Milton L Mueller
Professor
- Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School of Public Policy
Overview
Milton Mueller is an internationally prominent scholar specializing in the political economy of information and communication. The author of widely cited books and journal articles on AI governance, Internet governance, cybersecurity and communications policy, his work informs not only public policy but also history of technology studies, law, economics, communications, and international studies. His books Declaring Independence in Cyberspace (MIT Press, 2025) Will the Internet Fragment? (Polity, 2017), Networks and States: The global politics of Internet governance (MIT Press, 2010) and Ruling the Root:(MIT Press, 2002) are acclaimed scholarly accounts of the global governance regime emerging around digital technologies. Mueller’s research employs the theoretical tools of institutional economics, and historical political economy, as well as historical, qualitative and quantitative methods.
Dr. Mueller’s prominence in scholarship is matched by his prominence in policy practice. He is the co-founder and director of the Internet Governance Project (IGP), a policy analysis center for global Internet governance. Since its founding in 2004, IGP has played a prominent role in shaping global Internet policies and institutions such as ICANN and the Internet Governance Forum. He has participated in proceedings and policy development activities of ICANN, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and regulatory proceedings in the European Commission, China, Hong Kong and New Zealand. He has served as an expert witness in prominent legal cases related to domain names and telecommunication policy. He was elected to the Advisory Committee of the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN) from 2013-2016, and appointed in 2014 to the IANA Stewardship Coordination Group. Dr. Mueller has also been a practical institution-builder in the scholarly world, where he led the creation of the Global Internet Governance Academic Network (GigaNet), an international association of scholars.
Projects:
- The Internet Governance Project
Founded in 2004, the Internet Governance Project (IGP) has grown to be a leading source of analysis of global Internet policy and Internet resource management that is widely read by governments, industry and civil society organizations. IGP both researches and analyzes global Internet policy issues on our blog and in our publications. We hold an annual conference and support graduate students and facilitate engagement by undergraduates.
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Governing Identity Online: Nations and Technologists Defining Who’s Who?
Since the birth of the Internet, ascertaining personal and organizational identity in cyberspace has been a challenge. The global internet community has developed formal protocols and technical rules that are implemented by private sector-led Internet governance organizations. However, as the stakes of online identity rise, nation-states have sought to address digital identity with their own policies, laws, and governance institutions. These governmental initiatives can support, compete with, or even directly conflict with the policies and practices that have evolved from the Internet community. This leads us to ask, how is the problem of identifying organizations (and machines) in cyberspace shaping the future of Internet governance? To better understand this political contestation, we perform four case studies of online identity: 1) the WebPKI system, which identifies websites; 2) the RPKI system which authenticates IP address blocks and route announcements; 3) Legal Entity Identifiers (LEIs) which provide a unique code for organizations; and 4) financial payment identifiers. Funder: Internet Society Foundation.
- Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, Annenberg School, 1989
- M.A., University of Pennsylvania, Annenberg School, 1986
Expertise:
- Cybersecurity
- Global Trade And The Digital Ecosystem
- Internet And AI Governance
- Telecommunications And Internet Policy
Interests
- Cybersecurity
- Emerging Technology and Security
- Information Security and Critical Infrastructure Protection
- Information and Communications Technology Policy
- Science and Technology Studies
- International Communication
- Political Economy
Courses
- PUBP-3020: Applied Political Econ
- PUBP-3502: IT/Comm/Telecom Policy
- PUBP-4699: Undergraduate Research
- PUBP-4725: Info Security Policies
- PUBP-4803: Special Topics
- PUBP-6502: IT/Comm/Telecom Policy
- PUBP-6725: Info Security Policies
- PUBP-6727: Cyber Sec Practicum
- PUBP-8803: Special Topics
- PUBP-8813: Special Topics
- PUBP-8823: Special Topics
- PUBP-8833: Pub Pol for the Digital Age
Publications
Selected Publications
Books
- Declaring Independence in Cyberspace: Internet Self-Governance and the End of US Control of ICANN
- Will the Internet Fragment? Sovereignty, globalization and cyberspace
Date: May 2017
The Internet has united the world as never before. But is it in danger of breaking apart? Cybersecurity, geopolitical tensions, and calls for data sovereignty have made many believe that the Internet is fragmenting. In this incisive new book, Milton Mueller argues that the ‘fragmentation’ diagnosis misses the mark.
