Who Is Running The Internet?

The federal government, which planned to largely end its management of the Internet at midnight Wednesday, has agreed to extend its direct involvement at least another week because of last-minute disputes.

The private non-profit group expected to assume control still isn't organized, and the contractor that currently assigns most Internet addresses is balking over how the transition will take place.

The Commerce Department said it will resume negotiations Friday with the contractor, Network Solutions Inc. of Herndon, Va., about how to end the exclusive arrangement the company has enjoyed since 1993. It agreed during the interim to extend the contract through Oct. 7.

"NSI has enjoyed a legal monopoly position, and it's trying to hold onto it as long as they can," charged Don Heath, president of the Internet Society, a group devoted to maintaining and promoting the Internet. "They're trying to delay the inevitable."

Neither the government nor Network Solutions will describe specific issues, but others familiar with the talks said NSI wants some legal protection or compensation for its investments made under the contract, such as maintaining the massive ownership lists for the world's Internet addresses.

"It's a pretty complicated agreement to iron out," said Becky Burr, an associate administrator at Commerce. "It will affect the Internet for years to come."

The Internet's growth as an information and commercial network highlights the importance of any change that might affect its reliability; the latest figures show about 70 million Americans use the Internet.

Earlier this year, the government proposed turning over responsibility for the Internet to a private, non-profit, U.S.-based group of 19 people. But it left the tough organizational decisions to the often fractious Internet community.

The group, dubbed the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers has yet to be formally organized, even with an interim board that could assume some of the Internet's management functions.

What was widely considered to be the final organizing proposal was revised earlier this week amid complaints that Network Solutions still retained too much influence. That revision, which Network Solutions didn't approve, threatens the fragile alliance that has been months in the making.

"There are still a lot of issue to be resolved here," said Chris Clough, a spokesman for Network Solutions.

"It's certainly dismaying at the last moment to see what had been a consensus solution as well as a fair amount of peace and harmony in Internet land come apart," agreed Tony Rutkowski, an Internet consultant.

The government said it expected to formally receive a proposal Thursday that would include the names of nine proposed interim board members.

"We really would like to move this along quickly," said Burr. "The feeling of the Internt community is, it's time to get on with this."

When the switch does occur, which mostly involves behind-the-scenes responsibilities, it could dramatically affect how people and businesses register new Internet addresses, such as www.ap.org.

But for people using the Internet at home or work, the change ideally will be transparent.

Currently, Network Solutions assigns most addresses under its government agreement, which was to expire Wednesday.

The government's proposal allows others to sell addresses, possibly lowering prices and eventually leading to new Internet address suffixes in addition to the familiar ".com," ".org" and ".net." A Web address currently costs about $70 a year to maintain.

Under the proposal, the U.S. government still would be responsible for assigning Internet addresses with the ".gov" and ".mil" suffixes for federal agencies and military institutions.

"Since NSI will be a major player, it's important that the separation be done appropriately and properly," said Heath. "Otherwise, it will be a festering sore the new board will have to attack."

Written by Ted Bridis