US State department goes off the ITR reservation

Two memos by the State Department have thrown a crucial telecoms strategy by the US government into disarray.

Outlining the purported US position with respect to the renegotiation of the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs) later this year, the memos were provided to civil society and business groups this month for feedback and have been met with a mixture of confusion and disbelief.

More worryingly, they appear to have caught the rest of the US government by surprise and threaten to undermine a carefully formulated strategy involving the NTIA, FCC and other departments who specialize in telecoms regulations.

Going directly against recent warnings by US officials, the first memo argues that the US government’s stance has been successful and “there are no pending proposals to invest the ITU with ICANN-like Internet governance authority". It advocates a change in position since “most of the world… may not be ready to embrace the US Government's minimalist position".