The Internet will reach its full potential as a medium and facilitator for global economic expansion and development in an environment free from burdensome intergovernmental oversight and control. The success of the Internet lies in its inherently decentralized nature, with the most significant growth taking place at the outer edges of the network through innovative new applications and services. Burdensome, bureaucratic oversight is out of place in an Internet structure that has worked so well for many around the globe. We regret the recent positions on Internet governance (i.e., the “new cooperation model”) offered by the European Union, the Presidency of which is currently held by the United Kingdom, seems to propose just that – a new structure of intergovernmental control over the Internet.

Ok, so who wrote that paragraph?

Time’s up. Pencils down. If you answered Condoleezza Rice, you were probably cheating. But you were right.

You can read the full text (via The Register) of the letter from Rice to Jack Straw (“acting in the role of presidency of the EU”) that apparently turned the tide in the battle over ICANN. [Tags: icann internet CondoleezzaRice]

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