Dominating the internet

Date: 03/11/05

A transatlantic spat over who should govern the internet is likely to dominate the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) later this month.

The issue surfaced in September at a pre-WSIS meeting in Geneva, where the European Commission demanded more say in the political oversight of the internet's domain name system (DNS). Informal talks are continuing to try to reach an agreement to avoid the issue dominating the WSIS meeting in Tunis (16-18 November).

The administration of DNS - which stores information about the host names and domain names that allow computers to communicate with one another - is currently managed by a US-based organisation. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is contracted to the US government's department of commerce, which has not yet interfered in any of ICANN's decisions.

In June, the United Nations' Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) called for an end to the "pre-eminent role" of the US in internet management and said that a global institution should be set up to deal with areas of common interest such as spam and security.

At the Geneva meeting, the EU shocked the US by publicly backing the UN's position and touting the idea of a 'co-operation model' that would oversee ICANN and a forum where governments could discuss any issues.

"Many parts of the world don't like the fact that one country is linked to the organism that technically rules the internet," said Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding in London after the Geneva meeting.

"It represented a new, very aggressive tone towards the US," said one US official of the meeting.

The US sees no need to relinquish what is essentially an auditing function, where a small number of officials at the US Department of Commerce verify the accuracy of any changes to the root of the internet namespace.

"Everyone agrees that the US has honoured the independence of ICANN and that there is nothing wrong with the way that the system works. If that is the case then why do we want to tinker with it?" said one official.

He warned that substituting the role that the US plays in the DNS system with a group of governments could politicize what is now a technical process and increase the influence of governments that might not share a commitment to the original open and free principles behind the Internet.

Iran and China have already applauded the EU's position. Carl Bildt, the Swedish liberal politician and former prime minister, has warned the EU that its position could see "theocrats or autocrats around the world getting their hands on the levers of control".

The US official said that America could support WGIG proposals, backed by Japan and Canada, for a forum to be set up for international co-operation on topics that "naturally lend themselves to dialogue" such as spam, spyware and consumer fraud.

Lesley Cowley, chief executive of Nominet, the UK registry for .uk internet names, said that a forum could be a positive move but warned against any multi-governmental structure to oversee domain name management.

"The idea that governments would intervene worries me," she said. "Governments have political agendas that could potentially confine the internet to over-regulation."

She added that domain names were a "tiny part" of the whole debate. "There are so many more important issues such as infrastructure in developing countries or solutions to spam and it would be sad if that were overshadowed by a political spat."

i2010

European Commission measures planned under i2010, its five-year programme to boost growth and jobs via the knowledge economy:

• 2005: Modernise EU broadcasting rules by amending the 1989 Television Without Frontiers directive. Draft a new spectrum management strategy
• 2006: Publish a strategy on security in the sector. Publish an action plan on e-Government and strategic orientations on ICT-enabled public services. Review the electronic communication regulatory framework. Action on interoperability - particularly digital rights management
• 2007: Set up three 'quality of life' ICT flagship initiatives. Review all existing EU legislation on information society and media services
• 2008: Propose a European Initiative on promoting the use of electronic communications (e-Inclusion)

Preview of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), to take place in Tunis, 16-18 November 2005. Article focuses on the dispute between the EU, the US and others on how the Internet should be governed. This article is part of a European Voice Special Report, 'New Media'.

International Telecommunication Union: World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) http://www.itu.int/wsis/

UN Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG): Homepage http://www.wgig.org

---