Monday, January 9, 2012

A New Challenge for Web Freedom

L. Gordon Crovitz, The Wall Street Journal, Jan. 9, 2012

From the column: “The Internet is celebrated as a machine that runs by itself, but this is not quite accurate. The Web does have oversight, just not by any multinational organization, national government or regulator. It's run by a small, private, nonprofit institution that is rarely in the news. This week will be an exception. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, known by the acronym Icann, is accepting applications for an infinite number of new Web addresses, known as top-level domain names…. The broader lesson is the tribute to Icann that this relatively low-key controversy over domains is the institution's most divisive issue in years. Icann proves that a self-regulating body can do its job, if it has limited powers and isn't burdened by political agendas—even and especially—if it oversees something as complex, global and valuable as the Internet.” Read more