[ga] [WSIS] Declaration from ICANN

[Stephane Bortzmeyer <bortzmeyer@xxxxxx>]

http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=3449733

Here is the text:

Fight Looms for Control of Internet Management 
 Tue September 16, 2003 02:37 AM ET 
 By Wong Choon Mei

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - A fight over the role of governments in
managing the Internet is brewing as policymakers prepare for a
U.N.-backed summit on the network's future, said an official at the
body governing Internet domain names.

Mohamed Sharil Tarmizi of the Los Angeles-based Internet Corporation
for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) said two camps were forming
over the wording of a key article to be adopted at the World Summit on
the Information Society in December.

"Some governments are arguing that the management of things like IP
(Internet protocol) addressing, global domain names, privacy should be
done by an inter-governmental organization because they feel the
Internet is a public resource, and they have responsibility over
public resources," said Mohamed Sharil, who is chairman of ICANN's
government advisory committee.

"Then there are some governments who feel that the Internet should be
managed by an international body," he told Reuters in an interview.

"International by definition means everyone is involved, from
governments to private sector and civil society. Whereas
inter-governmental gives an indication that only governments are
involved and not necessarily the people."

Around 189 countries will be attending the summit in Geneva, where
policymakers are due to agree best practices and standards for the
Internet and other information technologies.

The summit's Web site (www.itu.int/wsis/index.html) says the meeting
will aim to "develop and foster a clear statement of political will
and a concrete plan of action for achieving the goals of the
information society."

Mohamed Sharil said many countries in Asia Pacific favored an
independent international body for managing the Internet. But some in
Europe and the Middle East preferred an inter-governmental
organization.

"Positions are shifting all the time," he said. "It's very hard at the
global level to agree which it should be.

Mohamed Sharil said whichever side won, the victors should form "smart
public-private" partnerships.

"The Internet belongs to everyone and everyone should have a role," he
said.

"The Internet is many things to many people, there is no one size fits
all," he said. "Some governments spend billions to get the Internet to
the people, some say it is just yellow culture."

"Whatever it is, the fear is that you might end up with some pushing
for it, and some not. Then you can get stuck. You might end up with a
mini United Nations...that can slow the rate of expansion."

The newly elected Mohamed Sharil, who is also a regulator at the
Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, said ICANN would
not be taking a position on the article.

A non-profit organization given the job of overseeing Internet
addresses globally by the U.S. government, ICANN will be attending the
summit as an observer.