session 4. internet governance

Session 4 will look at the internet, its origin, salient technological features and its legal implications. We shall talk about whether and how the internet should and could be regulated. An essential focus of our analysis will be on the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

Reading materials
On the Nature and Origins of the Internet, excerpts from the US Supreme Court judgment, ACLU v. Reno, 929 F.Supp. 824 (1996)
Mueller, Governments and Country Names: ICANN's Transformation into an Intergovernmental Regime

Goldsmith and Wu, Who Controls the Internet?, chapter 1
Goldsmith and Wu, Who Controls the Internet?, chapter 3
Goldsmith and Wu, Who Controls the Internet?, chapter 4
Goldsmith and Wu, Who Controls the Internet?, chapter 5

Note: While the readings for this session may appear at first sight more than the usual amount, the chapters of Who Controls the Internet? are in fact popular reading and easily digestible. They are also a good preparation for the interactive session on cyber-regulation that follows.

Optional:
The Economist, The Internet at Forty
The Economist, ICANN be Independent
Milton Mueller's critique of Who Controls the Internet?

Here are some useful links related to ICANN and Internet governance:
http://www.icann.org/
http://www.intgovforum.org/
http://www.internetgovernance.org/
http://www.icannwatch.org/

The slides of session 4 are here.