GENEVA (Reuters) - A U.N.-sponsored panel aims to settle a
> long-running tug of war for control of the Internet by July and
> propose solutions to problems such as cyber crime and email
> spam, panel leaders announced.
> The panel, set up in December 2003, will lay groundwork for a final
> decision to be taken in Tunis in November at a U.N.-sponsored World
> Summit on the Information Society, where global control of the world
> wide web may be decided.
> Right now, the most recognizable Internet governance body is a
> California-based non-profit company, the International Corporation for
> Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
> But developing countries want an international body, such as the
> U.N.'s International Telecommunication Union (ITU), to have control
> over governance -- from distributing Web site domains to fighting > spam.
> "There is an issue that is out there and that needs to be resolved,"
> said Nitin Desai, chairman of working group and special adviser to
> U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
> Incorporated in 1998, ICANN oversees management of the Internet's
> crucial addressing system which matches numerical addresses to
> familiar Web site addresses.
> While its oversight has been confined to technical matters, critics
> say that it is subject to U.S. political influence.
> The ITU, a 138-year-old trade body that among other things established
> country code rules for international telephone calls, is seen by
> developing countries as being better able to address their needs.
> All countries want to counter spam -- unsolicited commercial messages
> that can flood email accounts by the hundreds and burden the web with
> unwanted traffic.
> NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily
> media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at
>
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Whatever. Does anyone think the UN will be effective at this?
LB
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Does anyone think ICANN will hand over the reigns to ICU in any event? I don't think they will. PAT]