This 'net ain't big enough fer the both of us

And so it has begun. The war of the Internet. I wondered when it might happen, if it would be sooner or later. It seems it is sooner.

The E.U. wants governments and the private sector to share the responsibility of policing the internet. The U.S. wants to retain its authority over the internet. Neither side intends to back down. And negotiators say that a compromise must be reached.

A top U.S. official said the U.S. was "deeply disappointed" with an EU proposal made Wednesday, which appeared to support wresting control of domain names from the U.S.-based Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, and placing it with an intergovernmental group, possibly under the United Nations.

"We will not agree to the U.N. taking over the management of the Internet," said Ambassador David Gross, the U.S. coordinator for international communications and information policy at the State Department. "Some countries want that. We think that's unacceptable."

It will be like the Wild West all over again. Who will win the battle over the virtual frontier? Who will be the last man standing? Will the Internet be left a dusty wasteland in the wake of this war?

Only time will tell.