Yahoo: U.S. to Retain Oversight of Web Traffic

[FSTargetDrone]

By MATT MOORE, AP Business Writer
Fri Jul 1,10:26 PM ET


FRANKFURT, Germany - A unilateral decision by the United States to indefinitely retain oversight of the Internet's main traffic-directing computers prompted concerns Friday that the global telecommunications network could eventually splinter.

"This seems like an extension of American security in the aftermath of 9-11," said John Strand, a Denmark-based technology consultant. "People will ask: `Do the Americans want to control the Internet?'"

Washington's decision, announced Thursday, departs from previously stated U.S. policy.

Many countries favor gradually releasing oversight of the Internet's so-called "root servers" to an international body, and a showdown on the issue could come in November at a U.N. information society summit to be held in Tunisia. A U.N. report this month on Internet governance is expected to address the issue.

Full story here.

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

"International body" is a very misleading term for a multinational corporation. I'd like to see control of the web in international hands, but ICANN has too much power already, in my mind.