WASHINGTON-The Bush administration sidestepped a confrontation with poor nations at the World Summit on Information Society in Geneva after officials from around the world agreed to ask U.N. Secretary General Kofi Anan to create a blue-ribbon panel to study and report back by 2005 on whether U.S. management of the Internet should end.
“We’re pleased with the outcome,” said John Finn, a State Department spokesman. Finn said the administration is gratified as well that two key documents-the plan of action and declaration of principles-were agreed to prior to tomorrow’s opening of the WSIS.
The conference, which concludes Friday and is to be followed by a second summit two years from now in Tunisia, will focus on how to bridge the digital divide between rich and poor countries and how information technology can improve education, healthcare, commerce, agriculture, environmental protection and democratic governance. Delegates also will examine how to better protect and promote human rights and press freedom.
Wireless technology is increasingly viewed by developing countries as a cost-effective solution for swiftly bringing the benefits of information technology to people.
In various countries, especially developing nations, criticism is growing louder about how the Internet-developed by the Department of Defense-is governed. Much of the ire is directed at the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, a non-profit group in California.
