Internationalising internet governance: does ICANN have a role to play?

From its inception in the 1960s, Internet governance has been a largely ad hoc affair. Private‐sector United States‐based bodies have played crucial roles in developing the Internet, the most recognisable being the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a non‐profit, private‐sector American corporation formed in 1998 to take responsibility for key Internet management functions. ICANN's structure and, indeed, its very existence, reflects the Internet's origins within the American academic sector, and the dominance thus far of the United States in the growth of the Internet. This structure now faces a challenge from the growing internationalisation of the Internet, which necessitates governance on a more international basis. At the World Summit on the Information Society in December 2003, it was agreed that a United Nations working party should be set up to review Internet governance. This article will consider the arguments for change, and will conclude that greater internationalisation of Internet governance is required if the Internet is to achieve its full potential in developing countries, as well as in the developed world. Models for international regulation will be considered, and the article will conclude by proposing a model that will best satisfy both the need for change, and the need to protect the essentially dynamic nature of the Internet from bureaucratic government intervention.