
should not be controlled exclusively by governments but in cooperation and
dialogue between multiple stakeholders – independent bodies, commercial
entities, academia and government.
The US administration’s involvement in the Internet started in the early days,
as part of the administration support of advancing this initiative. The recent
withdrawal is not coincidental but a result of pressures by many countries, in
response to discoveries that the NSA is monitoring communication on the
web. It is believed that the current agreement, due to expire in 2015 will not be
renewed.
It is important to understand the context – there is an ongoing global dispute
about who will control the WWW and its contents. This dispute is between the
International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a UN agency that represents
governments, and ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and
Numbers) and ISOC (Internet SOCiety), two independent Internet governing
bodies that claim that decisions should be made through global, multi-
stakeholders discussions.
Internet governance deals with the increasing disputes about censorship,
blocking of websites, and neutrality. Prime examples are non-democratic
governments but even countries like Australia and the UK have recently
blocked some websites. About a month ago there were attempts in Israel to
pass laws that censor the Internet and give police the authority to block
websites.
The struggle these days on who will control the Internet will undoubtedly
define its character and fate for the foreseeable future. The Israeli Internet
Association hopes that the United States’ new policy of waiving Internet
control will show the way to other countries and lead a new independent
direction for the Internet.
Dina Beer, MD, The Israeli Internet Association