Legitimacy as a Driver of the Competition Between Institutions of Internet Governance

Abstract This chapter considers the history and debates around internet governance in an attempt to explain how multi-stakeholderism—embodied in the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)—replaced the multilateral model of governance that prevailed in the pre-internet era under the auspices of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The extent to which the outcome of the confrontation between ICANN and the ITU reflects the superiority of multi-stakeholderism over multilateralism is discussed in detail. Both organizations’ development paths and histories are assessed to understand the circumstances that led the US government to propose an alternative to an intergovernmental organization, an alternative that was then supported by a large coalition of players. The current limits of the regime that now governs the internet is also reviewed, while its open-ended character is highlighted. Finally, an analysis is offered of the game of legitimacy establishment that has been played, and how ICANN, to date, has remained ahead.

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