Viviane Reding, EU's IT commissioner

internet - Is the internet falling apart?

Asks The Guardian following the current debate on who should regulate the internet. It quotes the responsible EU-commissioner:

Viviane Reding, European IT commissioner, says that if a multilateral approach cannot be agreed, countries such as China, Russia, Brazil and some Arab states could start operating their own versions of the internet and the ubiquity that has made it such a success will disappear.
"We have to have a platform where leaders of the world can express their thoughts about the internet," she said. "If they have the impression that the internet is dominated by one nation and it does not belong to all the nations then the result could be that the internet falls apart."

Now the US can oversee the internet address structure through ICANN, a California based not-for profit corporation. Its mandate will end in September next year and upcoming internet powers like China want to redefine the current way of regulating the internet.
The US on its part dislikes the fact that countries without freedom of speech could have a handle on the internet.
In ICANN now governments, commercial parties and non-governmental and non-commercial parties cooperate while new models suggest a 'government-only' approach, excluding both commercial parties and NGO's.
More in The Guardian.