Plans by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) to reform the administration of the internet have been rejected.
The radical proposals, floated in February by the net body's president, Stuart Lynn, would have entailed a bigger role for governments in the administration of the internet in return for funding.
Lynn also wanted to allow net users to vote for some members of the group's board.
But the plan has been rejected by a group advising on how to make Icann more effective.
The Evolution and Reform Committee was set up in March to deal with the flood of comments and suggestions that followed Stuart Lynn's plans to reform the organisation.
The committee wants country code registries - which look after domains such as .uk and .fr - to get a seat on the board, as should some representatives of the larger net community.
The committee proposed that other seats on the board would go to members of Icann's technical groups, as well as security experts, domain registrars and government delegates.
A decision on the future structure of Icann will be made at a meeting in Bucharest on 24 to 28 June.