[Ecommerce] BBC: US retains hold of the internet

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

US retains hold of the internet
* The US has won its fight to stay in charge of the internet, despite
opposition from many nations. *

In an eleventh hour agreement ahead of a UN internet summit in Tunis,
Tunisia, negotiators agreed to leave the US in charge of the net's
addressing system.

Instead a international forum will be set up to discuss net issues,
although it will not have any binding authority.

The deal clears the way for the summit to focus on how poorer nations
can benefit from the digital revolution.

About 10,000 delegates, including world leaders, technology experts and
campaigners, are expected at the three-day World Summit on the
Information Society (WSIS) in Tunis.

The Tunis meeting will look at how far governments have gone in their
pledges for an "inclusive information society" set out two years ago at
a first summit in Geneva.

Back then, nations pledged to make the net accessible to all by 2015.
But worldwide only 14% of the population is online, compared to 62% in
the US.

The Geneva summit disappointed many countries after the rich nations
failed to back a Digital Solidarity Fund.

The fund, intended to help finance technology projects in developing
countries, was formally launched earlier this year.

The voluntary fund has so far only raised $6.4m (=A33.68m) in cash and
pledges, so the UN will be hoping to encourage more contributions.

One effort which will receive much attention is the non-profit One
Laptop Per Child group, set up by Nicholas Negroponte, chairman and
founder of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Labs.

It plans to produce up to 15 million sub-$100 laptops within a year.
Professor Negroponte will unveil the prototype at the summit.

There will be hundreds of other projects, events, roundtables,
high-level talks and exhibitions at the summit too.

There are other larger social justice issues to be tackled, such as how
to ensure freedom of expression and information for everyone on the net,
an issue which bloggers will be watching closely.

WSIS takes place in Tunis, Tunisia, from 16 to 18 November.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/technology/4441544.stm

Published: 2005/11/16 09:23:45 GMT