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How can companies influence or take control of Internet standards?

It can be argued that companies seek control of the Internet to gain competitive advantage. 

For example, Microsoft used what have been judged as  anti-  competitive tactics to gain a 

large market share for its browser, Internet Explorer. In a  five-  year period, it achieved over 

75% market share, which has given it advantages in other areas of e-commerce such as adver-

tising revenue through its portal MSN (www.msn.com) and retail through its sites such as 

travel site Expedia (www.expedia.com). Microsoft has also sought to control standards such 

as HTML and has introduced rival standards or variants of other standards.

The existence of global Internet standards bodies arguably means that it is less likely that 

one company can develop proprietary standards, although Microsoft has been successfully 

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Part 1  Introduction

using this approach for many years. Today, companies such as Microsoft have to lobby 

independent organisations to have their input into standards such as XML. Businesses can 

protect their interests in the Internet by lobbying these organisations or governments, or 

subscribing as members and having employees involved with development of standards

Many remain worried about the future control of the Internet by companies; the ‘World 

of Ends’ campaign (www.worldofends.com) illustrates some of the problems where control 

can limit consumer choice and stifle innovation. But the future of the Internet is assured 

because the three core principles espoused in the World of Ends document remain true:

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No one owns it.

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Everyone can use it.

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Anyone can improve it.