ICANN's Bid for International Immunity

“The closest thing the Internet has to a governing body seems to want the same kind of immunity from national laws that the International Red Cross and the International Olympic Committee have enjoyed for decades,” says CNET blogger Declan McCullagh.

McCullagh cites a recent report by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the California nonprofit established by the federal government in 1998 to oversee Web domain names and Internet protocol addresses.

Under ICANN's recommendations, the organization “could become largely immune from civil lawsuits, police searches and taxes, and its employees would have quasi-diplomatic privileges,” McCullagh adds. But, he adds, the idea doesn’t appear to enjoy much support in the Bush administration.