News 

The UN is proposing a new, multinational method of supervising the allocation and management of the domain name system (DNS) - .com, .co.uk and so on - that is currently governed by the US-based private company Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), although the US government retains control of the DNS.

The Commission's deputy head of international relations, Jean-Francois Soupizet, said that it is 'optimistic' that an agreement will be reached that will guarantee it a greater role, alongside the UN, in running the Net.

'We have already the elements for an agreement, notably a workable definition of Internet governance,' he said.

However it can take nothing for granted. Software and Internet companies are concerned that a greater government role will only mean regulations

ADVERTISEMENT

and taxes while some US politicians are not prepared to see the UN take control.

Soupizet said that the EU has no plans to intervene in the day-to-day running of the Net, unless it stops to work properly. Meanwhile UN Secretary General Kofi Annan insisted that the UN has no intention of taking over.

'The United Nations wants only to ensure the Internet's global reach,' he said.

'Governance of matters related to the Internet, such as spam and cybercrime, is being dealt with in a dispersed and fragmented manner, while the Internet's infrastructure has been managed in an informal but effective collaboration among private businesses, civil society and the academic and technical communities,' he added. 'But developing countries find it difficult to follow all these processes and feel left out of Internet governance structures.'

He said that everyone accepts the need for international participation and disagreed only over the best way to achieve it.

Despite Annan's assurances, some countries including China and Russia have called for the UN to take a pre-eminent role, rather than a single country.

Russia was among several countries who stated in pre-summit submissions that: 'No single Government should have a pre-eminent role in relation to international Internet governance.'

China's position is that 'we should look for an appropriate specialised agency of the United Nations as a competent body'.