Beyond Turf Wars in Internet Governance: The Relationship between Internet Organizations and IGOs

Abstract

Although numerous studies have been dedicated to the interplay between Internet entities and nation-states (Drezner 2007; Goldsmith and Wu 2006; Mueller 2010), less importance has yet been given to intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) as self-driven actors in the Internet governance space and even less attention was dedi-cated to interorganizational relations. This can be explained by the need to analyze the innovative nature of Internet entities and the subsequent reaction to “bring the state back in.” Internet governance studies have often neglected the role of IGOs in the management of the physical infrastructure of the Internet and in the enforcement of broader norms such as intellectual property rights.1 However, a structural perspective on the political economy of the creation of new markets in relation to an emerging technology such as the Internet sheds light on the collaboration between IGOs and Internet entities rather than on the competition between them. Global markets do not emerge out of private initiative only. They rely on a preexisting global institutional framework. The interplay between public and private actors redefines the role of organizations and creates new spaces for regulation. A global political economy perspective requires us to look beyond the realist and liberal accounts of Internet governance in order to grasp the relations between public and private actors and the hybridization of governance.