Quote from: Foxpup on May 08, 2012, 08:53:45 AM

Quote from: Hawker on May 07, 2012, 09:26:04 PM

to the guy saying the Internet is anarchy, stop being silly. The Internet is a government creation and if the government wanted, the Internet as we know it can be turned off by ICANN, a body whose members are government appointed and whose very existence depends on the government.

Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Yeah, ICANN has this big red button with key switches on either side of it, which has the magical ability to force arbitrary network operators (even those outside the US) to do whatever ICANN wants (most are already doing what ICANN wants, but only because ICANN doesn't want to "turn off" the Internet). Though it was never fully explained to me just how it works exactly... Roll Eyes

Seriously though, the power that ICANN and other governing bodies have over the Internet is purely voluntary. If their decisions prove unpopular, network operators can and will simply ignore them, except where required by local laws (and sometimes even then).

Exactly. ICANN can told to stop DNS working and local ISPs can be told to close down. The Internet is not in a state of anarchy - its regulated.