US Will Keep Control Of Internet

An agreement was reached at the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis, Tunisia late Tuesday night whereby the United States, through quasi-independent Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), will remain in control of the Internet's root servers and addressing system. Though the European Union and countries like Pakistan, Iran, Tunisia, Cuba, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Brazil called for the US to cede control of the Internet to an international body like the United Nations during a heated September summit in Geneva, negotiators from the 173 countries in attendance agreed the US should retain governance. US representatives called the Geneva proposal to turn over Internet governance to the UN Negotiators finally agree at a late night meeting to create an international forum for bringing concerns and input to ICANN. The forum will have no binding authority. ICANN chief and Australian-native Paul Twomey felt the strong calling for the US to loosen its grip on the Internet was largely due to building animosity toward US interests. "If the Internet had been developed in Australia, I don't think we would have had so much heat on this discussion," said Twomey. The