Al Gore
OUR UN is looking out for our future
Tue Apr 13, 2004 09:47
4.227.35.234

Web we weaved
It's a well-known fact that the Internet was created by an untold number of Americans — yes, Al Gore among them.
The question now is whether the United States will concede majority control of the Web it weaved to an international body appointed by the United Nations.
There's a big push in the international community to assume responsibility of the Internet, taking over tasks now handled by the U.S. Congress-established Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), based in Los Angeles.
One of ICANN's primary roles is to oversee the Internet's domain-name addressing system, including country codes. Now, a U.N. task force has been impaneled to propose that a world body govern the Internet.
"In managing, promoting and protecting [the Internet's] presence in our lives, we need to be no less creative than those who invented it," U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan was quoted as saying. "Clearly, there is a need for governance, but that does not necessarily mean that it has to be done in the traditional way, for something that is so very different."
One Internet insider with ties to Capitol Hill says it would behoove those whose livelihoods depend on the Internet to pay close attention.
"The average Internet user should be concerned with what's happening and who is running the Internet because it ultimately impacts the way the Internet works," says the analyst, equating the future of the Internet as ranking in importance with other election-year issues.
The International Telecommunications Union will hold preparatory meetings in Tunisia in June to discuss Internet governance.