Internet 'could break up'
2005-11-15 14:21
Tunis - A tense dispute over United States control of the internet in the run-up to the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) could eventually lead to the break-up of the global network and hamper seamless browsing, officials warned on Monday.
The warning came as the US told European Union (EU) participants at negotiations on internet governance that it was determined to maintain its oversight over the technical and administrative infrastructure at the root of the network.
In a letter seen by AFP, US secretary of state Condoleeza Rice and commerce secretary Carlos Gutierrez called on the British presidency of the EU to drop its proposal for an international alternative.
A European diplomat, who declined to be named, said the letter was tantamount to "an attempt at intimidation".
Concerns over 'fractured' internet
Robert Shaw of the United Nations's International Telecommunication Union, said: "Since the positions are so polarised we may end up with a fractured internet."
Either the search for a "democratic" international solution prevails, or the internet could fragment into a multitude of networks before an eventual international co-ordination mechanism sticks them back together, he added.
Chairperson of the negotiations, Janis Karklins of Finland, asked government negotiators to examine a new draft compromise to try to resolve their three-year deadlock before the summit, which begins on Wednesday.
The outcome could determine who eventually controls the internet's technical and administrative infrastructure, which allows the computer network to function worldwide.
Worries about US monopoly
At the moment that role is played by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann), a California-based independent body which is awarded the task by the US government on a renewable tender.
Icann was set up in California in 1998 when the internet boom was largely focused on the US. About 30 governments have a purely advisory role.
However, the exponential growth of internet connections worldwide, the web's growing economic and social importance and technological developments have prompted concern about the US monopoly on the tender.
"The idea that the internet is an unregulated haven, these days are finished," a source close to the talks said.
Icann also assigns top level domain names to countries worldwide.
Critics of the US fear it could be in a position to disconnect another nation for political or economic reasons.
Iran, backed by other major developing nations, wants a body "anchored" to the United Nations (UN) to have oversight over Icann and other agencies, with an advisory role for industry.
The EU is proposing a formula that would replace US government oversight with a purely technical intergovernmental body.
Washington's letter retorted that "burdensome, bureaucratic oversight is out of place in an internet structure that has worked so well for so many around the globe".