UN Praises US Pullback Of Internet Control

By William New

The United Nations Secretary General and head of the UN International Telecommunication Union earlier this week applauded an announcement by the United States government that it plans to relinquish its remaining control over the internet domain name system.

The message from the UN was that this step is in line with commitments made by governments to follow a multi-stakeholder model of internet governance.

The US government has had a longstanding memorandum of understanding with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which has technical oversight of the domain name system. Larry Strickling, the head of the US agency that handles the MOU, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), will speak at an event on the eve of this week’s ICANN meeting in Singapore.

The UN statements are below.

“Statement attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General
on intent of the United States to Transition Key Internet Domain Name Functions

The Secretary-General welcomes the announcement by the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) of 14 March 2014, concerning its intent to transition key Internet domain name functions to the global multi-stakeholder community.

The Secretary-General takes note of this important development, especially in light of the results of decisions taken at the World Summit on the Information Society that agreed on a multi-stakeholder model of Internet governance. He encourages governments, intergovernmental organizations, civil society, the private sector and the Internet technical community to engage in furthering the process to ensure a single, open, free, secure and trustworthy Internet.

New York, 18 March 2014″

“Statement from ITU Secretary-General, Dr Hamadoun I. Touré
Geneva, 17 March 2014.

I welcome the announcement from the National Telecommunication and Information Administration of the United States Department of Commerce, of 14 March, 2014, regarding its intent to transition IANA functions to the global community, including full support for a multistakeholder model of Internet governance free from regulation by any one government or inter-governmental organization.

I would like to reiterate what I have said many times: the Internet is a global public good and therefore all nations and peoples should have an equal say in its running and development. I commend the US government’s announcement about changing oversight arrangements of the management of critical Internet resources and I believe this development will lead to improved and productive cooperation between the telecommunications and Internet communities.

I look forward to further development of the appropriate mechanisms which will ensure fair, equitable and inclusive management of critical internet resources for the benefit of all and count on discussing these proposals with all relevant stakeholders at the NETMundial meeting in Brazil this coming April as well as other appropriate fora.

I urge all stakeholders involved to develop the transition plan in the spirit of principles agreed by the World Summit on the Information Society in 2003 and 2005. This means, inclusive of all nations and stakeholders, from developing and developed countries alike, and conducted in a transparent, open, constructive manner with a view to ensuring a more equitable and accessible Internet for all.”