EU fails to wrestle internet dominance from US

The EU, backed by a number of countries worldwide, has not succeeded in wresting leadership of internet governance from the US at the UN summit on information in Tunis.

But a new international Internet Governance Forum (IGF) will be created to follow issues related to internet governance, according to a last-minute deal reached ahead of the opening of the summit on Wednesday (16 November).

The internet was invented in the US and is still managed by the California-based, not-for-profit Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) on behalf of the entire world.

ICANN itself is governed by an internationally diverse board of directors overseeing the development of the internet.

But the organisation still operates under a contract with the US department of commerce, which will run out by the end of 2006.

Internet users in the entire world must request ICANN before inserting new top level domains, such as the .eu domain which is shortly to be opened for registration.

The allocation system of internet protocol addresses (IP numbers) is also handled by ICANN, while all disputes with ICANN fall under Californian law.

The EU has been calling for "the establishment of an arbitration and dispute resolution mechanism based on international law in case of disputes."

To bridge the digital gap

Viviane Reding, EU information commissioner, who is leading the commission delegation in Tunis, welcomed the deal saying it would "pave the way for a progressive internationalisation of internet governance."

"The fact that the EU spoke with one voice in Tunis, and stood by its case for more cooperation on internet governance in the run-up to the summit, certainly strongly influenced this positive agreement," she said.

The Americans were also happy with the deal.

David Gross, co-ordinator of Internet policy at the US state department, welcomed the accord and said according to the Times that it "preserved the unique role of the US government in ensuring the reliability and stability."

The heads of state or government or their representatives at the UN summit in Tunis, in which 170 countries are taking part, will now officially adopt the text.

The new forum is set to hold its first meeting in Athens in the second quarter of 2006.

In his opening speech, UN secretary general Kofi Annan called for the world to do more to bridge the digital gap between rich and poor.

But he also praised the US, stating: "The United States deserves our thanks for having developed the Internet and making it available to the world."

Currently only 14 per cent of the global population has internet access, compared with 62 percent in the US.

Another problem to be discussed among the 20,000 delegates in the summit is the need to safeguard human rights, and in particular freedom of speech on the internet.