In a move that could dramatically change the way the internet is run, about 200 diplomats, activists and companies like Hewlett-Packard and Cisco met this week to discuss whether the United Nations should help oversee security, copyright law, technical standards and business disputes involving the Internet. ICANN, whose authority was granted by the U.S. government in 1998, formally covers the Internet addressing system, related trademark disputes, and security of the Net's core directories.

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan criticized the current system through which Internet standards are set and domain names are handled, a process currently dominated by the United States, Canada, Europe and Japan, saying such structures "must be made accessible and responsive to the needs of all the world's people."

ICANN critics have also complained that the organization is slow in making decisions and too close to the U.S. government. Because it reports to the U.S. Department of Commerce, some countries are nervous that in a worst-case scenario, the United States could force ICANN and its contractors to disrupt Internet traffic to entire countries by deleting them from central computers.

ICANN's chief executive has said the U.S. government takes a hands-off approach, that ICANN is already trying to modernize, and was working hard to recruit a more international board. Backing ICANN are groups such as the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the U.S. Commerce Department, which fear that greater U.N. involvement will unleash the world's most extensive bureaucracy on the Internet and stifle innovation on-line. A Bush administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the administration was also steadfastly opposed to the United Nation's plans.

The U.N. proposals are still in the preliminary stages, but are expected to be formalized in a report to Mr. Annan in 2005.