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U.S. Refuses to Give Up Control of Internet Governance
European Union (EU) representatives have recently taken a firm position that Internet governance should not remain under the control of the United States government. However, U.S. representatives have said that they will not hand over control of the Internet to any other organization. The clash between the U.S. and the EU comes just as officials are preparing for the U.N. World Summit on the Information Society to be held in Tunisia, this November.
Management of the Internet’s root name server system has, to date, been the responsibility of ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, under the direction of the U.S. Department of Commerce. At one time, it was expected that the U.S. Department of Commerce would gradually withdraw their control over ICANN. However, in June 2005, the Bush administration announced that the U.S. government had no intention of relinquishing its control. Others, including the EU, argue that an international resource such as the Internet should be under international control, exercised through the United Nations. Some countries fear that if the U.S. retains control, they could be adversely affected by U.S. policy decisions. Ultimately, commentators say that the dispute could lead to the Internet being fractured into multiple networks, possibly even networks that are not compatible. Such a result would seriously undermine the value of the Internet as a vehicle for international commerce.
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