According to Greek Transport Minister Michalis Liapis, who helped organize the four-day event on behalf of the host nation, the international dispute over ICANN is unlikely to be resolved at the conference.
"Such negotiations are difficult; this will take time,” Liapis said. “There are many countries which all have their own interests and opinions. We are starting a dialogue, which I think will take many years."
The U.S. Commerce Department, which oversees ICANN, recently extended, but loosened, its control over the Marina Del Rey, Calif.-based organization for another three years.
In May, the debate over Internet control came to a head when the European Commission accused U.S. officials of exerting undue political influence over ICANN to kill .XXX, the proposed top-level domain for adult entertainment online.
Since that time, a chorus of foreign governments, Internet critics and international organizations has called for the U.S. to cede control of the Internet by taking the leash off of ICANN.
"Concerning ICANN, we believe, like the European Union, it should slowly become independent, and not to be subject any government influence," Liapis said. "We would like to see ICANN become autonomous and work under the rules of the free market. And I think that is the direction we are headed."
The Athens forum is expected to draw more than 1,200 people, including envoys from an array of countries, academics and technology experts.
In addition to discussions regarding ICANN’s independence, the creation of more non-Latin alphabet domain names is expected to be on the agenda, Nitin Desai, a special advisor to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, said.
“The expansion of the Internet is going to take place in the developing world,” he said. “Five years from now, there will be many, many more users in Asia than in Europe and North America. Most Chinese people do not know the Latin alphabet. There'll be a point at which Chinese people will say ‘we have to have a Chinese system,’ and they will set up a different system.”