US to keep web role

THE US refuses to relinquish its role as the internet’s principal traffic policeman, rejecting calls for a UN body to take over, a top US official said yesterday.

But while the US stuck to its position, other negotiators said there was a growing sense that a compromise had to be reached and that no single country ought to be the ultimate authority over such a vital part of the global economy.

Ambassador David Gross said: “We will not agree to the UN taking over the management of the internet. Some countries want that. We think that’s unacceptable.”

Speaking on the sidelines of the last preparatory meeting before November’s World Summit on the Information Society, Gross said progress was being made on several issues, but not on the question of internet governance.

The stalemate over who should serve as the principal traffic cops for internet routing and addressing could derail the summit - which aims to ensure fair sharing of the internet for a global benefit.

Internet governance has been the role of the US because it created the original system and funded much of its early development.