FYI: (For those not on the very noisy related lists. Forwarded without comment.) http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,19450,00.html EC slams domain proposal By Reuters Special to CNET NEWS.COM February 24, 1998, 5:10 p.m. PT BRUSSELS, Belgium--The European Commission has criticized a U.S. proposal for reforming the Internet's naming and address system, saying it would give Americans too much control over the global computer network. "The current U.S. proposals would...seem to consolidate permanent U.S. jurisdiction over the Internet as a whole, including dispute resolution and trademarks used on the Internet," it said in a draft reply to the initiative. The European Union executive, in a text that it hopes will be adopted by the 15 EU states, urges Washington to adopt a more international approach and to enter into "full bilateral consultations" before proceeding. The U.S. government formally published a proposal last week for phasing out its management of the address system for Internet locations--such as email and Web sites--and turning it over to a U.S.-based nonprofit corporation. It would also end the monopoly of U.S. company Network Solutions (NSI), which registers the most popular Internet addresses, including those ending in ".com," ".org," and ".net." Known as generic top-level domains (TLDs), they signify commercial users, not-for-profit organizations, and network service providers. The plan would create up to five new generic TLDs, each with a registry to manage a database of addresses. Other companies would compete to register the addresses. The Commission's draft reply, to be discussed by EU telecommunications ministers on Thursday, accuses Washington of ignoring a plan for a new registry system drawn up by the International Ad-Hoc Committee (IAHC), a group of Internet companies and organizations. IAHC proposed last year setting up seven new generic domains--such as ".store" for shops and ".arts" for culture--along with an international council of registrars. The commission also faults the U.S. "green paper" for seemingly giving the United States jurisdiction over all conflicts over trademarks in Internet addresses and failing to mention efforts to set up Internet dispute-resolution procedures within the World Intellectual Property Organization. The U.S. Commerce Department gave interested parties until March 23 to comment on the proposal. A U.S. official in Brussels said the initiative was "not set in stone" and that comments by the EU and other parties would be taken into account. "There have been consultations going on and there will be further consultations going on before we put the plan into action," the official added, noting that the proposal built on previous work on the issue. The EU telecommunications ministers are likely to direct their ambassadors in Brussels Thursday to finalize an EU response, diplomats said. Story Copyright ? 1998 Reuters Limited All rights reserved. --end John Martin TERENA, Singel 466-468, NL - 1017 AW Amsterdam phone: +31 20 5304488 ** fax: +31 20 5304499 ** http://www.terena.nl/ ** Please note new telephone and fax numbers -------- Logged at Thu Feb 26 12:04:41 MET 1998 ---------