Dot-eu sails into stormy waters

A storm is brewing over the creation of Europe's internet domain name, as politicians come to blows over issues of commercial control and potential political embarrassment.

As they return from summer recess, the European Commission looks set to clash with MEPs on two points: the creation of government controlled exclusion lists, and the extent to which the commercial world will become involved.

Before the European Parliament broke up for the holiday, it called for the creation of an industry advisory board made up of user groups, ISPs, business and trade associations to advise on the running of the registry.

According to Christopher Wilkinson, advisor to the Commission, ministers are uncomfortable with that extent of private sector involvement.

"The Parliament is more open to the normal internet arrangement where the private sector has a large input," he told silicon.com.

Until the two sides can compromise on an internet technical body, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann), is refusing to relinquish control of the domain.

As a concession to MEPs, the Commission is likely to bow to their second demand to block politically embarrassing dot-eu names.

The amendment, which could be used to bar domains like ira.eu or eta.eu, is likely to cause concern amongst industry experts and lead to accusations of censorship.

"Some member states have become nervous in this area as they discovered its complexity." Wilkinson admitted. "But the text currently does not give right of veto - they can only request to exclude certain names."

Member states will be allowed to vote on barred domains before the registry is set up, leaving the commercial company running dot-eu powerless to intervene.

Commission and Parliament officials are hoping to reach a compromise by the end of the month. The EC hopes to open the registry to commercial tender in autumn, paving the way towards initial registrations in spring next year.