India wants to rename the Internet as the “Equinet” to counteract alleged US influence over the web, according to Indian newspaper the Hindu.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs wants a global meeting in Brazil next week to discuss the possibility of a massive rebranding of the Internet, after submitting a memo to organisers of the international meeting, called NETmundial, reported the Hindu.
The memo read: “The Internet must be owned by the global community for mutual benefit and be rendered impervious to possible manipulation or misuse by any particular stakeholder, whether State or non-State.”
It goes on to call for “international cyber justice” unrestricted by political boundaries, as well as investment in information technology infrastructure in poorer countries.
Most world states will attend the São Paulo meeting on April 23, along with the EU and the UN.
The US had a pivotal role in the development of the internet, funding internet prototype ARPANET through its military research group DARPA, and has since remained at the forefront of the technology.
Many of the world’s largest technology companies such as Google, Apple and Microsoft are also based in the States, arguably making American law paramount in technological innovation and regulation.
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