Commerce Department Should Renew IANA Contract, Says Washington Post Editorial Board

The “problem” with the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority transition is that “no one yet has a convincing explanation for how the multi-stakeholder model will be immune to pernicious influences from governments,” said The Washington Post in an editorial Sunday. “Details of the technical transition are being hammered out, but the accountability measures and controls that will be vital to establishing and preserving a legitimate global Internet governance are taking longer.” The Commerce Department “still holds a trump card: It can renew its contract with ICANN,” said the Post. The surveillance revelations by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden shouldn’t be used as a “pretext” for foreign governments to “gain control” of Internet governance, it said. ICANN and NTIA didn’t comment.