Posted on 09/30/2005 11:13:43 AM PDT by for-q-clinton
The European Union insisted Friday that governments and the private sector must share the responsibility of overseeing the Internet, setting the stage for a showdown with the United States on the future of Internet governance.
A senior U.S. official reiterated Thursday that the country wants to remain the Internet's ultimate authority, rejecting calls in a United Nations meeting in Geneva for a U.N. body to take over.
EU spokesman Martin Selmayr said a new cooperation model was important "because the Internet is a global resource."
"The EU ... is very firm on this position," he added.
The Geneva talks were the last preparatory meeting before November's World Summit on the Information Society in Tunisia.
A stalemate over who should serve as the principal traffic cops for Internet routing and addressing could derail the summit, which aims to ensure a fair sharing of the Internet for the benefit of the whole world.
At issue is who would have ultimate authority over the Internet's master directories, which tell Web browsers and e-mail programs how to direct traffic.
That role has historically gone to the United States, which created the Internet as a Pentagon project and funded much of its early development. The U.S. Commerce Department has delegated much of that responsibility to a U.S.-based private organization with international board members, but Commerce ultimately retains veto power.
Some countries have been frustrated that the United States and European countries that got on the Internet first gobbled up most of the available addresses required for computers to connect, leaving developing nations with a limited supply to share.
They also want greater assurance that as they come to rely on the Internet more for governmental and other services, their plans won't get derailed by some future U.S. policy.
Policy decisions could at a stroke make all Web sites ending in a specific suffix essentially unreachable. Other decisions could affect the availability of domain names in non-English characters or ones dedicated to special interests such as pornography.
Invent your own network, fellas. Nothing's stopping you.
I'm interested on getting the OSS crowd's take on letting the EU have co-ownership of the Internet.
We'll take France in trade for our valuable invention of the internet. We need it, now Florida is getting full. Just get those annoying French people out, they'll ruin it for our retirees.
Ditto!
Don't want Brussels controlling anything on this of the Atlantic. Now way Jose!
LMAO!
Get you own internet, weenies. Tell you what - we'll sent algore over to help you out for the next 30 or 40 years.
Us to EU: Stuff it.
Hell no, the EU co-controlling something is a train wreck waiting to happen. The internet has been fine since its creation and its fine now. If its not broke do not fix it. It just chaps thier ass that the US developed it and has control.
The EU doesn't like me playing Paul Revere with their citizens is more like it.
I hear Al Gore needs a job.
Dammit man, you want to send them our greatest computer scientist?
"The EU ... is very firm on this position," he added.
Gee, just like mainland China, huh?
Well, we could always incorporate "the internet", and sell class B non-voting shares to Europe. Let's say we IPO ten shares, at 1 trillion dollars US each. Of course, the US will retain 100 class A shares - which each have 1 vote.
National debt = gone!
Makes you wonder if "whoever" (I honestly don't know where any of this comes from!) set up the new ".us" exactly for this reason - in hopes that the "globalization" of the Internet would be upon us, and now the US would have to have its own tag just like little New Zealand or Japan, instead of being DEFAULT.
And why default? Cuz it came from here, and the US is the wealthiest per capita to boot so so many more American people not only surf but actually USE the 'net for their business (web sites). You can't tell me the rest of the world accounts for even half the websites or even surfers.
They are just as firm on this as they are against Iran developing Nukes.
If the US caves we are really big weenies (or should I say little weenies).
How about the U.S. licensing the rights? Could mean a lot of money.
Also, a handy bargaining chip when the EU start pulling crap.
Stom ta jora EU.
What are they going to do? Send French waiters to hurl insults at us?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.