America Will Control the Internet

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F74386DB-3B23-49E4-B70A-04A02D513538.htm

The United States announced the move on Thursday, publishing a four-paragraph statement online, saying it would retain - indefinitely - oversight of the computers that control traffic on the internet, instead of gradually releasing control to an international body, as some countries have favoured.

That ran counter to previous US policy, although Michael Gallagher, assistant secretary for communications and information at the Commerce Department, said it was "the foundation of US policy going forward".

He said the declaration was a response to growing security threats and increased reliance on the internet globally for communications and commerce.

That has done little to allay fears that the United States is overstepping its boundaries and locking its grip on the internet - which is used for everything from selling second-hand shoes to criticising governments including authoritarian dictatorships.

Confrontational US move

Patrik Linden, a spokesman for the Swedish Internet infrastructure foundation, which runs and develops the Swedish top level domain .se, said the US announcement was "rather confrontational" towards those who would like to see an international body take control of the internet root servers.

"This kind of statement doesn't exactly favour that discussion," Linden said, adding that the announcement "wasn't completely unexpected".

"This is perhaps what a lot of people have thought that [the US] has always intended," he said.



The US controls the administration
of 13 root server computers

 

Mr. Paul Vixie serves as the Chief Executive Officer at M.I.B.H., LLC and is a preeminent protocol designer and Internet opinion leader. An outspoken advocate for responsible Internet citizenship, Mr. Vixie is a crusader against spam and the abuse of online communications. His visible and vocal presence in testifying to Federal and state regulatory agencies and advisory role in policy development

*understands why you have a bee in your bonnet*