UN Debate over Internet Control

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By CHRIS HAWLEY, Associated Press Writer

 

UNITED NATIONS - Typically, only heads of state and titans of industry get an audience on the 38th floor of the marble-and-glass tower housing the United Nations (news - web sites).

 

 

 

So when the president of a California nonprofit corporation with an unwieldy name — the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers — met Friday with Secretary-General Kofi Annan (news - web sites), it signaled the group's importance in a computer-driven world.

 

ICANN (news - web sites) oversees the Domain Name System — such as ".com," ".net" and ".org" — that allows computers to find each other in cyberspace. It is sanctioned by the United States government, which funded the Internet's early development.

 

Some countries and activists argue that ICANN is too close to the United States and want the United Nations to take a greater role in regulating the Internet.

 

"The United Nations would be a good platform for that, because it has legitimacy. The countries are all represented," said Izzeldin Mohamed Osman, a computer science professor from the Sudan University of Science and Technology.

 

This week, about 200 diplomats, activists and representatives of companies like Hewlett-Packard Co. and Sun Microsystems Inc. met at the United Nations to share ideas on whether the Internet should be governed and, if so, how.

 

"The world has a common interest in ensuring the security and dependability of this new medium," Annan said.