In an interesting development the United States of America has passed legislation regarding a future United Nations meeting to prevent the United Nations from wresting control of the Internet (from the Americans).
The Internet is dominated by the US and Internet resources are currently and historically, divided in favour of the USA. An example is the .gov domain as well as the allocation of ipv4 IP addresses. There are many other reasons why the unfair US dominance of the Internet is problematic and world citizens are being asked to choose between the risks of a potentially censored network vs the continued dominance of the US over, what is supposed to be, global resources. Of course the US is waving Russia and China as the potential problem here whilst having allocated 300 million ipv4 addresses to China and 1,5 Billion to itself. With the terrible track record for global resource allocation in it’s own favour, people who live in glass houses should not throw stones.
The Congresswoman, Mary Bono Mack, who proposed the bill, said: ‘As the United States prepares to take part in the World Conference on International Telecommunications in Dubai, we need to provide our delegation with a clear and unmistakable mandate: Keep the Internet free of any government control. At the WCIT discussions, a new treaty on Internet governance will be debated. Most worrisome to me are efforts by some countries to provide the United Nations with unprecedented new authority over the management of the Internet.
Despite denials, the Russians and Chinese are working quietly behind the scenes and have been for years to exert control over Web content and infrastructure. This could lead to human rights abuses in the future and effectively put a spigot on the free flow of information. We can’t let that happen. Today, Republicans and Democrats in a loud and unified voice made it clear that the United States must fight any attempts to fundamentally alter the governance and operation of the Internet. Otherwise, instead of continuing to flourish, we run the risk of the Internet one day becoming a wasteland of unfilled hopes, dreams and opportunities.
I want to thank Chairman Fred Upton, Ranking Member Henry Waxman, Communications & Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden and Subcommittee Ranking Member Anna Eshoo for their leadership in this effort.’
More here: http://bono.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=300169
