Kramer: Reports on U.N. treaty 'inaccurate'

U.S. Ambassador Terry Kramer on Wednesday denied reports claiming that other countries did not give early support to a joint U.S.-Canada proposal aimed at keeping Internet regulations out of a United Nations treaty.

Kramer said the issue is still up for discussion at the ongoing treaty conference in Dubai.

"Early reports suggesting failure of support for a joint U.S.-Canada proposal for early discussion on the scope of the International Telecommunications Regulations (ITRs) are inaccurate," Kramer, the head of the U.S. delegation for the treaty conference, said in a statement.

The two countries want to ensure the treaty stays confined to telecommunications providers and does not apply to Web companies like Google and Skype that offer videoconferencing and telephone-like services over the Internet.

Kramer said the issue "remains an important point of discussion for the United States" and it will continue to push for the current scope of the treaty to be maintained.

Member countries of the U.N.'s International Telecommunications Union (ITU) are meeting in Dubai at the World Conference on International Communications (WCIT) over the next several days to update the treaty for the first time since 1988. The treaty governs how telephone calls and other communications traffic are exchanged internationally.

"There has been no 'failure' to achieve U.S. objectives; to the contrary, the WCIT has made progress on these issues, validating the proposal by the U.S. and Canada to address them early in the proceedings," Kramer said.

His comments conflict with a report from Reuters on Tuesday that said the U.S.-Canada proposal failed to win early backing from other countries.

Kramer added that the treaty's definition of telecommunications was preserved and the edits to its preamble included only "minor changes."

Some countries, such as Russia and China, have proposed for the treaty to include cybersecurity and Internet regulations, which the U.S. has opposed.