From a report by Rebecca Wanjiku of the Highway Africa News Agency:
"...Following more an hour of intense discussions over the wording and provisions of the Declaration of Principles and the Plan of Action, delegates to the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) third preparatory committee could not decide whether Internet policies should be managed by governments or by the private sector. The US delegation said that if it did not get its way on the relevant clause, its president would not attend the Summit...
"Brazil led the galaxy of nations arguing against leaving the management of the Internet with ICANN. Canada, the European Union, Mexico and Malaysia rallied behind the US and maintained that the entire management of the Internet must be placed in private hands. China, Bangladesh, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda and the Arab nations argued that governments should determine the direction of Internet-related public policies and an intergovernmental body should be established under the UN framework...
"There is further resentment against paying the US government, through ICANN, for monitoring the use of Top Level domains. They believe the current system is unfair because sovereign states effectively become subject to the rules of one country - the USA - when using the Internet. The US delegation urged delegates to postpone its decision until 2005 when ICANN will have finalised its negotiations with International Telecommunication Union (ITU) over control of top-level domains. However, opposing governments felt that the current summit might be the right time for them to make the decision. The issue remains contentious and was referred to the main drafting committee for further deliberations."