This may appear again, and is a horibble thing to have happen.


November 16, 2005
U.N. loses bid for control of Internet
Steve Rosenbush

The United Nations has lost its bid to take control of the Internet. That's a good thing, because it was a poor idea at every level. According to a CNN dispatch from a global summit in Tunisia, the U.N. based its argument on the need to close the "digital divide" that separates rich and poor nations. But it's hard to understand how U.N. control over domain names and technical issues would help poorer nations make fuller use of technology. The U.N. certainly hasn't been a factor in the growth of the Internet in the U.S. or Europe. And I doubt the U.N. has made a difference in Internet usage in China or India. In each case, the growth of the Internet has been linked to domestic economic, social and political forces. Transfering control of the Internet won't close the digital divide. But it would create more opportunities for repressive governments to crack down on the flow of information inimical to their interests. The CNN story ends with a grim reminder of how blunt, physical force is still used to restrain free expression. The story says:

"Ahead of the summit, rights watchdogs say, both Tunisian and foreign reporters have been harassed and beaten. Reporters Without Borders says its secretary-general, Robert Menard, has been banned from attending."

Tunisia has just 12 phone lines per 100 people, compared to more than 60 in the U.S. and more than 70 in Switzerland, according to a 2003 report by the International Telecommunications Union. It's unlikely that Tunisia or any other developing country will close the digital or economic divide until it creates an environment where reporters aren't beaten. [note from editor: can we make an exception for you?] The thought of turning over management of the Internet to an organization like the U.N., which gives full voice to such regimes, would do nothing to close the digital divide or promote the free flow of information.

P.S. I'd link to the 2003 report, but the ITU, which is run by the UN, won't let me copy the address.

02:57 PM


http://www.businessweek.com/the_thre...es_bid_fo.html


UN showdown over control of net
Simon Hayes
NOVEMBER 15, 2005
THIRD-WORLD despots and European Union bureaucrats will push to take over the internet this week, with a United Nations summit in Tunisia set to hear plans to strip the US of control of the network it invented.

With Iran calling for the internet to be run on a more "democratic" basis and Saudi Arabia urging better "supervision" of the internet, the World Summit on the Information Society - which begins in Tunis tomorrow - promises to be fiery.

Paul Twomey, an Australian who heads the US-backed Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, will be challenged by diplomats from nations such as Senegal and Cameroon.

Third-world nations have turned their attention to the net despite the pressing challenges of poverty and civil war.

Backed by the EU, they want control taken from the US and handed to the UN. At stake is the US Department of Commerce's grip on the internet through its agreement with the Los Angeles-based ICANN, a private company it contracted to run the domain names system.



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ICANN operates the domain name and root server system through an agreement with the US Department of Commerce that expires next year.

The organisation answers to elected representatives from the internet community.

Mr Twomey, formerly a senior Australian public servant, said delegates, who met for informal meetings in Tunis yesterday, were trying to find issues they agreed on before the summit began.

"Ambassador Khan, the chairman, is pushing people to stop just stating their position and start trying to work together," he said.

"The positions start quite far apart."

A preparatory meeting in Geneva last month turned into a circus after delegates disrupted talks by banging on tables to interrupt speakers.

Delegates representing business interests were refused permission to speak in some sessions after government delegates from developing countries objected.

The summit will deal with a long shopping list from a range of countries, some of which have few internet users.

Countries from the middle east, such as Iran and Saudi Arabia, are concerned about content on the web, and US control.

The Saudis want more supervision of the internet.

African nations have banded together to seek more financial support for developing countries that have been left behind in the online race, while Russia and the former Soviet states are concerned about US control.

Australia, which backs the US, has warned a UN-run internet would be "hierachical and bureaucratic".

"Where there are issues that need to be discussed, we should seek to use existing institutions, enhanced as necessary," an Australian submission to the summit reads.

The Australian


http://australianit.news.com.au/arti...nbv%5E,00.html