Keite Camacho
Reporter Agência Brasil

Brasília – The second phase of the World Summit of the Information Society (Cúpula Mundial da Sociedade da Informação) which began yesterday is going to hold discussions on the Brazilian internet management model. It is seen, at least by Brazilians, as a possible example for the eventual establishment of a control body other than the present internet policeman, the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), reports Mario Teza, a Brazilian representative at the summit.

At the moment ICANN, which is subordinated to the US Department of Commerce, runs the internet by controlling electronic addresses and overseeing traffic. "The problem is that the government of the US can take Brazil off the internet. They can veto anything they want to. This has not happened, because it would create a world crisis," said Teza, expressing a concern that a lot of people have about the future of the worldwide web.

The Brazilian model, declared Teza, has multiple representation: the overnment, civil society, the business sector, the third sector, social movements and research institutions. "This is what we do in Brazil and now, with this discussion in Tunis, it could be implemented internationally," said Teza, adding that a decision will be made by a plenary session at the summit. "This [control of the internet] requires the participation of all of society, which is what we have in Brazil. Governance is more than just the government, especially nowadays when we still have a lot of dictatorships around," he said.

Translator: Allen Bennett