The UN and the Internet

Placing the Internet under UN auspices "is now firmly on the international agenda," reports the Financial Times. Such nations as Brazil, India, South Africa, China, and Saudi Arabia want to dump ICANN and the current model of minimal regulation and commercial development.

Writes the FT, "The critics argue that the internet is a public resource that should be managed by national governments and, at an international level, by an intergovernmental body such as the International Telecommunications Union…."

The issue will be addressed next month at an information summit in Geneva, though it won't be resolved there. International information bureaucrats hope to have an accord by 2005.

Thanks to: Slashdot (via Glenn Reynolds).

Comments

[arjay]

Aaargh!

Sorry but.....

Hollywood movies have been under the control of the Gov't since the 1920's. Maybe not directly but the threat of censorship has kept the industry firmly under the control of the Gov't.

The Internet may (hopefully) present a bigger problem to the controllers. As "The Merovingian" points out "the internet is not like some international fishing waters".

[Andrew Lynch]

arjay,

Who cares if Hollywood movies are under Gov't. control, as you say? So many good movies are made outside of the Hollywood system, movies whose entire output dwarfs the crap Hollywood churns, why should we care? Think bigger. Hollywood ain't all that.

[Evilcor]

This is the most horrible thing I've seen since the George W. Bush action figure (seriously). Our only hope lies in the total incompetence of the U.N. Fortunately, that is a practically inexhaustable resource.

[Rick Barton]

The UN is damn dangerous to our liberty. This is an opportune time to agitate against it. Lets, each of us, call our congress person and senatores and complain.

[Douglas Fletcher]

Imagine what the hackers would do to something like a UN controlled internet. Too scary.

[DANEgerus]

Can't wait for the first claims by China that Bloggers are violating their rights by telling the truth...

[Richard]

It will be hackers who bring it down, if it ever occurs...I hate hackers and crackers. They make computing a real pain in the ass. However, they have provided a necessary element of evolving computing (thus helping perpetuate free exchange of ideas) by exposing the inability to fully secure information...

Through their efforts, these people have helped create an internet that I believe to be impossible to ever place real effective restrictions upon...Most of these nations (if not all) are maliciously persecuting their own people for acting individually and speaking freely.

If anything, this proposal goes to show that the UN is the harbinger of gross human rights violators and the futherance of their cruel politics.

[Gary McGath]

Brazil and China each account for about a quarter of the spam in the world; that is to say, they already regard people's mailboxes as a "public resource" which they can dump their trash into. They're probably upset with ICANN because no one will accept mail from a the .cn and .br TLD's any more, and ICANN won't let them create new TLD's.

Let's not forget that the US government has also considered using legislative muscle on ICANN. In 2001, a bill (HR 2417) was introduced into Congress that would have ordered ICANN to create a .kids TLD, the existence of which was somehow expected to "protect" children. The bill died in committee.

[heh2k]

(quote)I hate hackers and crackers.(/quote)

most of the hackers who create good things, do not do wrong. a "hacker" is basically just someone who's good w/ logic and computers. knowledge does not make someone malicous.

please don't lump script kiddies and malicous virus writers into the same catagory as the great hackers who created such things as tcp.

[Brad S]

The Interent is a "public resource"? Jesus fucking Christ. Where do people come up with this shit?

[Joe Majsterski]

FUCK THE U.N.

[Horn Dogg]

Look on then bright side:

Hot naked sluts waiting just for me FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD!

[R. C. Dean]

Basically, enforcement of any internet regulation will require a corp of government hackers to check on your server, or perhaps virus/cookies to monitor and report your activity.

Current internet security technology is admirably suited to frustrating both these projects. The internet, in fighting hackers, has developed an immune system against government.

The Architect moves in mysterious ways, no?

[Citizen]

W3 is all the regulation that the internet needs. They've done a fine job trying maintain standards for syntax but not content and you are free to disregard them anyway.

[The Merovingian]

Hmm, the internet is not like some international fishing waters. 🙂

[Aaargh!]

Governments eventually always want to control everything that has universal mass influence -- radio, TV, telephones -- now the internet. You suppose Hollywood movies are next?

[nm156]

Come into my parlour said the spider to the fly . . . I'm enough of a technophobe to be unsure, but unless everybody signs up for this how would they enforce anything. Couldn't wb-based groups use so-called "flags of convenience?"

[Charles Hueter]

Hm. I wonder if the IIRC (International Internet Regulatory Commission, I love acronyms!) will approve of my various UN-bashing posts in 2006?

Bleaker and bleaker.

[The Way America Feels]

We should destroy the UN now! The UN has no right to manage anything. The UN is an abomination. The US should leave the UN and set up a new organization in its place called the United States Alligned Nations, of which the United States would be the sole leader and have the sole rule. In exchange for joining this organization or the USAN, US would defend member nation states.
If the UN gets control of the Internet, you will lose your freedom of speech.