[infowar.de] Asia Times 13.10.05: US grip on the Internet challenged

[Georg Schoefbaenker <schoefbaenker -! - aon - at>]

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/GJ13Aa01.html

US grip on the Internet challenged

By Seema Sirohi

ROME - A high-stakes battle is raging over who should control the Internet, 
the world's most powerful communication tool that has arguably become an 
important vehicle of globalization.

Not the Americans, is the message from the rest of the world. Last week, 
high-level talks in Geneva failed to resolve the dispute as the European 
Union broke ranks with the US government and joined Brazil, China and Iran 
in demanding an end to America's supervision of the Internet.

While many countries demand nothing less than "regime change", others say 
the United States should practice what it preaches and instill some 
democracy in the abstruse governance of the Internet.

If another round of meetings fails to break the deadlock, the World Summit 
on the Information Society in Tunis next month will be dead on arrival. The 
summit was to pronounce on the future of the Internet, but the row is 
likely to overshadow other crucial issues such as bringing more people 
online and fighting spam e-mails. In the absence of a peaceful compromise, 
the biggest losers will be an estimated 1 billion people who use the Internet.

In the worst case scenario, dubbed by cyber pundits as the "nuclear 
option", the Internet could fracture into multiple networks that may be 
incompatible with each other. It would be nothing less than Balkanization 
of the virtual world - a web meltdown where two computers might find 
different websites at the same numerical address.

Brazil, Iran, Cuba and China want the creation of a new international body 
to govern the Internet, either through the United Nations or an independent 
organization. The Americans, deeply allergic to even the smell of the 
United Nations, vehemently oppose handing over this powerful tool to a 
bunch of bickering bureaucrats, many of whom will surely rise from 
countries on Washington's blacklist.

Incidentally, Iran - currently the cause of American ulcers - was active in 
Geneva opposing the domination of any "single government" in running the 
Internet. Brazil was equally vehement in its statement when it said 
bluntly: "On Internet governance, three words come to mind: lack of 
legitimacy. In our digital world, only one nation decides for all of us."

The European Union, traditionally America's ally in all things important, 
decided even it couldn't live with US monopoly for all time and joined 
other nations in calling for a larger inter-governmental body to oversee 
the Internet.

But the US government appears equally determined to maintain its hold. Both 
the executive and legislative branches of the government are united in 
their aim to keep the reins firmly in Washington's hands.

Joe Barton, chairman of the Energy and Commerce committee in the US House 
of Representatives, wrote to the chief US negotiator, David Gross, saying 
that the US must continue its "historic role" in governing the Internet and 
exercise "strong oversight".

Given such a mandate, it was no surprise that Gross said in Geneva, "What 
we are not interested in ... is the establishment of a new international 
institution to regulate the Internet." The uncompromising American stance 
made a compromise difficult, which in turn led to the EU abandoning the US 
camp.

Viviane Reding, the EU commissioner for cyber matters, said the Americans 
were "absolutely isolated and that is dangerous". Anticipating a nasty 
virtual war, she asked to imagine the unimaginable - the Brazilians or the 
Chinese creating their own Internet. "That would be the end of the story."

Indeed. Control rather than free flow of information would be the rule of 
the day, warn experts. Carl Bildt, former prime minister of Sweden, wrote: 
"It would be profoundly dangerous to now set up an international mechanism, 
controlled by governments, to take over the running of the Internet. Not 
only would this play into the hands of regimes bent on limiting the freedom 
that the Internet can bring, it also risks stifling innovation."

So how does the United States control the Internet? The US Commerce 
Department effectively supervises Internet traffic because it approves 
changes to the Internet's "root zone files" or master directories. In other 
words, the US government has veto power and can theoretically deny access.

The Americans justify their control because the Internet was created thanks 
to a Pentagon project. Funded by the US Defense Department, the project was 
designed to create links among computer networks. But for the system to 
function, a master list was needed to direct data to the correct destination.

To manage the master files, the Commerce Department founded the Internet 
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers or ICANN. The California-based 
organization administers master directories, which instruct web browsers 
and e-mail programs on how to direct traffic.

ICANN, which was created on a contract by the US Commerce Department, was 
to gain independence in 2006 but President George W Bush said in July that 
the US would "maintain its historic role in authorizing changes or 
modifications" to the master lists to "preserve security and stability".

Bush's statement raised hell in various capitals around the world where the 
Internet is as feared as it is admired for its vast ability to stream 
through to the individual and past the police check posts. But many 
countries also fear that the US can arbitrarily deny requests for changes 
in the files depending on who's out of favor with Washington. So far, that 
hasn't happened but diplomats don't want to leave such a possibility for 
the future.

There is no doubt that geopolitics forms the backdrop to the battle for 
control. The EU, Brazil, Russia and China have had enough of the American 
"unilateral approach" to world affairs since the Iraq war. They want to 
send a signal that the US can't dominate the digital world.

As for developing countries, they are already angry with the US and Europe 
for gobbling up most of the available addresses needed for computers to 
connect, leaving only a few for the rest of the world to share.

The Americans, for their part, don't want to lose control of this powerful 
tool to countries such as China that are fast emerging as potential rivals 
for superpower status. Already on the defensive by a fast-rising China, the 
Americans would like to put some brakes on the dragon.

The Americans are also deeply concerned about terrorists using the 
Internet. With multiple masters, the Internet would be easier to abuse 
because it would be more difficult to monitor.

But the Americans seem to be alone in their stand. The Europeans are trying 
to craft a compromise that would create an international forum where other 
countries can discuss their concerns while ICANN would continue to be the 
technical administrator.

While the bellicose Bush administration may not the best example for civil 
liberties, communist China, a theocratic Iran or a fundamentalist Saudi 
Arabia might be worse for deciding the fate of a free Internet, say analysts.

Seema Sirohi is a Rome-based correspondent