International Journal of Communications Law & Policy

TECHNOLOGY AND INSTITUTIONAL INNOVATION: INTERNET DOMAIN NAMES

By Milton Mueller

Download the Paper in PDF Format: IJCLP Web-Doc 1-5-2000

Abstract

When the root of the Internet domain name system became a valuable global resource, property rights and governance conflicts emerged. The process culminated in the formation of a new international institutional framework around the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). This paper explores how and why technological change produces institutional innovation. Theories of institutional change and the literature on the economics of property rights are used to analyze the development of a new global regime to regulate the Internet name and address space.