The warning came as the United States told EU participants at negotiations on Internet governance that it was determined to maintain its oversight over the technical and administrative infrastructure at the root of the network.

In a letter seen by AFP, US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez called on the British presidency of the European Union to drop its proposal for an international alternative.

"We ask the EU to reconsider its new position on Internet governance and work together with us to bring the benefits of the information society to all," the United States wrote.

A European diplomat, who declined to be named, said the letter was tantamount to "an attempt at intimidation".

Robert Shaw of the UN's International Telecommunication Union, said: "Since the positions are so polarised we may end up with a fractured Internet."

Either the search for a "democratic" international solution prevails, or the Internet could fragment into a multitude of networks before an eventual international coordination mechanism sticks them back together, he added.

Late Monday, the chairman of the negotiations, Janis Karklins of Finland, asked government negotiators to examine a new draft compromise to try to resolve their three-year deadlock before the summit, which begins on Wednesday.

The outcome could determine who eventually controls the Internet's technical and administrative infrastructure, which allows the computer network to function worldwide.

At the moment that role is played by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a California-based independent body which is awarded the task by the US government on a renewable tender.

ICANN was set up in California in 1998 when the Internet boom was largely focused on the United States.

It is run by a group of free-spirited enthusiasts who were anxious to avoid regulation of the Internet. About 30 governments have a purely advisory role.

However, the exponential growth of Internet connections worldwide, the web's growing economic and social importance and technological developments have prompted concern about the US monopoly on the tender.

"The idea that the Internet is an unregulated haven, these days are finished," a source close to the talks said.

ICANN also assigns top level domain names to countries worldwide.

Karklins's new draft includes language to discourage countries from being involved in decisions on another's domain name.

Critics of the United States fear that it could be in a position to disconnect another nation for political or economic reasons.

Iran, backed by other major developing nations, wants a body "anchored" to the United Nations to have oversight over ICANN and other agencies, with an advisory role for industry.

The European Union is proposing a formula that would replace US government oversight with a purely technical intergovernmental body -- though not necessarily the UN -- after a transition phase.

Governments, industry and campaigners would also gather in a separate "forum" to discuss other related issues, including "public policy", under the EU proposal.

British delegation chief Nicholas Thorne described the offer as "the middle ground".

Washington's letter retorted that "burdensome, bureaucratic oversight is out of place in an Internet structure that has worked so well for so many around the globe".

"We regret that recent positions on Internet governance offered by the EU seem to propose just that -- a new structure of intergovernmental control over the Internet."

The US, backed by Australia, has also argued that regimes that do not value freedom of speech might exploit weaknesses in a UN-supervised system.

Karklins's draft calls for an "evolutionary process" towards a "multilateral" framework "building on existing structures", with a "non-binding" Internet Governance Forum to discuss a range of issues over five years.

All rights reserved. � 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.

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