This has pretty much been an ongoing debate in the GIS community ever since the WTC bombings. Google’s offereings pretty much brings this debate into a more open arena. What’s interesting is that the we’re seeing a larger group of countries from different regions beginning to complain. This issue is just going to get bigger and bigger with each passing day – how much information is too much? I wonder what the incidence of terrorism verses the countries that are complaining? I can’t imagine the Netherlands having a huge terrorist problem.

The Wired article

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You may or may not already know this, but a controversy that could change the way the Internet is run has been simmering since the spring and now will be coming to a head next month at the U.N. meeting on the Information Society. Basically, the US has always controlled the root servers for the Internet, through the private company known as ICANN. During the Clinton administration, a memorandum of understanding was apparently signed saying the US would eventually give up some of that control. In April, the Bush administration announced that the US would no longer be abiding by that agreement. There have been tense negotiations since then, but after no luck getting the US to budge, the European Union and the UN are now putting together a coalition to wrest control of the Internet from the US at the meeting in Tunisia in November. The implications of this will be far-reaching, and anyone who depends on the Internet should be paying attention to how this plays out.

The Guardian, a UK newspaper has been covering this, and you might want to check out their most recent article

US media outlets have had a couple of mentions, but not a lot of coverage. It has also been mentioned on SlashDot and other blogs.