U.S. Refuses to Relinquish Control of Net

The United States will not cede control of the computers that direct traffic on the Internet to the United Nations, the State Department's coordinator for international communications and information policy told diplomats in Geneva on Thursday. Ambassador David Gross said the issue of who controls the Internet has become contentious because some countries say that no single nation should be the ultimate authority over such a vital part of the global economy. The United States has been the principal overseer of the Internet since it was invented as a Defense Department project. Some countries have been discussing a proposal that would take control of domain names from the U.S.-based Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, and place it with an intergovernmental group, possibly under the United Nations. Gross said the United States is “deeply disappointed” with a European Union proposal advocating a “new cooperation model” that would involve governments in restructuring the Internet. “There are certain things we can agree to and certain things we can't agree to,” he said. “It's not a negotiating issue. This is a matter of national policy.”
[SOURCE: USAToday]