Internet Governance

What organizations are in charge of internet governance?

URL = http://www.netdialogue.org/

Description

Summary of Internet Governance bodies by ACM's Ubiquity magazine

Certain protocols, and the parameters required for their usage, are essential in order to operate on the Internet. A number of bodies have become responsible for those protocol standards and parameters. It can be fairly said that those bodies steer the Internet in a significant sense. This document is a summary of those bodies and their most important characteristics.

Almost all Internet technological standards are developed and set by the group consisting of the Internet Society (ISOC) and the units operating under the auspices of ISOC: the Internet Architecture Board (IAB), the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG), the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the Internet Research Steering Group (IRSG), the Internet Research Task Force (IRTF), and the RFC Editor. It is important to note that, while these units are responsible to ISOC, ISOC allows them a large degree of independence in their technical work.

Internet domain names and IP addresses are the province of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and its Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA).

World Wide Web standards are developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

It should be noted that the direction of the Internet's physical network structure is not addressed in this document. That structure is essentially determined by a large number of mainly commercial network operators, ranging from small to intercontinental, that build and join their infrastructures in response to market forces, in order to provide them to subscribers on a paid basis. These networks that form the Internet are linked in a topology similar to that of a large, well-developed highway system. (http://www.acm.org/ubiquity/views/v6i5_simoneli.html )

Key Book to Read

1. INTERNET GOVERNANCE: ISSUES, ACTORS AND DIVIDES. By Eduardo Gelbstein and Jovan Kurbalija. Global Knowledge Partnership.

Downloadable at http://www.globalknowledge.org/gkps_portal/index.cfm?&menuid=483&parentid=179

More Information

1. There is an overview graphic on their main page
2. The Working Group on Internet Governance,, has issued a report on the topic of reform. The WGIG is a group of experts tasked by the United Nations to think about and come up with a report about Internet governance. See at http://joi.ito.com/archives/2005/07/16/wgig_report.html
3. Visualisation of the four scenarios proposed at http://www.wortfeld.de/2005/07/wgig_report_understanding_it/

Academic bibliography

Mowery, David C. and Timothy Simcoe. 2005. “Public and Private Participation in the Development of and Governance of the Internet.” In Richard R. Nelson, ed. The Limits of Market Organization. New York: Russell Sage.

Institutions

1. Net Dialogue is a key resource site on internet governance areas [1]
2. Internet Governance Forum
3. OECD Internet Governance
4. Working Group on Internet Governance