ICANN and INTELSAT: Global Communication Technologies and their Incorporation into International Regimes

Abstract

A comparison between the formation of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and the commercialisation of satellite communications under the auspices of INTELSAT (International Satellite Corporation) during the 1960s and 1970s is significant because so much of the internet privatisation process was perceived by its participants to be sui generis and without historical precedent. In fact, there are many important parallels with the INTELSAT process: Both technologies were incubated by the US military and then spun off into commercial enterprises. Both enable services that transcend the jurisdictions of nation-states and require international coordination. New international organisations were created to administer both systems, raising complex issues of geopolitical representation, industrial policy, and the relationship between private enterprise and government.