The Telecommunication Standardization Advisory Group (TSAG) of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has agreed to enable ITU study groups to work on technical specifications for IP networks alongside the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and the Internet Society (ISOC), which is the umbrella organization for bodies such as the IETF, Internet Architecture Board (IAB) and the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG). The move is hardly a surprise as the ITU and IETF/ISOC are very close already, each having representatives within each other’s organizations. ISOC says the move is due to the convergence of telecommunications and internet technologies. It would also position the ITU to have an influence on the new entity to administer the domain name system as the IETF is widely expected to be the protocol council advising the board of directors of the new entity, which is intended to be a purely private sector effort. The presence of the ITU, which has many government representatives among its officers, could dilute that somewhat. Hooking up with the ITU also gives ISOC a lot of kudos, which could serve it well in the difficult months ahead in the battle over the DNS.
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