Is there anything more frightening for internet users than the thought of the United Nations taking control of it? Remember "Oil for Food"? That seems to be what is in the works according to an AP report.

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - A U.N. panel created to recommend how the Internet should be run in the future has failed to reach consensus but did agree that no single country should dominate.

The United States stated two weeks ago that it intended to maintain control over the computers that serve as the Internet's principal traffic cops.

In a report released Thursday, the U.N. panel outlined four possible options for the future of Internet governance for world leaders to consider at a November "Information Society" summit.

One option would largely keep the current system intact, with a U.S.-based non-profit organization, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, continuing to handle basic policies over Internet addresses.

At the other end, ICANN would be revamped and new international agencies formed under the auspices of the United Nations.

It should be a surprise to no one that 1. The U.N. wants a diminished role for the country that both developed and financed most of what we know as the internet. That's right, the U.S. (the country they seek a diminished role for in everything) and 2. The U.N. can't come to a consensus as to what should be done. Some things never change.

The United Nations: the world's largest and most expensive model of inefficiency.

Labels: David C. Price