ITAA Opposes EU Internet Governance Proposal

The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) said it opposes the European Union's (EU) call for international governance of the Internet.

The EU has proposed international oversight of naming, numbering and addressing-related matters. The position was put forth during negotiations leading up to the second phase of the United Nations' World Summit on the Information Society.

"ITAA is surprised and disappointed that the EU has taken such an anti-business position," said ITAA President Harris N. Miller. "Governmental interference threatens to undermine the innovative, robust nature of the Internet. Turning this process into political football between national governments is terrible play calling-it certainly scores no points with the private sector. We owe the fast and widespread adoption of the Internet to the current system of governance."

In its proposal, the Union called for "an international government involvement" in the following areas:

• Provision for a global allocation system of IP number blocks, which is equitable and efficient;
  
  
• Procedures for changing the root zone file, specifically for the insertion of new top level domains in the root system and changes of ccTLD managers;
  
  
• Establishment of contingency plans to ensure the continuity of crucial DNS functions;
  
  
• Establishment of an arbitration and dispute resolution mechanism based on international law in case of disputes;
  
  
• Rules applicable to DNS system.

These issues are currently handled by the private-sector Internet Corporation for Assigned Names And Numbers (ICANN). According to ITAA, the international governance proposed by the EU would mean additional governmental oversight of that body.

Proposals from the EU and other parties will be considered during additional sessions this month before a final proposal is agreed upon for endorsement by heads of state during the summit. The summit is scheduled to begin Nov. 16 in Tunis, Tunisia.

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