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US retains hold of the internet The In an
eleventh-hour agreement ahead of a UN internet summit in Instead
an 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
International forum Disagreements
over control of the internet had threatened to overshadow the summit, with
countries such as
The The Icann
will keep its current responsibilities for overseeing domain names and
addressing systems, such as country domain suffixes, and managing how net
browsers and e-mail programs direct traffic. The 170
nations taking part in the negotiations agreed on the creation of an
Intergovernmental Forum to discuss all internet issues, such as spam, viruses
and cyber crime.
"We did not change anything on the role of the Mr Gross said the forum would not
have oversight authority nor would it do "anything that will create any
problems for the private sector". Its first
meeting is likely to be held in Casting a wider net The
agreement on internet governance means that delegates at the
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 The 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 (£3.68m) in cash and pledges,
so the UN will be hoping to encourage more contributions. Opening
the UN summit, Secretary General Kofi Annan said the task now was to make the move from diagnosis
to deeds. "The
hurdle here is more political than financial," he said. "The cost of
connectivity, computers and mobile telephones can be brought down. "These
bridges to a better life can be universally affordable and accessible. We must
summon the will to do it." 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. Ahead of
the summit, there have been concerns about freedom of _expression_ in WSIS
takes place in Story from BBC NEWS: - - Milton Aineruhanga Program Officer - WOUGNET http://www.wougnet.org Tel: +256 41 532035 Fax: +256 41 530474 This e-mail and any attachments may contain confidential and privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender immediately by return e-mail, delete this e-mail and destroy any copies. Any dissemination or use of this information by a person other than the intended recipient is unauthorized and may be illegal. |
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