JON POSTEL: TAKEN BY NATURE, OR REMOVED BY NECESSITY?
The Guardian of a Free Internet Dies—And ICANN Starts Charging For it and Makes Billions.
Jon Postel was one of the most important people in creating the internet as we know it. He believed the internet should be free and open for everyone, like a big library where anyone could learn, share, and create without rules that made it hard to join in. But in 1998, something unexpected happened—Jon Postel died of a heart attack. This was a really important time because big decisions about the future of the internet were being made.
At the time, a new organisation called ICANN wanted to take control of how the internet worked. ICANN wanted to manage important parts of the internet, like the names of websites and how they’re organised. But instead of keeping the internet free and open, ICANN leaned toward making it a place where they could make lots of money. This was very different from what Postel had wanted.
Because Postel was so involved in these big discussions, his sudden death left many wondering what might have happened if he’d lived. Without him, the internet began to change. ICANN became a powerful, billion-dollar organisation, and the internet started to feel less like a shared space for everyone and more like a business controlled by companies and governments.
Some people have even wondered if Postel’s death might have been more than just bad luck. With so much money to be made by controlling the internet, it’s hard not to ask if financial motives played a role in the timing of his death. After all, controlling parts of the internet like domain names became a huge source of profit for businesses, and this shift happened right after Postel was no longer there to fight for the internet he dreamed of.
Today, the internet is not the free, neutral space Postel imagined. ICANN and other organisations have shaped it into something very different—something driven by money and power. When you look at how things changed after his death, it’s hard to ignore the possibility that his passing might have helped clear the way for these big changes. The timing of Jon Postel’s death was too perfect for those who wanted to profit from controlling the internet.
At the time of Jon Postel’s sudden death, ICANN, the organisation poised to take control of the internet’s core infrastructure, operated under the oversight of the U.S. government. However, not long after, ICANN was transitioned into an independent entity, a move that some argue was an attempt to obscure the tracks of those who stood to benefit from its power.
