EU insists on international control of the internet

The European Union today insisted that the job of internet traffic policeman needed to be shared by governments and the private sector.

The United States is refusing to relinquish its role as the internet’s ultimate authority, rejecting calls in a United Nations meeting in Geneva for a UN body to take over.

EU spokesman Martin Selmayr rejected US claims that the EU had changed direction, saying European governments had not altered the stance they agreed in June.

“We are looking for a new cooperation model, a model that allows Internet governance and the laying down of public policy principles in co-ordination by all countries which are interested in the governance of the internet because the internet is a global resource,” he said.