{"682288":{"#nid":"682288","#data":{"type":"news","title":"How a Decades-Old Tech Battle Remains as Relevant Today as Ever ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENearly three decades ago, the United States government began relinquishing control over an obscure but crucial bit of internet bureaucracy: overseeing the assignment of the names and numbers allowing computers and networks worldwide to find and talk to one another.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis shift eventually resulted in a novel form of global governance that has since helped largely shield the internet from national and geopolitical pressure. But the transition from U.S. control to a global stakeholder governance model was not without intense backlash, according to Milton L. Muller, a professor in Georgia Tech\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/spp.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EJimmy and Rosalynn Carter School of Public Policy\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhat seemed small and technical turned out to be very big and political,\u0022 \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/spp.gatech.edu\/people\/person\/milton-l-mueller\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EMueller\u003C\/a\u003E writes in \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/mitpress.mit.edu\/9780262552585\/declaring-independence-in-cyberspace\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EDeclaring Independence in Cyberspace\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, his new book on the history and lessons of this pivotal moment in internet history.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt\u2019s a story that Mueller says has particular relevance today amid global concerns over how best to address the growing influence of artificial intelligence on our lives and work.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ch2\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGoing Global\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMueller\u2019s book focuses on the establishment of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), created by the U.S. government in 1998 to replace an informal U.S.-led system with a private-sector-led international model.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDuring the 1990s, policymakers recognized the need for change amid rapid commercialization and globalization of the internet. The informal system run by technical researchers had proved inadequate for burgeoning policy disputes, according to Mueller.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn response, the U.S. set up ICANN as a private-sector manager of the internet\u2019s address book to provide a more formalized structure.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInitially, the U.S. Department of Commerce retained oversight. However in 2014, under intense international pressure, the agency announced it would relinquish that role in favor of a framework in which ICANN was accountable only to global internet stakeholders.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe decision came amid international criticism of the U.S. over internet surveillance activities revealed by Edward Snowden and consequent doubts over the ability of the U.S. to serve as a neutral steward. A deep divide between advocates of state-centric approaches to internet governance and those who supported multistakeholder approaches also contributed to the debate.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ch2\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EA \u2018Crowning Achievement\u2019\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe U.S. decision to give up control sparked a domestic political firestorm driven by those who emphasized the U.S. role in inventing and paying for the initial development of the internet. Opponents of the change argued that\u0026nbsp; the U.S. had a duty to continue as steward to act as a shield protecting internet freedom from potential interference by authoritarian countries such as China, Russia, and Iran.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt took two years, but the administration of President Barack Obama overcame the opposition by highlighting broad internet-community support for the change as well as positioning the newly independent ICANN as a bulwark against undue influence from countries that wanted a more direct role for governments.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe newly independent ICANN began operating without any U.S. government oversight in 2016.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMueller \u2014 a long-time observer and participant in internet governance processes \u2014 argues the move towards a multistakeholder model was \u0022one of the crowning achievements (or [the] last gasp?) of neoliberal globalization.\u0022\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ch2\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EA \u2018Clearly Preferable\u2019 Alternative\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The story has a moderately happy ending,\u0022 Mueller notes in his book. \u0022The new ICANN realized, to some degree, the radical vision of Internet registry governance via non-state actors. That option now seems clearly preferable to the alternatives,\u201d Mueller writes.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESince becoming independent of the U.S., ICANN has demonstrated neutrality in the face of geopolitical pressures such as its refusal to remove Russian domain names from the internet following the invasion of Ukraine, according to Mueller.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHowever, challenges do persist. Mueller points to ICANN\u0027s often cumbersome domain name policymaking, its slow response to rules such as Europe\u0027s General Data Privacy Regulation, and controversies such as the attempted sale of the .org registry, which highlighted issues of accountability and the influence of its U.S. jurisdiction.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMueller\u2019s work underscores the crucial role of Carter School and the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts in fostering the interdisciplinary expertise needed to navigate such complex global issues.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ch2\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ELessons for AI Governance\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor instance, the history of ICANN offers potent lessons for today\u0027s heated debates over how to regulate artificial intelligence, Mueller argues in his book\u0027s conclusion.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022AI now occupies the same prominent place in the public imagination as the Internet did back in the mid-1990s,\u0022 accompanied by similar widespread anxieties and urgent calls for government regulation, sometimes framed in almost apocalyptic terms, Mueller writes.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the book, Mueller cautions against assumptions that state control is the best response to concerns over AI\u2019s potentially pernicious influence. This, he says, is because nations will often weaponize technologies or prioritize surveillance opportunities over public good.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe ICANN experiment, while imperfect, demonstrates the potential for non-state actors and the global community to responsibly manage critical infrastructure while largely insulating it from geopolitical conflict, he argues.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInstead of reacting solely with \u0022intensified national governmental controls,\u0022 Mueller suggests that exploring diverse governance models \u2014 perhaps involving multistakeholder principles, industry self-regulation, or new transnational arrangements \u2014 might be better\u0026nbsp; for managing concerns related to AI while preserving innovation and mitigating the risks of purely state-centric control.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The story told here suggests that we might address the governance problems posed by this evolving system with a more confident vision of human-technical possibilities, as happened in 1998,\u201d Mueller writes.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Carter School is a unit of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMilton Mueller\u0027s new book explores the history and aftermath of the U.S. decision to relinquish control over how internet addresses are assigned.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Milton Mueller\u0027s new book explores the history and aftermath of the U.S. decision to relinquish control over how internet addresses are assigned."}],"uid":"34600","created_gmt":"2025-05-08 16:20:25","changed_gmt":"2025-05-12 20:06:19","author":"mpearson34","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2025-05-12T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2025-05-12T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"677065":{"id":"677065","type":"image","title":"Declaring-BookCover-169.jpg","body":null,"created":"1747080349","gmt_created":"2025-05-12 20:05:49","changed":"1747080349","gmt_changed":"2025-05-12 20:05:49","alt":"\u0022\u0022","file":{"fid":"260929","name":"Declaring-BookCover-169.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/05\/12\/Declaring-BookCover-169_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/05\/12\/Declaring-BookCover-169_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":579924,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/05\/12\/Declaring-BookCover-169_0.jpg?itok=WXmwkGkk"}},"642982":{"id":"642982","type":"image","title":"Milton Mueller","body":null,"created":"1610724841","gmt_created":"2021-01-15 15:34:01","changed":"1614694385","gmt_changed":"2021-03-02 14:13:05","alt":"Milton Mueller","file":{"fid":"244150","name":"milton mueller preferred 200x300.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/milton%20mueller%20preferred%20200x300.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/milton%20mueller%20preferred%20200x300.png","mime":"image\/png","size":98218,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/milton%20mueller%20preferred%20200x300.png?itok=E5Iwok4f"}}},"media_ids":["677065","642982"],"groups":[{"id":"1281","name":"Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"1289","name":"School of Public Policy"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:michael.pearson@iac.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EMichael Pearson\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EIvan Allen College of Liberal Arts\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["michael.pearson@iac.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}