Europe Crying Over Internet Control

Europe has become the fat kid that gets picked last and then whines to the teacher.

EU Wants Shared Control of Internet

The European Union insisted Friday that governments and the private sector must share the responsibility of overseeing the Internet, setting the stage for a showdown with the United States on the future of Internet governance.

And the EU enjoys just about zero clout in Washington. Why in the world would America even consider such a proposal? What has the EU done to prove itself? If the EU, why not China?

EU spokesman Martin Selmayr said a new cooperation model was important "because the Internet is a global resource."

He left out the section on how the Internet was created on the backs of American tax payers and grown by American business. Oil is a global resource. I think the Saudis ought to give it up. Share it all with the rest of us, for free.

"The EU … is very firm on this position," he added.

Scare me!

At issue is who would have ultimate authority over the Internet's master directories, which tell Web browsers and e-mail programs how to direct traffic.

That role has historically gone to the United States, which created the Internet as a Pentagon project and funded much of its early development.

Make your own network if you want one. Put the main servers in Brussels. Subject it to the EU bureaucracy. See how far you get.

They also want greater assurance that as they come to rely on the Internet more for governmental and other services, their plans won't get derailed by some future U.S. policy.

Which is a more likely scenario? The US creating a bad policy or the EU creating one? As Europe loses power, it looks like they are grabbing for any shred of legitimacy they can. This is just one more attempt.

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