US rejects changes to net control

The US has rejected calls by European Union (EU) officials to give control of the net over to a more representative United Nations (UN) body.

Wrangling over who should essentially be the net police, managing domain names and net traffic routing fairly, has been going on for some time.
But many countries, particuarly developing nations, have been calling for the US to relinquish control, or at least to come up with a compromise, to ensure the net is managed more equitably.

Many outside the US argue that no one country should have authority over something that plays such a key role in the global economy.

As many developing countries seek to exploit the net for economic and social development, the issue has become more pressing.

The UN's WGIG has suggested four alternatives:

* Option One - create a UN body known as the Global Internet Council that draws its members from governments and "other stakeholders" and takes over the US oversight role of Icann.

* Option Two - no changes apart from strengthening Icann's Governmental Advisory Committee to become a forum for official debate on net issues.

* Option Three - relegate Icann to a narrow technical role and set up an International Internet Council that sits outside the UN. US loses oversight of Icann

* Option Four - create three new bodies. One to take over from Icann and look after the net's addressing system. One to be a debating chamber for governments, businesses and the public; and one to co-ordinate work on "internet-related public policy issues".

The UN World Summit on the Information Society takes place in Tunis, Tunisia, between 16 and 18 November.