A decision by the United States to indefinitely retain oversight of the main computers that control internet traffic drew concerns Friday from foreign officials, many of whom want an international body in charge instead.
"When the internet is being increasingly utilized for private use, by businesses and so forth, there is a societal debate about whether it"s befitting to have one country maintaining checks on that," said Masahiko Fujimoto of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications" data communications division. "It"s likely to fuel that debate."
"The signals and words and intentions and policies need to be clear so all of us benefiting in the world from the internet and in the U.S. economy can have confidence there will be continued stewardship," Gallagher told The Associated Press on Thursday.
He said the declaration, officially made in a four-paragraph statement posted online, was in response to growing security threats and increased reliance on the internet globally for communications and commerce.
Though the computers themselves — 13 in all, known as root servers — are in private hands, they contain government-approved lists of the 260 or so internet suffixes, such as ".com."