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30 Sep 05 10:14 11:14 UK |
The US has rejected calls by European Union (EU) officials to give control of the net over to a more representative United Nations (UN) body.
Wrangling over who should essentially be the net police, managing domain names and net traffic routing fairly, has been going on for some time.
The matter is supposed to be discussed at November's World Summit on the Information Society in Tunisia.
But at a pre-Summit meeting this week, the US said it would resist the plans.
In the meeting, the European Union (EU) backed proposals that control of the net should be under a more representative body.
"We will not agree to the UN taking over the management of the internet," said Ambassador David Gross, the US coordinator for international communications and information policy at the State Department.
"Some countries want that. We think that's unacceptable."
Fairer sharing
Currently, the US Commerce Department approves any changes to the internet's core addressing systems, the root zone files, managed by Icann (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers).
Last month the UN's Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) published its proposals for reform of the way the net is run, which are to be debated at the Summit.
Governance over the net - the management of its addressing systems and traffic routing - has historically been the role of the US because it largely funded and pushed its early development.
The US argues that UN proposals would shift the regulatory approach from private sector leadership to government, top-down control.
Icann administers domain name and addressing systems, such as country domain suffixes. It manages how net browsers and e-mail programs direct traffic.
But many countries, particuarly developing nations, have been calling for the US to relinquish control, or at least to come up with a compromise, to ensure the net is managed more equitably.
Many outside the US argue that no one country should have authority over something that plays such a key role in the global economy.
As many developing countries seek to exploit the net for economic and social development, the issue has become more pressing.
The UN's WGIG has suggested four alternatives:
The UN World Summit on the Information Society takes place in Tunis, Tunisia, between 16 and 18 November.