E PLURIBUS ENUM: Unifying International Telecommunications Networks and Governance

ENUM" is an Internet protocol designed to enable one to be reached on an array of different electronic communications devices by means of just one number – a telephone number. ENUM effectively bridges the telephone and Internet worlds by placing telephone numbers from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Recommendation E.164 public telecommunication numbering plan into the Internet Domain Name System (DNS) as domain names. ENUM potentially presents significant public policy issues at both the domestic and international levels. Ultimately, it should not matter whether ENUM is approached as a telecommunications issue or an Internet issue because: (1) they are becoming the same thing technically, and (2) they engage the same global public interests. For the same reasons as apply to traditional telecommunications, and even to the Internet itself, public oversight of ENUM naming, numbering, and addressing resources is justified both by technical necessity and the interests of consumer protection (particularly personal privacy) and competition at higher service layers. A single, coordinated global DNS domain for at least Tier 0 (the international level) of the ENUM names hierarchy should be designated by public authorities. While the paper deals primarily with Tier 0 issues, it canvasses Tier 1 (domestic) issues because of their relevance for international Internet Tier 0 policy. Many of the technical characteristics and policy considerations relevant at the ENUM Tier 0 and 1 zones are directly applicable to the Internet’s IP address space and DNS root (or Tier 0) zone. Despite the fundamentally international nature of the Internet's logical infrastructure layer, and the purported privatization of administration of its IP address space and the DNS, Internet governance is not yet truly international. Despite assurances to the international community that it would withdraw from this role, the U.S. Department of Commerce has retained significant residual policy authority over the Internet’s logical infrastructure. The ENUM policy debate illustrates the need for authoritative international public oversight of public communications network logical infrastructure, including that of traditional telecommunications, the Internet, and ENUM.