Government showdown could break up Internet, experts warn

A tense dispute over United States control of the Internet in the run-up to the World Summit on the Information Society could eventually lead to the break-up of the global network and hamper seamless browsing, officials warned on Monday.

The warning came as the United States told European Union participants at negotiations on Internet governance that it was determined to maintain its oversight over the technical and administrative infrastructure at the root of the network.

In a letter seen by AFP, US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez called on the British presidency of the European Union to drop its proposal for an international alternative.

"We ask the EU to reconsider its new position on Internet governance and work together with us to bring the benefits of the information society to all," the US wrote.

Robert Shaw of the United Nations' International Telecommunications Union, said: "There's clearly a lot of pent up frustrations and this issue isn't going to go away."

"Since the positions are so polarised we may end up with a fractured Internet," he added.

Government officials were locked in negotiations in Tunis on Monday to try to resolve their three-year deadlock on the issue during the summit, which begins on Wednesday.

The outcome could determine who eventually controls the Internet's technical and administrative infrastructure, which allows the computer network to function worldwide.

At the moment that role is played by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a California-based independent body which is awarded the task by the US government on a renewable tender.

ICANN was set up in California in 1998 when the Internet boom was largely focused on the US.

Run by a group of free-spirited enthusiasts who were anxious to avoid regulation of the Internet, it has grown closer to the US-based computer industry. About 30 governments have a purely advisory role.

However, the exponential growth of Internet connections worldwide, its growing economic and social importance and technological developments have prompted concern about the US monopoly on the tender.

"The idea that the Internet is an unregulated haven, these days are finished," a source close to the talks said.

ICANN also assigns domain names worldwide. Although it has never tried to do so, it could be in a position to disconnect countries and disrupt communications for political or economic reasons, critics said.

Iran, backed by other leading developing nations, wanted a body "anchored" to the UN to have oversight over ICANN and other agencies, with an advisory role for industry.

The EU is proposing a formula that would remove US political oversight over ICANN and replace it with a purely technical intergovernmental body - though not necessarily the UN - after a transition phase.

Governments, industry and campaigners would also gather in a separate "forum" to discuss other related issues, including "public policy", according to the text of the EU proposal.

The US insisted the issue was of "paramount importance to the US".

"Burdensome, bureaucratic oversight is out of place in an Internet structure that has worked so well for so many around the globe," the letter said. "We regret that recent positions on Internet governance offered by the EU seem to propose just that - a new structure of intergovernmental control over the Internet."

The Paris-based journalist's rights campaign body, Reporters Sans Frontieres (Reporters without borders - RSF) lent its support to the existing system.

"The situation can certainly be criticised but the proposed remedies seem much worse," RSF said in a statement, warning that "repressive countries" might be able to take advantage of weak UN oversight.