ICANN escapes from having to worry about the First Amendment<\/a>, from having to worry about protecting your rights or my rights.”<\/p>\nBut ICANN said such fears were uninformed.<\/p>\n
“ICANN is a technical organization and does not have the remit or ability to regulate content on the internet,” the group said prior to the transfer. “That is true under the current contract with the US government and will remain true without the contract with the US government.”<\/p>\n
Supporters of the handoff also argued that preventing the transfer could actually lessen US impact on the net.<\/p>\n
Russia and China, among others, had backed the idea of empowering an obscure United Nations body called the ITU (International Telecommunications Union) with internet governance duties. That would have given governments control, but it also would have diminished the relative importance of tech powers like the States.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, the attorneys general of Arizona, Nevada, Oklahoma, and Texas filed a lawsuit (PDF) to block the turnover. But a federal judge in the Southern District of Texas denied that request for a temporary restraining order.<\/p>\n
ICANN said Saturday that the handoff would ensure an open internet.<\/p>\n
“This transition was envisioned 18 years ago, yet it was the tireless work of the global internet community, which drafted the final proposal, that made this a reality,” ICANN Board Chair Stephen D. Crocker said in a statement. “This community validated the multistakeholder model of internet governance. It has shown that a governance model defined by the inclusion of all voices, including business, academics, technical experts, civil society, governments and many others is the best way to assure that the internet of tomorrow remains as free, open and accessible as the internet of today.”<\/p>\n
The Internet Governance Coalition, a group of companies that includes Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Verizon, also expressed approval of the move but offered a more measured assessment. \n“A plan has been implemented that includes strong accountability measures and upholds the bottom-up approach that embodies the very nature of the open internet we experience today,” the group said in a statement prepared Friday. “Although this is an important step in the transition process, there is still much work that needs to be done to ensure the accountability and transparency of ICANN. We look forward to working with the multistakeholder community on these ongoing efforts.”<\/p>\n
A representative for Nevada Attorney General Adam Paul Laxalt said Laxalt and the other AGs were reviewing their legal options. The other attorneys general, as well as Cruz, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: CNET<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Capping a highly politicized debate, the US government on Saturday let go of its remaining grip on the internet, handing control of the net’s address book to a nonprofit. Saying free speech in the virtual realm was at stake, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and others had tried to block the transfer. But a federal judge […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[106],"tags":[12217,6246],"yoast_head":"\n
US hands internet control to ICANN - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n