US Opposes Call for Shared Control of Internet

The United Nations Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) has issued a report calling for an end to the pre-eminent position of the US in the management of the Internet. The European Union (EU) recently joined with other countries in calling for a change in how the Internet is governed and proposed that an intergovernmental agency be set up to control the Internet, and determine how Internet addresses are to be distributed. Currently, the Internet is controlled by Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which is a quasi-independent agency of the US Commerce Department. The EU feels that is it is unacceptable that control of a global resource like the Internet be governed by the policies of a single country. In rejecting the proposal, the US stated that, as a matter of national policy, it will not cede control of the Internet at this time. "We will not agree to the UN taking over the management of the Internet," said Ambassador David Gross. Further, US officials contend that the model proposed by the EU will lead to over-bureaucratization of the Internet. Countries other than EU members and the US have felt that the current Internet governance has not been receptive to their needs, and as the Internet becomes more important to their economies, they have sought assurances that the national policies of the US will not affect their countries adversely. For an article in The New York Times, visit: http://makeashorterlink.com/?Q596157FB For a copy of the WGIG report, visit this site and follow the links: http://www.wgig.org Summary by: James Kosa