U.N. Internet Panel: U.S. Has Too Much Control

U.N. Internet Panel: U.S. Has Too Much Control

seattletimes.nwsource.com

...ending U.S. control over what's become a global network will be at the top of the agenda for many of the more than 2,000 participants expected at the United Nations Internet Governance Forum...

Yet to many foreign-government officials and technology gurus, the United States has too much control over a tool that's used by more than 1.4 billion people worldwide. Brazil, China and other countries have proposed transferring oversight to an international body.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Wow, quite the debate going on for a couple of days in South America over the future of the internet. I like the idea of giving the 'net over to the world body, I think some of the censoring/not-censoring (porn) going on should change.

This clip seemed to relate as well:

The most dramatic example of Internet censorship happened recently in Myanmar, when the ruling military junta cut Internet connections to stop dissident blogs and other sites that had distributed information about government repression during September's crushed pro-democracy protests.

China is routinely criticized for its censorship policies and its use of information gleaned from Internet providers to crack down on dissidents.

seattletimes.nwsource.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

I think it will be difficult to convince the US that the Internet they built (from ArpaNet) should be controlled by someone else.

At least the US Internet use is not limited and sites are not blocked afaik. China is a nightmare when it comes to Internet censorship. The US monitors traffic, but they dont restrict sites.

I think the more totalitarian you are, and the more you want a dictatorship, the more you want to control the Internet.


[edit on 13-11-2007 by Copernicus]

Then they can make their own.


Course the U.N. wants to take power.

Originally posted by Johnmike
Course the U.N. wants to take power.

Weren't they trying to impose a tax on emails at one time?

Originally posted by anhinga
I think some of the censoring/not-censoring (porn) going on should change.

If they get rid of internet porn there'll only be two sites left.

ATS.com
and
BRINGBACKTHEPORN.com


I have to agree that US is getting absolutely ridiculous for being control-crazy.
If it was a country that had it's own house in order,then maybe they'd be able to preach to others and have justification in acting all big brotherly but that's ermmm definitely NOT the case.

Others worry, however, that transferring the administration of the Internet to the United Nations or another international body would make it vulnerable to censorship, especially by powerful countries such as China.

If you set up some kind of veto power over internet issues, censorship within an international body is bound to happen.

I dont really understand the calls to shift power in this instance, mainly because I dont really think the US controls the internet. With serives, serive providers, and hubs all across the world, how could one country really effect the whole world wide internet? (Of course, i could be missing something completely)

The only thing i can think of is that the US is so good at censoring the global internet, no one notices when something is censored. Of course, i dont see that being true.

Can anyone enlighten me on the level of control the US has over the internet?