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Journal Articles
- It's Just Distributed Computing: Rethinking AI Governance
In: Telecommunications Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: April 2025
View All Details about It's Just Distributed Computing: Rethinking AI Governance
- Regulation of platform market access by the United States and China: Neo‐mercantilism in digital services
In: Policy & Internet [Peer Reviewed]
Date: November 2021
- Against Sovereignty in Cyberspace
In: International Studies Review [Peer Reviewed]
Date: September 2019
- Data Flows and the Digital Economy: Information as a Mobile Factor of Production
In: Digital Policy, Regulation and Governance [Peer Reviewed]
Date: January 2019
Who is requesting websites from whom in the global economy? This paper analyzes quantitative data about the national location of the requestor of a web site and the location of the requested web site to look at information as a mobile factor of production in the global economy.
All Publications
Books
- Declaring Independence in Cyberspace: Internet Self-Governance and the End of US Control of ICANN
- Will the Internet Fragment? Sovereignty, globalization and cyberspace
Date: May 2017
The Internet has united the world as never before. But is it in danger of breaking apart? Cybersecurity, geopolitical tensions, and calls for data sovereignty have made many believe that the Internet is fragmenting. In this incisive new book, Milton Mueller argues that the ‘fragmentation’ diagnosis misses the mark.
View All Details about Will the Internet Fragment? Sovereignty, globalization and cyberspace
- Networks and States: The Global Politics of Internet Governance.
- Ruling the root: Internet governance and the taming of cyberspace
- Telecom Policy and Digital Convergence
- Universal Service: Interconnection, Competition, and Monopoly in the Making of American Telecommunications.
- China in the Information Age: Telecommunications and the Dilemmas of Reform.
- Telephone Companies in Paradise A Case Study in Telecommunications Deregulation
Date: 1993
Mueller found established telephone companies to be basically conservative, not aggressive and expansionist, and concludes that new competition, not regulation or deregulation, is transforming the telecommunications industry. - International Telecommunications in Hong Kong The Case for Liberalization
Journal Articles
- It's Just Distributed Computing: Rethinking AI Governance
In: Telecommunications Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: April 2025
View All Details about It's Just Distributed Computing: Rethinking AI Governance
- Information as Power: Evolving US Military Information Operations
In: Cyber Defense Review [Peer Reviewed]
Date: March 2022
View All Details about Information as Power: Evolving US Military Information Operations
- Standardizing Security: Surveillance, Human Rights, and the Battle Over TLS 1.3
In: Journal of Information Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: December 2021
- Regulation of platform market access by the United States and China: Neo‐mercantilism in digital services
In: Policy & Internet [Peer Reviewed]
Date: November 2021
- The Hidden Standards War: Economic Factors Affecting IPv6 Deployment
In: Digital Policy, Regulation and Governance [Peer Reviewed]
Date: November 2020
This report, commissioned by ICANN's Office of the Chief Technology Officer, examines the economic incentives affecting the competition between IPv4 and IPv6, two incompatible versions of Internet protocol. It examines quantitative data about current levels and patterns of IPv6 adoption and tries to predict an equilibrium.
View All Details about The Hidden Standards War: Economic Factors Affecting IPv6 Deployment
- Against Sovereignty in Cyberspace
In: International Studies Review [Peer Reviewed]
Date: September 2019
- Requiem for a Dream: On Advancing Human Rights via Internet Architecture
In: Policy and Internet [Peer Reviewed]
Date: March 2019
Can human rights can be secured (or violated) via the Internet's standards and architecture? This article challenges uncritical and imperfectly theorized efforts to link standards‐setting and protocol development to “values” and human rights objectives.
View All Details about Requiem for a Dream: On Advancing Human Rights via Internet Architecture
- Data Flows and the Digital Economy: Information as a Mobile Factor of Production
In: Digital Policy, Regulation and Governance [Peer Reviewed]
Date: January 2019
Who is requesting websites from whom in the global economy? This paper analyzes quantitative data about the national location of the requestor of a web site and the location of the requested web site to look at information as a mobile factor of production in the global economy.
- Cyber Attribution: Can a New Institution Achieve Transnational Credibility?
In: Cyber Defense Review
Date: 2019
This paper argues that authoritative attribution of cyberattacks to nation-state actors requires more than purely technical solutions. New, credible institutions are needed to develop procedural checks and balances that will make attribution more than one nation pointing its finger at an adversary.
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- Is Cybersecurity Eating Internet Governance?
In: Digital Policy, Regulation and Governance 19:6, 415-428 [Peer Reviewed]
Date: September 2017
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- Governing Internet Territory: ICANN, Sovereignty Claims, Property Rights, and Country Code Top Level Domains
In: Columbia Science and Technology Law Review, Vol. XVIII [Peer Reviewed]
Date: January 2017
- Internet routing registries, data governance, and security
In: Journal of Cyber Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: January 2017
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- Hyper-transparency and social control: Social media as magnets for regulation
In: Telecommunications Policy 39(9), 804-810 [Peer Reviewed]
Date: October 2015
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- Detaching Internet governance from the state: Globalizing the IANA
In: Georgetown Journal of International Affairs [Peer Reviewed]
Date: October 2014
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- Dimensioning the elephant: An empirical analysis of the IPv4 number market
In: Info [Peer Reviewed]
Date: September 2013
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- Where is the Governance in Internet Governance?
