There has been a lot of talk recently about the
ITU getting involved with regulating aspects of the Internet. But some of you
may be wondering how the Internet is governed now. If you don’t have multiple
hours to devote to the rabbit warren of Wikipedia articles on the subject, read
on for a brief explanation of the current organizations involved in Internet
governance.
These organizations can be roughly divided into two major
categories: international technical standards organizations and governance
organizations. The technical standards organizations tend to deal with
standards on a physical level: how to make a computer chip, for example. The
governance organizations deal more with permissions and protocols: what are
appropriate identifiers for computers on a network, or how to write a webpage
that all computers will understand. But this is not a perfect rule, and there is
significant overlap between the two groups.
International
Technical Standards
There are three major international technical standards-setting
bodies that impact Internet technologies: the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the International
Organization for Standardization (ISO), and the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU).
What Do They Do?
Standards
are a way of making sure that something is made consistently; for example,
making sure that all countries use the same format for the bar codes on
passports and visas, so that only one kind of scanner is needed at customs offices.
The IEC publishes international standards for all electrical, electronic and
related technologies. The ISO has a broader mission, promulgating worldwide
proprietary, industrial, and commercial standards. The ITU sets standards for
how telecommunications networks work, as well as coordinating use of the radio
spectrum and satellite orbits, and working to improve telecommunication
infrastructure in the developing world. The IEC, ISO, and ITU all collaborate
on standards to ensure compatibility between standards, or when a standard
falls under the purview of multiple organizations.
Who Are They?
ITU is
a body of the United Nations, while the other two are voluntary partnerships
composed of national committees. These national committees can be public,
private, or joint public-private, while the ITU is necessarily an
inter-governmental organization.
I Have Strong
Feelings About These Issues! Will They Listen to Me?
Well,
that depends on where you live. Each country and national committee has its own
procedures for public participation. In the U.S., for example, the IEC and ISO
national committees are run by the American National Standards Institute
(ANSI). ANSI allows a public review period for standards, but requires
interested parties to purchase copies of the drafts and mail comments to their
office. In contrast, the British Standards Institute has a
site dedicated
to allowing comments on draft standards, including links to allow commenters to
read the standards online, greatly improving the opportunity for public
comment.
Additionally,
the ITU allows private organizations to join as non-voting Sector Members.
Currently, there are over 700 public and private sector companies acting as
Sector Members. Reduced membership fees are available for organizations in
developing countries and academic institutions, but the costs are still high,
potentially in the tens of thousands of dollars. As a result, almost all Sector
Members are for-profit companies, with a handful of educational institutions.
Internet Governance
Organizations
Though it was originally developed by the U.S.
government—which retains certain controls—almost all of the Internet’s current
structure, development, and regulation comes from the private sector. The major
governance organizations are the Internet Corporation for
Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the Internet Society (ISOC),
and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).
What Do They Do?
ICANN
is a nonprofit organization with authority over unique identifiers on the Internet,
including Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, which identify computers on the Internet,
and top-level domains (.com, .net, etc.). Within ICANN, IP addresses are
managed by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). IANA is managed by
ICANN under a contract with the U.S. Department of Commerce, which also
provides oversight. There have been complaints about the U.S.’s role in
controlling the international resources IANA manages.
ISOC provides
financial and structural support for the development of the Internet. It
supports and promotes the work of the standards settings bodies for which it is
the organizational home:
- The
Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) develops and promotes Internet
standards, cooperating closely with the W3C and ISO/IEC standards bodies and
dealing in particular with standards of the TCP/IP and Internet protocol suite. - The
Internet Architecture Board (IAB) is a committee of the IETF that represents
the IETF in liaison relationships with other organizations. It also oversees
the technical and engineering development of the Internet by ISOC. - The
Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG) is responsible for the overall
operation of the IETF. It is composed of the IETF Chair and Area Directors. - The
Internet Research Task Force (IRTF) focuses on long-term research issues
related to the Internet such as Internet protocols, applications, architecture
and technology. Projects are carried out by research groups with stable,
long-term membership.
W3C is the
main organization governing technical standards for the Internet, including
HTML and XML. It was founded in 1994 to create uniformity in standards. At the
time, different vendors were offering different versions of HTML, risking
inconsistency; W3C’s goal was to create a set of core principles and components
that would be used by all.
Who Are They?
These
organizations are all global, private sector nonprofits. Some, like the IETF,
started out as government entities that later transitioned to private
organizations. Others, like W3C, had government support at their outset but were
created as private organizations. Their funding mostly comes from membership
dues and domain name registrations, although W3C also gets corporate donations.
I Have Strong
Feelings About These Issues! Will They Listen to Me?
Yes! Although not a completely open process, the above
organizations are all committed in various degrees to a bottom-up process that
allows participation from multiple stakeholders, including the public.
- ICANN
holds public meetings, rotated between continents, to encourage participation
in its processes; these meetings are simulcast online, when possible. It also
has a public comment site and blog with open comments. - ISOC
offers free membership to individuals; organizational membership, which
includes representatives on the advisory council, starts at $1250 for nonprofit
organizations and $2500 for for-profit organizations. - IETF Working Groups have open membership. To join,
one must merely subscribe to the mailing list for the group. - IRTF Research Groups vary in their membership
policies; some are open and some closed. Those with limited membership are
required to report their progress to the community and encouraged to hold
occasional open meetings. - W3C
Working Group participation is limited to members and experts invited by
members. Membership is open to all organizations, but costs start around $1000
per year. However, W3C provides other venues for public participation and
discussion.
One of the most important things about this system of
governance is that it is relatively apolitical. This is a key aspect of
Internet governance, and one that must be maintained.