The UN member states tiptoed around a controversial debate over who should control the internet in the run up to the first ever World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) which began on Wednesday. It will not be decided till 2005. At the moment, key decisions about internet standards, technology and regulation are made by an array of US private sector organisations. The most visible of these is the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which has operated the global domain name system since 1988, under an agreement with the US government. But some nations have called for control of the internet to be handed to an international body such as the UN's International Telecommunications Union (ITU). They feel this would give them greater say in such matters. However, in talks held at the weekend, member states agreed only to create a working group of industry, government and public sector experts to discuss the issue and make recommendations at the next WSIS meeting in 2005. Source: New Scientist.