NSA Fallout Continues -- Internet Governance May Change

One of the most significant questions in cyberspace is the long term governance of the domain.  For years the United States has had an influential role in that governance (mostly, in my view, to the benefit of the domain).  Inevitably, the NSA disclosures have generated a backlash against that influence.  Over at TechCrunch, we see the first real evidence of that as the ICANN and W3C have called for limiting the US role.  The story begins:

Key Internet stakeholders, including the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) have released a statement condemning pervasive government surveillance and calling for an internationalization of the Internet’s underlying framework. The Internet as we know it today is largely managed through a model that is multi-stakeholder, with various non-governmental groups keeping the trains on time. Through this system, no single government gets to hold sway over the Internet, which preserves its role as a catalyst for free speech, open inquiry, dialogue and porn.

It seems likely that a more governmental approach to internet governance will adversely effect the liberties that exist today.  That, of course, would be a sadly ironic result.  We shall see.