Internet remains in independent hands

A decision not to transfer control of the internet into the hands of the United Nations (UN) was the right result for Australian business, a not-for-profit organisation which will continue to administer it says.

For four years the UN has been debating the future of the internet, culminating in the World Summit on the Information Society which has just begun in Tunisia.

One of the most fierce debates has been whether the Internet's technical administration should be taken out of the hands of not-for-profit organisation ICANN and given to the UN.

However, an agreement reached this week will see ICANN organisation continue its supervising role, with governments and other stakeholders to have their say via a newly established forum, expected to be held annually.

ICANN head Dr Paul Twomey, a former senior Australian diplomat and trade negotiator, said handing it over to the UN would have allowed governments and diplomats to set future policy against political agendas, which would have affected the internet's stability and integrity.

"The key part of it means that internet security and stability has been assured, that as the internet continues to evolve and innovate the public policy concerns that the public have will be further incorporated in those process of innovation," he said.

"We are pleased that the outcome will allow governments to have a key role but does not put it into a government control and that its present technical systems continue."

Nations including China, Cuba, Iran, Syria, and Saudi Arabia had been pushing for the UN to be given control of the net.

But the US and Australia were both adamant it should remain with ICANN, a position backed by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

Dr Twomey said a stable internet was crucial for Australia's multi-billion e-commerce industry and to ensure consumer confidence in the reliability of internet transactions.

"People should understand the significance of this - this is not a technology story, this is helping to ensure the rules under which an increasing amount of Australia's trade gets done," he said.

"Increasingly all sorts of aspects of Australia's trade, services trade, logistics for materials and exports, supply chains for manufacturing are all done across the internet."