Time Magazine quoted Syracuse University School of Information Studies (iSchool) Professor Milton Mueller about the controversy over control of the creation of new top-level domains (TLDs).
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Number (ICANN) is responsible for the creation of new TLDs such as .com and .org. Last month, the Obama administration proposed a change that would allow governments to veto the creation of new TLDs for any reason during the ICANN approval process. This proposal created some concern that some governments would use this veto to censor content on the Internet.
Time quoted Mueller, “It is clear from conversations with government officials in a couple of conservative Arab countries that they object to .gay.”
Currently, any individual can objection to the creation of a domain name on the grounds that the name may violate “norms of morality and public order.” This does not guarantee that the name will not be created, and in fact, many governments objected to the creation of the .xxx domain that was instituted in June 2010.
Mueller is Professor at Syracuse University School of Information Studies, where he teaches courses on information and communication policy and telecommunication management. His research focuses on property rights, institutions and global governance in communication and information industries. His earlier book Ruling the Root: Internet Governance and the Taming of Cyberspace (MIT
Press, 2002) was the first book-length analysis of the political and economic forces leading to the creation of ICANN. Currently, he is doing research on the legal and regulatory responsibilities of Internet service providers, Internet Protocol addressing policy, the policy implications of Deep Packet Inspection technology and the security governance practices of network operators.
Mueller was one of the founders of the Internet Governance Project, an alliance of scholars in action around global Internet policy issues. (http://blog.internetgovernance.org) As co-founder of the Noncommercial Users Constituency he has played a leading role in organizing and mobilizing public interest groups in ICANN. Mueller is on the Advisory Council of Public Interest Registry (.org).