EC gives seal of approval to Net names authority

EC commissioner, Martin Bangemann has written to the US government to give his approval to the new Internet naming authority, Icann (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers).

The letter, addressed to US Commerce Secretary, William Daley, will be the icing on the cake for the US government, which negotiated to structure Icann in a way that would keep all parties happy. Until now, the EC had complained that control of the Internet was too US-centric.

Icann will take over from Iana, an academic body that links Web site addresses to the right servers. Icann was created last month to give industry representatives control of the Internet rather than leave it in the hands of the US government, which funds Iana.

Bangemann's letter of approval says: "We have been informed of widespread support for this proposal both from the EU member states and from the private sector in Europe." In particular, Bangemann praised the intention to represent all regions of the world on Icann's board of directors, with no more than half the board from the US.

However, the EC has not yet given its support to the extension of Network Solutions' contract as sole domain name registrar. Bangemann said this could infringe on European competition laws.