While it is designed to be independent, avoiding control from any country of government the internet is a little bit different from that dream. Sadly, like with any large system, someone has to be there to help maintain and support the complexity of the system, something connecting the entire world is no different in this respect. Now, the Internet could soon be leaving US control.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is a non-profit company that manages internet protocols and domain names. With the ability to register custom domain names and with new protocols like IPV6, the internet is expanding with new services and systems taking up everything from bits to petabytes.
The transition from US control, if it goes ahead as planned, will change hands on September 30th. While there will be no change in the fundamental workings of the internet, the control that the US had will be gone leaving for a more global service, something that countries like Russia and China have been requesting goes to a global body like the UN.
Many who use the internet believe in a principle known as Net Neutrality. This principle is that all traffic on the internet, no matter the destination, content or type should be treated the same. This means that if you and your neighbour were both watching content, one football one League of Legends, neither of your connections would be chosen above the other. This leads to everyone and everything on the internet being treated, above all else, equally. Many countries don’t employ this, with giant firewalls and companies looking to find new ways to prioritise connections.
While sharing control all over the world is a good thing, making sure that people don’t use the new control to enforce restrictions, censorship or global monitoring is also important. The freedom of one cannot come at the cost of another.
I’d be interested to see how they’ve worked out the maintenance aspect.