????自從斯諾登爆出美國國家安全局National Security Agency（）的互聯網監控丑聞以來，各國對美國施加了越來越大的壓力，敦促它放棄對互聯網技術職能的管理權。蒂娜迪斯認為：“斯諾登泄密案就像避雷針一樣把各方注意力吸引到了這個問題上來。”不過她很快指出，美國在網絡DNS上的職能與美國國安局的監控行為是分離的。

????據彭博社（Bloomberg）報道，在上周五的一次電話會議上，ICANN的負責人法迪?切哈德輕描淡寫地帶過了斯諾登案的影響。事實上，美國從來不打算無限期地保留互聯網域名的管理職能。早在1997年，美國就明確表示它的最終目標是開放互聯網技術職能，支持構建互聯網的“多方共治”模式。目前，美國的域名管理合同將于2015年9月30日到期，NTIA正在要求ICANN出面邀請全球利益相關方共同商討下一階段的互聯網治理方案。

????美國商務部主管信息通訊的副部長勞倫斯?E?斯特克林認為：“轉變過程的啟動時機選擇得恰到好處。”NTIA在一份聲明中表示，它已經同ICANN“溝通”過，下一階段的互聯網治理方案必須獲得“廣泛的社會支持”，并要確保“互聯網DNS的安全性、穩定性和彈性”，同時保持互聯網作為全球性平臺的開放性。另外值得一提的是，美國仍將保留.mil（軍事）、.gov（政府）、.edu（教育）等頂級域名的管理權。

????可以想見，這次交權必定難免被蒙上政治色彩。美國政府的聲明發布后，共和黨前白宮發言人紐特?金里奇就在Twitter上表示：“每個美國人都要小心奧巴馬把互聯網管理權交給一個不明確的組織，這是非常非常危險的行為。”他還補充道：“奧巴馬到底想把互聯網交給什么樣的國際社會？這個舉動可能造成把其他國家的獨裁帶到互聯網的風險。”

????互聯網政策研究專家勞倫?韋恩斯坦認為，美國政府的此次放權還有可能引起國際層面的政治問題。他說：“這個領域涉及的大多數問題從本質上看主要是技術問題，但是在當今的國際環境下，這個問題的確有變成一場有毒的全球政治游戲的風險，現在顯然不是對這種復雜問題做出理性決策的最佳形勢。”

????同時，美國私人領域的反應比較積極，有些大型科技公司還對美國政府的聲明表示贊賞。谷歌首席網絡顧問文特?瑟夫在一份致《時代》的聲明中稱：“互聯網生來就是無國界的。此舉向互聯網的多方治理模式邁進了一步，并且為保護互聯網的安全性、穩定性和開放性創造了機會。”

????AT&T全球公共政策高級副總裁倫恩?卡利認為，美國此次放權“是全球互聯網在繼續進化的道路上邁出的重要一步”。威瑞森公司也對此表示樂觀，公司公共政策高級副總裁克萊格?西利曼在一份聲明中稱：“我們對NTIA意識到互聯網數字分配權的全球關聯性表示贊賞，同時也對目前多方治理框架的成熟度表示贊賞。

????康卡斯特全球公共政策高級副總裁瑞貝卡?阿伯加斯特表示，康卡斯特也同樣支持美國放權。“康卡斯特—NBC環球公司支持由私人領域領導的互聯網多方治理模式，我們贊賞NTIA對促進這種模式做出的長期貢獻，以及它在核心管理職能上做出的貢獻。”

????蒂娜迪斯對這次放權的順利進行表示樂觀。但她也指出，現在臺面上還沒有一份由誰來取代美國充當DNS管家的方案。她說：“我希望一切順利，但最終細節決定成敗。如果一切順利的話，那么大家應該依然能在奈飛（Netflix）上收看《女子監獄》。”（財富中文網）

????譯者：樸成奎

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????The U.S. has been under increasing pressure from other countries to relinquish its stewardship of the Internet's technical functions in the wake of revelations about U.S. Internet surveillance supplied by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. "The Snowden disclosures served as a lightning rod to focus attention on this issue," says DeNardis, although she was quick to point out that the U.S. role in the Internet DNS is separate from NSA surveillance activities.

????On a conference call Friday, ICANN Chief Executive Fadi Chehade downplayed Snowden's role, according to Bloomberg. In truth, the U.S. never intended for its Internet stewardship to go on indefinitely. As far back as 1997, the U.S. made clear that its ultimate goal was to privatize the Internet's technical functions to support a "multistakeholder" model of governance. The current U.S. contract expires on September 30, 2015, so the NTIA is asking ICANN to bring together stakeholders from around the world to craft a proposal for the next stage of Internet governance.

????"The timing is right to start the transition process," said Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information Lawrence E. Strickling. In a statement, NTIA said that it has "communicated" to ICANN that the proposal must have "broad community support" and ensure the "security, stability, and resiliency of the Internet DNS" and maintain the openness of the Internet as a global platform. Importantly, the U.S. will retain responsibility for the .mil, .gov, and .edu top-level domains.

????Predictably, the proposed transition has already begun to be politicized. Following the announcement, Newt Gingrich, the Republican former House Speaker, tweeted: "Every American should worry about Obama giving up control of the Internet to an undefined group. This is very, very dangerous." He added: "What is the global internet community that Obama wants to turn the internet over to? This risks foreign dictatorships defining the internet."

????The proposed transition is also likely to be politicized at an international level, says Lauren Weinstein, a veteran Internet policy expert. "Most of the issues involved in this area are primarily technical in nature," says Weinstein. "Unfortunately, in today's international environment, there is a real risk of this matter turning into a toxic global political football, which would obviously not be the best situation for making rational decisions about such complex matters."

????For now, the response from the U.S. private sector has been positive, and several major technology companies praised the U.S. announcement. "The internet was built to be borderless and this move toward a more multistakeholder model of governance creates an opportunity to preserve its security, stability and openness," Vint Cerf, Google's (GOOG) chief Internet evangelist, said in a statement emailed to TIME.

????Len Cali, AT&T's senior vice president for global public policy, called the transition "an important step in the ongoing evolution of the global Internet." Verizon (VZ) was similarly upbeat. "We applaud NTIA for recognizing the global relevance of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions and the current maturity of multi-stakeholder frameworks," Craig Silliman, Verizon's senior vice president for public policy, said in a statement.

????Rebecca Arbogast, Comcast's senior vice president for global public policy, said her company is also supportive: "Comcast NBCUniversal supports the private sector led, multistakeholder approach to Internet governance, and commends NTIA's longstanding commitment to advancing that model and its stewardship of this key functionality."

????DeNardis is optimistic that the transition will go smoothly, but points out that there isn't even a proposal on the table to replace the U.S. as steward of the DNS. "I expect that everything will go well, but the Devil will be in the details," she says. "If everything goes smoothly, everyone should still be able to watch Orange is the New Black on Netflix (NFLX)."