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The U.S. House of Representatives has approved H.R. 805, the DOTCOM Act. The bipartisan compromise provides clear congressional direction to the considerable efforts being undertaken by the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to ensure a responsible, principled transfer of the stewardship of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions [...]
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I saw an article recently that declared that the “IANA transition” has “reached the halfway point.” By now, of course, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) has become comfortably ensconced within the global Internet lexicon, whether pronounced on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, in the hallways of Istanbul, or the airport hangar-sized convention halls of Busan, Korea. If this [...]
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With the 19th International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) Plenipotentiary conference in Busan squarely in the rearview mirror, it is worthwhile to reflect on what I believe was an unqualified success at the ITU meeting -- the product of dynamic leadership, great preparation, and a highly motivated U.S. delegation. Much was at stake going into “PP-14,” as the ITU called the conference. As you may [...]
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The 19th Plenipotentiary Conference (PP-14) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is half over, so I thought this might be a good time to offer a few observations from Busan. The ITU is not going away: Next year, the ITU marks 150 years in existence. In spite of all its myriad financial, institutional, and administration challenges – and there are many – this institution is going to be [...]
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The annual Internet Governance Forum (IGF) taking place in Istanbul, Turkey, this week reminds us how important the future of the Internet is. The once routine meeting of experts and regulators has grown in profile to take center stage in the debate over governance of the online world. The Internet is a thriving and vibrant engine for cultural and economic growth of unprecedented potential in [...]
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Sessions of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) have historically been non-political. There have always been differences among Member States, but, for the most part, disagreements were resolved in a manner that enabled the parties to maintain an emphasis on consensus and collegiality. According to some long-time ITU participants, however, December’s World Conference on International Telecommunications [...]
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Proponents of a more activist, broader-reaching International Telecommunication Union (ITU) are continuing their campaign to take that international body into inappropriate territory. As you recall, there were multiple proposals tabled at last December’s World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) that addressed an array of topics, including Internet governance, spam, and standardization [...]
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ITI today hosted Ambassador Terry Kramer for his final media event in his position as the lead of the U.S. delegation to the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT). We've talked about WCIT many times before on this blog. At that meeting, held in Dubai in early December, nations struggled over treaty language that carried the potential of allowing the UN to regulate the Internet. [...]
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The 2012 version of the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) is history, and the next phase has begun, i.e., trying to figure out what it all means! Many theories abound within the Twitter-verse, blogs and various email strings. At a minimum, WCIT served as a lens that brought into greater focus the risks and opportunities that lay before us. With only 89 countries thus far [...]
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Today, at the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT), a majority of national delegations adopted revisions to the International Telecommunications Regulations (ITRs) that could lead to significant challenges to a free and open Internet, as well to how global information and communications technology (ICT) companies offer Internet-based services. The United States joined with other [...]