US Government still wants Internet control

Found on The Inquirer on Thursday, 30 June 2005
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The US government wants to keep control of the interweb until the technology becomes redundant and is snubbing foreign governments and ICANN, the body set up to eventually run it.

Previously the US has said that it would hand over control to ICANN if the body met a number of conditions. Now it is saying, it doesn't matter what ICANN does, the Internet is still US territory.

In a move which is a change of US policy, a senior government official said that it was not giving away any control to foreigners.

In an interview with Associated Press journalist Michael Gallagher, the assistant secretary for communications and information at the Commerce Department said that America needed control because of the growing security threats and increased reliance on the Internet for communications and commerce. Apparently only Americans can secure the Internet.

It appears that some countries might want to withdraw support for the ICANN if it doesn't get control. Some commentators fear that countries refusing to accept US control could establish their own separate Domain Name System.

Then why did they said they would hand control over? It's not like the Internet belongs to someone; it's a global thing. If the US fails to recognize that (or thinks it can once again play big brother), then it's a pity. What if the rest of the world decides to chop of the lines to and from the US? With narrow minds like those, it will take long until mankind really grows up.