U.S. Policies Continue To Aid Internet's Growth, as Commercial Internet Marks 20th Birthday, NTIA Official Says
U.S. policies are continuing to aid the Internet’s exponential growth 20 years after the start of the commercial Internet, said John Morris, NTIA Office of Policy Analysis and Development director-Internet policy, in a Friday blog post. The National Science Foundation…
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Network (NSFnet) was decommissioned April 30, 1995, ending the last restrictions on commercial traffic and “paving the way for the commercial use and private governance of the Internet,” Morris said. Key U.S. policies that have resulted in strong Internet growth include trusting in private sector innovation and a reliance on multistakeholder Internet governance, he said. NTIA and the Internet Policy Task Force have continually emphasized multistakeholder governance, including supporting ICANN’s ongoing process of spinning off its Internet Assigned Numbers Authority functions, Morris said. Other important U.S. policies have included “strong” IP rights policies, promoting high-speed broadband access and laws that protect against undue regulation like Communications Act Section 230, “which protects online platforms against claims arising from hosting information posted by users and other third parties,” Morris said.