Internet Architecture and Operation:
'Supra-National' Rather Than 'International' Governance

Roger Clarke

Principal, Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd, Canberra

Visiting Fellow, Department of Computer Science, Australian National University

Version of 22 October 2002

Prepared for presentation at the Cyberspace Law & Policy Centre's Seminar on International Dimensions of Internet and e-Commerce Regulation, Sydney, 24-25 October 2002

© Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd, 2002

This document is at http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/II/IGCLPC02.html

The accompanying PowerPoint slides are at http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/II/IGCLPC02.ppt, plus a couple of Teaser-Slides

Abstract

Most lawyers, economists and policy-makers who pontificate on Internet governance lack an adequate understanding of:

• what the Internet is;
• how the Internet works;
• what institutions are involved in governance of the Internet;
• what the governance arrangements are of those institutions; and
• what processes are involved in governance of the Internet.

This presentation provides foundation information, and outlines the complexities. It also draws attention to the awkwardness of the concept 'international' in the context of the Internet.

The following papers by the author provide greater detail on various aspects of the presentation:

• an introduction to how the Internet works;
• a primer on Internet technology;
• an overview of the organisations and processes involved in Internet governance.
• A Brief History of the Internet in Australia

Some Resources

• Short History of the Internet (by Bruce Sterling, in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, February 1993)
• A Brief History of the Internet and Related Networks (by Vint Cerf, one of the originators)
• The Tao of IETF: A Novice's Guide to the Internet Engineering Task Force
• RFC2901 (2001) 'Guide to Administrative Procedures of the Internet Infrastructure'
• 'It's time for ICANN to go' (an interview with EFF's John Gilmore)
• ICANN Watch's 'ICANN For Beginners', Michael Froomkin, 2001
• Mueller M.L. (2002) 'Ruling the Root' MIT Press, 2002, reviewed by Marc Rotenberg at http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_9.14.html

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Created: 17 October 2002

Last Amended: 22 October 2002

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