Thomas Nachbar of the University of Virginia School of Law writes in “Why We Can’t Disconnect Russia From the Internet” how he would really like to do so — and more:
In the heady early days of the internet, the U.S. approach to internet governance was privatization to encourage competition and to open the internet to world commerce. Those are laudable goals, but ceding regulatory authority over what is a primary means of global communication and commerce has other consequences, too—consequences that nations are only now beginning to realize.
The internet is no more neutral a resource than are banks, petroleum deposits, or overflight rights. Internet governance is an inherently governmental task, and governmental tasks should not be delegated to unaccountable corporations, even ones as seemingly well meaning as ICANN.