In: New Media & Society [Peer Reviewed]
Date: August 2013
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- Internet Security and Networked Governance in International Relations
In: International Studies Review [Peer Reviewed]
Date: March 2013
View All Details about Internet Security and Networked Governance in International Relations
- Deep packet inspection and bandwidth management: Battles over BitTorrent in Canada and the United States
In: Telecommunications Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: July 2012
- Global Internet Governance Research and Public Policy Challenges for the Next Decade.
In: Telecommunications Policy
Date: July 2012
- Policing the network: Using DPI for copyright enforcement
In: Surveillance & Society [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2012
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- The end of the net as we know it? Deep packet inspection and internet governance.
In: New Media & Society [Peer Reviewed]
Date: November 2011
- Negotiating a new governance hierarchy: The conflicting incentives to secure Internet routing
In: Communications & Strategies [Peer Reviewed]
Date: March 2011
- Critical resource: An institutional economics of the Internet addressing- routing space.
In: Telecommunications Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2010
- Info-Communism? Ownership and freedom in the digital economy
In: First Monday [Peer Reviewed]
Date: April 2008
This paper takes a new look at the debate over commons and property in information and communications. It warns against recreating the old communist–capitalist ideological divide by framing the movement for informational commons as “info–communist.” The spectre of communism haunts the movement because of an unresolved ideological tension in its ethical and philosophical foundations. The case for free software and open information contains both deontological appeals to the virtues of sharing, and consequentialist arguments against the growing intrusiveness of the institutional and technological mechanisms used to enforce exclusivity in the digital economy. The paper argues that the deontological case is a dead end that leads to info–communism. The strongest case for open access and freedom in information and communications is grounded in a liberalism that takes maximizing individual freedom as its objective and relies on creative complementarities between property and commons regimes as means to that end.View All Details about Info-Communism? Ownership and freedom in the digital economy
- Disrupting Global Governance: The Internet Whois Service, ICANN and Privacy
In: Journal of Information Technology and Politics [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2008
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- Democratizing Global Communication? Global Civil Society and the Campaign for Communication Rights in the Information Society.
In: International Journal of Communication [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2007
- The Internet and Global Governance: Principles and Norms for a New Regime.
In: Global Governance [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2007
View All Details about The Internet and Global Governance: Principles and Norms for a New Regime.
- Digital Identity: How Users Value the Attributes of Online Identifiers
In: Information Economics and Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: November 2006
View All Details about Digital Identity: How Users Value the Attributes of Online Identifiers
- Civil Society and the Shaping of Communication-Information Policy: Four Decades of Advocacy.
In: The Information Society [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2004
- The Post-COM internet: toward regular and objective procedures for Internet governance
In: Telecommunications Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2004
- Competing DNS Roots: Creative Destruction or Just Plain Destruction?
In: Journal of Network Industries [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2002
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- Rough justice: A Statistical assessment of ICANN's Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy.
In: The Information Society [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2001
- Technology and institutional innovation: Internet domain names
In: International Journal of Communications Law and Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2000
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- The WTO and China's Ban on Foreign Investment in Telecommunication Services: A Game-theoretic Analysis.
In: Telecommunications Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2000
- ICANN and Internet Governance: Sorting through the debris of self- regulation.
In: Info, the Journal of Policy, Regulation and Strategy for Telecommunications, Information and Media [Peer Reviewed]
Date: December 1999
- Digital convergence and its consequences
In: Javnost [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 1999
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- Universal Service Policies as Wealth Redistribution
In: Government Information Quarterly [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 1999
View All Details about Universal Service Policies as Wealth Redistribution
- The battle over Internet domain names: global or national TLDs?
In: Telecommunications Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: March 1998
View All Details about The battle over Internet domain names: global or national TLDs?
- Telecommunications Access in the Age of Electronic Commerce: Toward a Third-Generation Universal Service Policy
In: Federal Communications Law Journal [Peer Reviewed]
Date: April 1997
- China’s new Internet regulations: two steps forward, one step back
In: Communications of the ACM
Date: 1997
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- Universal service and the Telecommunications Act: myth made law
In: Communications of the ACM
Date: 1997
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- Universal service from the bottom up: A study of telephone penetration in Camden, New Jersey
In: The Information Society [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 1996
- Why Communications Policy Is Passing" Mass Communication" By: Political Economy as the Missing Link (Review and Criticism).
