Germany wants a German Internet as spying scandal rankles

As a diplomatic row rages between the United States and Europe over spying accusations, state-backed Deutsche Telekom wants German communications companies to cooperate to shield local internet traffic from foreign intelligence services. Yet the nascent effort, which took on new urgency after Germany said that it had evidence that Chancellor Angela Merkel's mobile phone had been monitored, faces an uphill battle if it is to be more than a marketing gimmick.

It would not work when Germans surf on websites hosted on servers abroad, such as social network Facebook or search engine Google, according to interviews with six telecom and internet experts. Deutsche Telekom could also have trouble getting rival broadband groups on board because they are wary of sharing network information. More fundamentally, the initiative runs counter to how the Internet works today -- global traffic is passed from network to network under free or paid-for agreements with no thought for national borders.