Andhracafe.com- Rio de Janeiro, Nov 15 (Xinhua) Brazil expressed its opposition to the US control over the Internet, saying a new international agency composed of civil representatives should govern access.

The coordination, inspection and legislation of laws on access to the Internet is currently in the hands of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which is under the influence 'of the US', said Brazil Minister of Strategic Affairs Roberto Mangabeira Unger Wednesday.

A new organisation could rely on the participation of governments and companies only if the civil society's representatives prevail, said Unger to the government's news agency.

The replacement of ICANN is expected to dominate the discussions of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) here later Thursday.

Since 1998, under the authorisation of the US Commerce Department, Washington has controlled the Domain Name System (DNS), a key part of the running of the Internet, through the California-based non-profit company ICANN.

But there has been a long debate over the management of the Internet as the US wants to keep its control and the rest of the world wants to share it.

Unger said the Internet is an instrument that can put an end to any type of dictatorship politically, economically or culturally.

This can only be achieved if the countries share the administration, and set limits to the influence of governments and big companies, he said.

The forum, which has no decision-making power, was established in 2005 as a way to discuss ways on how to run the Internet.