The Authoritarian Internet Power Grab

[Commentary] The future of the internet could be at stake at a conference in Tunisia, where diplomats from more than 100 countries will debate United Nations jurisdiction over the web.

What emerges from the World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly will affect geopolitics and global economic growth, and possibly internet freedom for billions of users. Diplomats will discuss the emerging Internet of Things, which will soon connect tens of billions of devices and people to the global network. A new navigational and addressing technology, Digital Object Architecture (DOA), could enable the real-time surveillance and tracking of each device and individual connected to the web. Some governments are advocating that DOA be the singular and mandatory addressing system for the Internet of Things. They also want this system to be centrally controlled by the UN’s International Telecommunication Union, which has contractual rights to the underlying intellectual property. China is working to join the leadership of the global study group on DOA and the Internet of Things.

America must quickly move beyond the divisive argument about ICANN and regain its internet-policy footing. Many more consequential battles over internet freedom loom—conflicts that will shape the digital future. It is time for the US to unify again behind a bipartisan vision and common strategy to safeguard internet freedom for tomorrow.

[McDowell, a former commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission, is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. Goldstein is an adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.]