Ruling the Root by Milton L Mueller

Ruling the Root by Milton L Mueller

In Ruling the Root, Milton Mueller uses the theoretical framework of institutional economics to analyze the global policy and governance problems created by the assignment of Internet domain names and addresses. The root is the top of the domain name hierarchy and the Internet address space. It is the only point of centralized control in what is otherwise a distributed and voluntaristic network of networks. Both domain names and IP numbers are valuable resources, and their assignment on a coordinated basis is essential to the technical operation of the Internet. Mueller explains how control of the root is being leveraged to control the Internet itself in such key areas as trademark and copyright protection, surveillance of users, content regulation, and regulation of the domain name supply industry.

Control of the root originally resided in an informally organized technical elite comprised mostly of American computer scientists. As the Internet became commercialized and domain name registration became a profitable business, a six-year struggle over property rights and the control of the root broke out among Internet technologists, business and intellectual property interests, international organizations, national governments, and advocates of individual rights. By the late 1990s, it was apparent that only a new international institution could resolve conflicts among the factions in the domain name wars. Mueller recounts the fascinating process that led to the formation of a new international regime around ICAN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. In the process, he shows how the vaunted freedom and openness of the Internet is being diminished by the institutionalization of the root.

Mueller, Milton L.: -

Milton L. Mueller is assistant professor in the School of Communication, Infor-mation and Library Studies at Rutgers University. Before that he was research associate, International Center for Telecommunications Management, University of Nebraska at Omaha. He has written articles on telecommunica-tions Issues for the Wall Street Journal the Hong Kong Economic Journal and the Chicago Tribune.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780262632980
ISBN 10	0262632985
Title	Ruling the Root
Author	Milton L Mueller
Series	Ruling The Root
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	MIT Press Ltd
Year published	2004-01-30
Number of pages	328
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.