[WSIS CS-Plenary] CBC News - RICH, POOR DISCUSS INTERNET AT WORLD SUMMIT

[Amali De Silva]

FYI

CBC News Online <nwonline at toronto.cbc.ca> wrote:Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2003 08:01:42 UT
From: CBC News Online 

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RICH, POOR DISCUSS INTERNET AT WORLD SUMMIT
WebPosted Wed Dec 10 10:50:23 2003

Geneva---Disputes between industrialized and developing countries over
control of the internet threaten to steal the spotlight at a UN summit
aimed at expanding access to information technology.

Countries including China, South Africa, India and Brazil want control of
internet addresses and domain names transferred to an international
group, possibly under the United Nations.

The U.S. government chose to give oversight of the internet's addressing
system to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
(ICANN), a body that answers to the U.S. Commerce Department.

A UN official warned that countries may start implementing conflicting
internet policies or even set up their own internal networks if their
concerns aren't heard.

Hans Klein, chairman of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility,
said countries are worried that a change in U.S. government policy could
affect another country's presence on the web.

For instance, Washington could decide to remove the domain names of
countries thought to be sponsors of terrorism, essentially cutting them
off from the internet, Klein said.

Senegal has called for a fund to finance technology projects in poorer
countries. The U.S., Japan and the European Union are skeptical of
such a fund, but delegates said countries that want to start such a
fund can do so.

Some countries, especially China, are pushing for approval of non-English
domain names.

The World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva continues Wednesday
and Thursday. The World Wide Web was invented 13 years ago at a nuclear
research lab in the Swiss city.

Copyright (C) 2003 CBC. All rights reserved.



Amali De Silva-Mitchell MSc.

Tel: 1-604-736-9012 & Email: amalidesilva at yahoo.com

 

 

 





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