U.N. summit rejects U.S., Europe hands-off-the-Internet plea

Delegates from Saudi Arabia at today's summit in Dubai. They opposed efforts by the U.S. and Europe to make the Internet off-limits to summit discussions.

(Credit: ITU)

Delegates to a United Nations summit agreed today that a U.N. body should take a more "active" role in shaping the future of the Internet, a move that had been opposed by the United States and its allies that had warned of greater government control.

The agreement by delegates from the International Telecommunication Union's 192 member nations, a majority of whom raised their placards in support of the language, took place after 1:30 a.m. local time in Dubai. It came after the head of the ITU, a U.N. agency, had promised not to hold votes on controversial topics, and appeared to take the U.S. and Europe by surprise.

Terry Kramer, head of the U.S. delegation, had said a few minutes earlier that: "We do not believe the focus of this conference should be on the Internet and we did not come to this conference in anticipation of a discussion on the Internet...We oppose this resolution."

The early morning vote seemed to confirm the fears of civil liberty groups, which had warned in ad... [Read more]