UN takeover of internet postponed indefinitely

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In other changes to resolutions 101, 133 and 180 (reflected in temporary documents 75, 77 and 78), countries were simply encouraged to improve the take-up of new internationalized domain names (IDNs) to report on their progress (rather than put themselves in a policy deciding role). And in the critical issues of moving to IPv6 networks, it was noted that "the involvement of all stakeholders is crucial for a successful transition" and "technical experts" were incorporated twice as being key people to consult with. An attempt to make the ITU an official allocator of IP addresses is completely absent.

Moreover, a series of four proposed new internet resolutions were all ditched, in some cases completely, in other cases being punted into study groups.

Despite concerted efforts by India to push a proposal that would restructure the addressing systems of the internet in order to allow for greater tracking, and despite a number of days of what appeared to be little more than spiteful interventions by Saudi Arabia, the growing international consensus that the internet works best when governments are just one part of the decision-making process appears to have won out.

It is worth noting that the ITU's staff and executives have also grown tired of the issue disrupting their meetings and feeding into the public perception that the organization – which does an enormous amount of other, important work – is little more than a Trojan Horse for governments.

So... what now?

None of this means that you won't see the headline "UN threatens to take over the Internet" in future. It is still possible that China and/or Russia and/or parts of the Middle East will regroup and try to push for more global control. However, it seems far more likely after these negotiations that they will simply focus their efforts on their own territories.

Is this good news for the internet? Yes.

Is it time to celebrate? No. Because we still have the NSA carrying out mass online surveillance, Facebook selling our personal details, Google distorting public discussion of anything that impacts its bottom line, ICANN wielding huge power and money while avoiding accountability, telecoms companies handing over your information to any government that asks them, and apps selling themselves as anonymous and then tracking your movements.

What has changed? The battleground. It's not governments that will be distorting the internet to their ends and away from yours any more; it’s the corporations. ®