key2thecup Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 U.N. to Seek Control of the Internet Next week the United Nations' International Telecommunications Union will meet in Dubai to figure out how to control the Internet. Representatives from 193 nations will attend the nearly two week long meeting, according to news reports. "Next week the ITU holds a negotiating conference in Dubai, and past months have brought many leaks of proposals for a new treaty. U.S. congressional resolutions and much of the commentary, including in this column, have focused on proposals by authoritarian governments to censor the Internet. Just as objectionable are proposals that ignore how the Internet works, threatening its smooth and open operations," reports the Wall Street Journal. "Having the Internet rewired by bureaucrats would be like handing a Stradivarius to a gorilla. The Internet is made up of 40,000 networks that interconnect among 425,000 global routes, cheaply and efficiently delivering messages and other digital content among more than two billion people around the world, with some 500,000 new users a day. "Proposals for the new ITU treaty run to more than 200 pages. One idea is to apply the ITU's long-distance telephone rules to the Internet by creating a 'sender-party-pays' rule. International phone calls include a fee from the originating country to the local phone company at the receiving end. Under a sender-pays approach, U.S.-based websites would pay a local network for each visitor from overseas, effectively taxing firms such as Google and Facebook. The idea is technically impractical because unlike phone networks, the Internet doesn't recognize national borders. But authoritarians are pushing the tax, hoping their citizens will be cut off from U.S. websites that decide foreign visitors are too expensive to serve." Even Google has already come out against the ITU. "The ITU is the wrong place to make decisions about the future of the Internet," says Google. "Only governments have a voice at the ITU. This includes governments that do not support a free and open Internet. Engineers, companies, and people that build and use the web have no vote." "The ITU is also secretive. The treaty conference and proposals are confidential," adds Google. http://www.weeklysta...net_664018.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goalie13 Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 In related news, the UN has also struck up a committee to look into herding cats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theminister Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 This could be the single most important piece of international legislation since the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Except, instead of being good, it would be catastrophically awful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Where's Wellwood Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lychees Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 Control the internet? Is that even feasible? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dancin'Droid Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 If UN started taxing google, wouldn't we need to pay for it as google would need to pay taxes for people who don't live in the states and use google? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AbbyNucksFan Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 brb inventing Internet V2.0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeNiro Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 You can have my internet when you pry it from my cold dead fingers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Money Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 Governments try to control everything. You really thought they'd just leave the virtual world be? As for the United Nations, I expect it to soon be taking a larger stake in world affairs. As the US financial status continues to flounder, along with distaste for their presence, they will be more likely to try to exert their influence through the UN. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkeeterHansen Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aGENT Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 Where there is power, money and knowledge there will always be those seeking to control and profit from it. It's up to us to stop them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeNiro Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 Where there is power, money and knowledge there will always be those seeking to control and profit from it. It's up to us to stop them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theminister Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 It's no different than the catholic churches throughout history that concealed knowledge in order to keep people subservient. If history has taught us anything, it's that no one person or group of people should ever have this much power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake Doctor Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 Where there is power, money and knowledge there will always be those seeking to control and profit from it. It's up to us to stop them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeNiro Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 Dude, I'm sure they still do. Can you imagine what is actually in the Vatican vaults? It probably makes Indiana Jones look quaint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobble Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 We'll make our own Internet with hookers and blackjack! *Bender* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Common sense Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 How exactly is the UN involved in a system that they never created, invented, or monitored in the first place? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woot Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 This was inevitable. The Internet can't be the Wild West forever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pibroch Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 Won't all the hackers just mess up the U.N. now? It seems kinda like they just put a rope around their own neck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkeeterHansen Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 How exactly is the UN involved in a system that they never created, invented, or monitored in the first place? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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