http://www.thestandard.com/article/display/0,1151,14006,00.html April 11, 2000, 11:20 AM PST EU Pushes for Greater Net Influence The European Commission wants ICANN to be more open and for the ".eu" domain name to be up and running by year's end. By Elizabeth De Bony Throwing Rocks at ICANN ICANN Votes to Allow Voting One European Domain? Get EUsed to It Got a Scoop? Tip us off BRUSSELS, Belgium – Reflecting concerns about the continued dominance of the U.S. and U.S.-based Network Solutions over the registry of Internet domain names, the European Commission announced a series of recommendations today to improve the Internet's functionality. "The Internet's capacity to unleash enterprise is beyond question," Erkki Liikanen, European Commissioner for the Information Society, said in a statement. "We must now show that its infrastructure can be run fairly and effectively to the benefit of all its users." The recommendations, contained in a Commission Communication on "The Organization and Management of the Internet: International and European Policy Issues 1998-2000," reflect European Union concerns that although the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers was created two years ago to ensure international control over the network, its implementation has been less than perfect. As a result, the Commission proposes, among other things, to make the election of ICANN's governing board a more open and transparent process and to secure ICANN's funding in an open manner through the network of recently created registries for domain names. The Commission also has raised questions about the fact that ICANN staff is dominated by U.S. personnel who lack the linguistic capabilities needed for a truly international organization. "For example, the Japanese are still waiting for ICANN to prepare a registration form in Japanese. What type of democratic entity is this?" a Commission official, who asked not to be identified, said today. Up until last year, NSI held exclusive rights to assign domain names ending in .com, .net and .org. But the U.S. Department of Commerce, under pressure from various U.S. and non-U.S. parties, has allowed new competitors into this field. However, NSI has kept control over rights to the Internet name registry, which contains every address on the Internet. At a European level, the recommendations urge rapid approval of the proposed ".eu" high-level domain. The Commission wants it up and running by the end of this year, the official explained. This new domain name would coexist with the 15 national domain names within the EU and would be available for cross-border e-commerce services, European institutions and nonprofit organizations, he added. The Commission issued the recommendations as part of its continuing efforts to accelerate European access to the Net, which it recognizes as a top priority if the EU is to successfully compete in the global e-commerce market Elizabeth De Bony writes for the IDG News Service.
