For some time there’s been a possibility of the functions of ICANN being subsumed by the ITU, but it appears that’s not going to happen:

The Internet should continue to be overseen by major agencies including ICANN and the ITU, rather than any new “superstructure,” the new head of the International Telecommunications Union said on Friday.

Hamadoun Toure, who took up the reins of the United Nations agency this month, said the ITU would focus on tackling cyber-security and in narrowing the “digital divide” between rich and poor countries.

Internet should be run by key players: new ITU boss Reuters, Fri Jan 12, 1:04 PM ET

I’m not a big fan of ICANN, but its best feature is exactly its worst feature: it doesn’t get much done, so it doesn’t do much harm.

Given the track record of properly constituted international bodies such as ITU and networking (I’m thinking of the ISO-OSI protocols), the current ad hoc and limited nature of ICANN is a good thing. Sometimes ICANN even remembers that it’s not supposed to be doing governance; it’s supposed to be doing technical oversight in a few limited technical areas.

Most of the real work of coordinating the Internet is actually done by the root and ccTLD domain registrars and operators, the various regional address assignment authorities, and numerous other groups, companies, and individuals who just get on with it.

The Internet has many problems which need addressing, including phishing, spam, and speed, but more governance in the ITU or UN (or U.S. Dept. of Commerce) sense seems unlikely to solve any of them.

-jsq

PS: Thanks to James Seng.