Giving the Internet Away: Research Proposal

Review of Research Essay. I need someone to review this if possible.

Giving the Internet Away: Research Proposal

By
Ashley Baggs

Almost everyone using the internet daily. Even if you do not, you know how it works. When typing in things like Facebook.com or Twitter.com, you are presented with a website. Have you ever wondered how that works? ICANN is the company that helps make it all possible. Recently, ICANN has been in the news quite a lot. The issue at hand is that Obama is seeking to change things up. Some say that he is wanting to give ICANN's power and oversight to other countries. Others disagree. We will look at both sides during this research paper.

Taking a deeper look at ICANN and what it does may help those who are unsure about what ICANN does. ICANN does stand for Internet Corporation for Names and Numbers. This can be very confusing when you aren't sure of how the internet works. To break it down further, ICANN makes sure that when someone buys a .com (.net,.org, etc.), that it has not be purchased with someone else and that the name is available for purchase. They work closely with companies like GoDaddy, Endurance International, WIX and many other website hosting companies.

The newest controversy around ICANN is that Obama is wanting to "give it away" to other countries. While most of the articles that are posting about ICANN and Obama are right-wing websites. ICANN is currently working with the government to regulate the domain names and set the necessary rules needed for registering the domains. The biggest question: What is Obama wanting to do with ICANN?

While reviewing Breitbart.com, we find that they are a news website and are mostly conservative. The article itself has an opinionated voice to it, the source has posted valid information about the topic. Specifically, they do not want Obama to change the regulations and the way that ICANN is handled. They have posted articles and videos backing up their opinion. The video is a congress man speaking about the changes that Obama is hoping to make and how they would negatively affect the internet. The second website that posts about this topic is Blackenterprise.com. They also have a similar stance on why Obama should not make changes to the way that ICANN is regulating the internet and who oversees them.

Another source that posts on the topic is a more popular source, Npr.org. They do go more in depth about the topic and break down what is already occurring within the organization. Within their article, they state that ICANN is already making bad choices. They say that some of the things that ICANN is doing is already including Russia, China and Iran. They state that ICANN is already plotting against the Unites States because they have allowed other countries to work with them. Npr.org uses other politicians to increase their credibility. They state that the Senator of Texas is against the changes that ICANN could potentially see.

Forbes.com takes another similar stance on the changes to ICANN. They see the changes as a threat to national security. They break down the purpose of ICANN extremely well and go into depth about why the changes that Obama is wanting to make, would be a bad decision. They state that if the government gives up ICANN, it could pose a threat to an important area of US military operations. It leaves the whole cyber portion of the United States vulnerable. While this may not entirely be true, it does show the potential that the changes can have.

Recently, new changes have been made to the topic as time has progressed. Slate.com posted a more recent article about the changes that have taken affect and the result of the issue. They state that this is not the first time that a transition has tried to happen. In the past, China has tried to replace ICANN but failed. It seems that most other countries prefer that the regulations that ICANN handle, be under different management. It seems with the newest on goings, ICANN has been designated as safe. ICANN will still be held accountable for regulating the internet and making sure transitions are smooth for those who register domains.

MSNBC.com has been covering this topic for more than just this once. They keep up on the current events revolving ICANN and most other popular topics in the news. They have built themselves up as a credible news organization and can post about debatable topics while keeping a neutral tone. They post more about the facts of the news than the opinions they have formulated behind them. They use quotes to solidify their credibility on at least this topic, which helps the readers to understand that they truly just want to bring forth knowledge for their readers that aren't fully aware of the issue at hand. The quote that they included in the article clearly states why we should not be worried about Russia or China taking over the internet.

Politico.com mostly uses quotes as their way to back up their point of view for the ICANN changes. They quote Ted Cruz and other Republicans to ensure that they are a right-wing company and do not agree with the changes the Obama is attempting to make to ICANN. They bring us back to the concerns of Russia and China regulating the internet and causing our freedom of speech to be threatened. While they are not entirely against the transition, they want to ensure that all the questions regarding the issue have been answered. They quote Sen. Jerry Moran on this topic and hope that Obama can ensure that things will turn out right for our country.

When working in the internet industry, people must understand how the internet works and why it is important to have regulations behind it. If we do not regulate the names that people register, we could end up with duplicates of names and confusion on how to get to certain sites. ICANN has regulated the internet registration and made it easier for us to not have to worry about remembering an IP address and instead we can type in a simple phrase or string of words to get to a website. Without ICANN regulating things, we could have a real mess on our hands. Regardless of who is regulating ICANN, having one domain per IP address is extremely important. It is important to ensure that ICANN is regulated properly and not limiting Americans and their freedom of speech as well though.

Ashley, I appreciate your interest in doing research regarding the ICANN controversy that concerns all of us who use the internet. However, I am not sure that your thesis statement is clearly represented in the opening statement. Why should be review both sides of the issue regarding control of ICANN? Can you narrow down the thesis statement for the reader? It seems like you are trying to discuss a very wide topic in this essay. So narrowing it down to a specific question or discussion will be essential in keeping the information you present relevant to the research. Now, with regards to the sources that you are presenting in the paper, I do not really see a proper in-text reference for the data. Keep in mind that when you do not properly cite your references within the text, you will be performing an act of plagiarism, which could ring an alert should the professor decide to run this essay through a plagiarism checker. Make sure you use the correct citing format in your essay in order to avoid that potential problem. I have no problem with the information you present in the essay though. It is informative. I am just not sure if it is informing, as a reader, in the right way.