Fergie's Tech Blog

ICANN May Be Looking for Immunity From U.S. Law

Declan McCullagh writes on the C|Net Politics Blog:

The closest thing the Internet has to a governing body seems to want the same kind of immunity from national laws that the International Red Cross and the International Olympic Committee have enjoyed for decades.

A recent report [.pdf] prepared for the board of ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) says the organization should "explore the private international organization model" and it should "operationalize whatever outcomes result."

Dejargonized, that means ICANN could become largely immune from civil lawsuits, police searches and taxes, and its employees would have quasi-diplomatic privileges (such as importing items into the U.S. without paying customs duties).

posted by Fergie @ 4/03/2007 11:49:00 AM