Fergie's Tech Blog

ITU Reconsiders its Role in the Internet

Victoria Shannon writes in The International Herald Tribune:

In simpler times, the role of the ITU as global arbiter of radio frequencies and standards made sense, since without worldwide agreements between governments and the private sector, communications systems like the telegraph and the telephone could not cross borders.

But when the Internet expanded from its origins in academic and Defense Department research in the United States, its basic protocols were adopted voluntarily as more and more computer networks joined worldwide, and its data traveled over the existing telephone infrastructure.

Over time, standard-setting specific to the Internet was taken on by a handful of other organizations, including the Internet Engineering Task Force, the World Wide Web Consortium and ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, which was designated by the U.S. Commerce Department to be responsible for the network's addressing system.

posted by Fergie @ 12/03/2006 11:12:00 AM