UN wants to take over the Internet?

There have been many news stories since the end of Prepcom-3 about Internet Governance. Most of them are along the lines of - "the UN wants to take over the Internet". But having been involved in the UN internet governance issue for a while, and being at the meetings in the Prepcom, that isn't true. It is true that almost everyone wants the US to give up its primary role in Internet management, but handing it over to the UN isn't the option that everyone else wants! The only thing that's agreed by everyone except the US is that the US has to give it up. To whom, or what - that's still up in the air. There are several options on the table. Of course, the US doesn't want to hand it over to a multinational body, or to anyone or anything. My preferred suggestion is that the US do what the Clinton administration agreed to, and let ICANN become independent in 2006. Independent, not subject to any new oversight arrangement.

Governments are already involved in ICANN through the GAC. If ICANN's internal evolution goes along as planned, then there is no need for UN or any other oversight body. A huge problem is that this discussion is distracting from a lot of the very important governance issues that could work to creating a fair and equitable Information Society. Development and digital divide issues have been swept aside in the fight over the US control of the DNS. This is stupid and short-sighted, and the governments, especially of the developing countries, are at risk of losing a valuable opportunity to really make a difference. See some of the stories here: EU says internet could fall apart A battle has erupted over who governs the internet, with America demanding to maintain a key role in the network it helped create and other countries demanding more control. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,3604,1589902,00.html Where countries stand http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,3604,1589904,00.html Net power struggle nears climax US administration coming under worldwide pressure over the net. It is seen as arrogant and determined to remain the sheriff of the world wide web, regardless of whatever the rest of the world may think. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4327928.stm House Backs U.S. ICANN Stand The U.S. House Commerce Committee backed the White House Thursday and emphatically opposed turning over governance of the Internet to the U.N.. http://internetnews.com/article.php/3554686 http://management.silicon.com/government/0,39024677,39153172,00.htm Moves to give UN net control PLANS by the UN to take control of the internet have descended into high farce, with delegates at a meeting in Geneva tabling nine different proposals but failing to reach agreement. http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,16874891%5e15306%5e%5enbv%5e15306,00.html Nations squabble over internet management Delegates at a meeting in Geneva on Monday failed to reach an agreement on who should control the internet's addressing system. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/10/11/enews_net_governance/ U.N. WANTS CONTROL OF THE INTERNET The UN World Summit on the Information Society met for the first time in Geneva, Switzerland on Dec. 10-12, 2003 for what would begin a heated international debate over control of the Internet. http://newswithviews.com/Ryter/jon104.htm http://www.wpherald.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20051010-103935-4364r