In: Critical studies in mass communication [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 1995
- One Country, Two Systems: What will 1997 mean in telecommunications?
In: Telecommunications Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: April 1994
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- New Zealand's Revolution in Spectrum Management
In: Information Economics and Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: July 1993
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- Universal Service in Telephone History: A Reconstruction
In: Telecommunications Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: July 1993
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- On the Frontier of Deregulation: New Zealand Telecommunications and the Problem of Interconnecting Competing Networks
In: Information Economics and Policy
Date: 1993
- The Switchboard Problem: Scale, signaling and organization in the era of manual telephone switching, 1878-1898.
In: Technology and Culture [Peer Reviewed]
Date: July 1989
- Technical Standards, the Market, and Radio Frequency Allocation
In: Telecommunications Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: March 1988
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Chapters
- Inventing Internet Governance: The historical trajectory of the phenomenon and the field
In: Research Internet Governance: Methods, Frameworks, Futures [Peer Reviewed]
Date: September 2020
- Communications and the Internet
In: The Oxford Handbook of International Organizations, J. Cogan, I. Hurd & I. Johnstone, (eds) [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2016
- Einstein on the Breach: Surveillance Technology, Cybersecurity and Organizational Change.
In: G. Giacomello (Ed.), Security in Cyberspace: Targeting Nations, Infrastructures, Individuals [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2014
- Internet Addressing: Global Governance of Shared Resource Spaces
In: Research Handbook on Governance of the Internet
Date: 2013
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- Timid Liberalism: A Critique of the Process-Oriented Norms for Internet Blocking
- China and Global Internet Governance: A Tiger by the Tail.
- Property and Commons in Internet Governance
- Securing the Root
Date: 2011
- Delegation, Networks and Internet Governance
- Toward an Economics of the Domain Name System
- Convergence: A Reality Check
- ICANN and Intelsat: Global Communication Technologies and their Incorporation into International Regimes
- Internet domain names: Property rights and institutional innovation
Date: 2000
This chapter examines the commercialization of the Internet, which has initiated a global debate over privatizing and internationalizing the responsibility for managing the Internet domain name system. A new international regime is being organized around the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). The chapter analyzes the emergence of this new regime, drawing upon empirical literature on the economics of property rights and related concepts of international regime change. Property rights conflicts that emerged with the growth of the Internet domain names are analyzed. An efficient property rights regime in domain names is presented and contrasted with the new property regime. The comparison shows that the path of institutional change is strongly affected by conflicts over the distributional issues inherent in the definition of property rights.View All Details about Internet domain names: Property rights and institutional innovation
- Household Financing of the First 100 Feet?
- China's Telecommunications Sector and the WTO
- The Hong Kong Internet Exchange: A Case Study in the Economics, Evolution, and Connectivity of Asian Internet Infrastructure
- Creating a Telecommunications Free Trade Zone in Greater China.
- The User-Driven Network: the present extent of private networking in the United States
- Contested Terrain: Hong Kong's International Telecommunications on the Eve of 1997.
Conferences
- Shifts in the Cybersecurity Paradigm: Zero-Day Exploits, Discourse, and Emerging Institutions
- Trademarks and Domain Names: Property rights and institutional evolution in cyberspace
- Universal Service as an Appropriability Problem: a new framework for analysis.
Working Papers
- Profiling the Profilers: Deep Packet Inspection and Behavioral Advertising in Europe and the United States
Date: September 2012
Deep packet inspection (DPI) allows Internet service providers (ISPs) to monitor the content of data packets in real-time, including analysis and categorization of the web sites users visit. This paper focuses on the use of DPI for customer profiling and the way the application of this technology has intersected with debates over online behavioral advertising and privacy in Europe and the USA. …The paper presents a five stage process that describes the overall development in more abstract terms, a process that we have found repeatedly in similar case studies where DPI technologies have been applied: 1) secret deployment, 2) public disclosure, 3) civil activism, 4) political proceedings, 5) legal proceedings. This framework gives a general understanding of the interaction of technical, economic and institutional factors that are at work when politically contested technologies that might have a disruptive potential enter the realm of the Internet. In this case, as in many others, the analysis shows how the notions of “notification” and “informed consent” so crucial to privacy law have failed to bridge the gap between the privacy expectations of Internet users and the formal legal definition applied by the courts. To sum up, rather than analyzing the wider ecology of online behavioral advertising, this paper examines in particular the use and politics of DPI in online advertising and what effects public pressure, regulatory actions and judicial and policy-making proceedings had on those deployments.