Published in News

US opposes bid to give UN control of internet

by on29 October 2012



Land of the free lives up to its name


UN delegates are scheduled to meet in Dubai in December to discuss a proposal to rewrite global telecom rules and give the United Nations control over the internet.

Under the proposal, the internet would end up under the authority of the International Telecommunications union, but the US does not appear willing to place the internet under UN control. Russia, China and several other countries, not exactly known as beacons of liberty and human rights, are supporting the bid.

For once, we have agree with US politicians. The UN is the most inept and criminally incompetent organization in human history and giving it control over anything has proven to be a mistake time and again. Besides, letting China govern the internet is a bit like letting the Taliban run a liquor store, or giving an abortion clinic to the Tea Party. It would go wrong, terribly wrong.

Luckily US officials are having none of it. The US believes placing the internet under UN control would undermine the free nature of cyberspace, which promotes open commerce and free expression, and crack down on dissidents. For some strange reason, one country that shipped 20-year-old girls off to Siberia for staging a gig in a church doesn’t seem to agree.

At this point it seems the vote will end up in a tie, so at least the vote will be in the best tradition of the UN - it will be controversial, yet it will end in a tie and resolve nothing. Just ask the people of Syria.

More here.


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