New ITU Chief Supports ICANN

Any possibility of the Internet being turned over to a UN-controlled authority lost serious momentum on Friday. The newly appointed head of the International Telecommunications Union believes things are fine the way they are.

At a news conference, Hamadoun Toure said that better cooperation was best and setting up a new system would be difficult to implement and very controversial. The ITU will focus on cyber security and closing the "digital divide" between countries, he said.

Toure's comments seriously damage the chances of any UN takeover. ITU's previous secretary-general, Yoshio Utsumi, had seemed to be open to the possibility of the agency taking control of the Internet's domain name systems.

However, Toure seems disinterested in the whole concept. "I don't think it is in the mandate of ITU, and as secretary-general I will continue to contribute to the debate over Internet governance and continue to provide technical support," he was quoted by Reuters as saying.

Supporters of a UN takeover would surely disagree. Countries like Iran and China have said previously that the United States could use control of the Internet for political gain, and to shut its enemies out. The US Government has flatly disputed that claim.

The US Government, and specifically the US Commerce Department, will retain oversight of ICANN until at least 2009 thanks to an agreement signed last September.