Obama Administration Joins Critics of US Nonprofit Group That Oversees Internet

The internet contributed to Arab uprisings in North Africa, and worried leaders question what they consider control of the internet by the US. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a non-profit organization based in California under contract to the US government, maintains the database of web addresses. Representatives of Russia, China and other nations want the oversight to be handed over to the United Nations. In a preemptive move to avoid a UN takeover, the Obama administration urges ICANN “to give foreign nations more say over the Web’s operations,” writes Ian Shapira for the Washington Post. The federal contract, to be renewed this fall, represents “a sweeping power that governments fear could be used to shut down foreign domains that the United States finds unsavory,” Shapira writes. The US Department of Commerce urges “accountability guidelines” and greater transparency. If international concerns go unaddressed, countries could create splinter internet groups and end the worldwide web as we know it. – YaleGlobal