Brussels, 21/03/2001 (Agence Europe) - On 15 March, the European Parliament adopted a report on the organisation of the management of the Internet in which it urges the European Union to play a greater role in the management of the Internet, so as to correct the imbalance in favour of the United States and which is costly for European companies. It suggests instructing a body or an EU representative to negotiate with international organisations responsible for the Internet's development, notably regarding the workings of ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), the authority responsible for the world supervision of the Internet and the assignation of names and numbers. The EP proposes that the European Commission become, given the necessary resources, "the leader in negotiations with the government of the United States and other countries". MEPs place emphasis on the fact that no government, especially that of the United States, should interfere in Internet management, and stresses the need to guarantee the independence and neutrality of ICANN, by, notably, ensuring it has a balanced geographic composition. The EP also warns against the danger that the digital divide constitutes and deplores the fact that the African Continent is not present in ICANN. Furthermore, it welcomes the European Commission's initiatives in view of creating a primary level ".eu" site for the European Union (see EUROPE of 13 December 2000) and urges the Commission to collaborate with ICANN in drawing up effective codes of conduct regarding the assignation of names and the protection, and the in the fight against fraud and cyber-squatting, in the field of data protection. The European Executive is called upon to remedy the heterogeneity of national legislations and support self-regulation in view of helping the development of the Internet.
ICANN was created in October 1998 to stem the United States' growing control in Internet management.