The Internet’s Future At Risk in Dubai

Internet Freedom, the ITU, the WCIT--great read in the MIT Technology Review (excerpt below):

The Internet’s Future Depends on Maintaining Its Free Spirit | MIT Technology Review: " . . .Perhaps the most profound observation made about the early Internet was that it was unlikely to spread across the globe. And yet, slowly at first, and faster with the advent of the World Wide Web, the Internet has found purchase on every continent–even Antarctica. This penetration is a consequence of the independent decisions made by hundreds of thousands of Internet operators whose business models range from nonprofit to for-profit to government operated and every other variation you can imagine. But a meeting of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), taking place in Dubai this week, threatens to stifle further Internet expansion and innovation. The protocols that fuel the Internet emerged from research sponsored by the U.S. Defense Department and later the U.S. National Science Foundation. Eventually, research and development found support from the private sector and non-U.S. governments around the world. The standards that underpin the Internet created an interoperable platform and framework that allowed anyone to implement a piece of the network and try to find someone willing to interconnect. One secret to the Internet’s success has been its “loosely coupled” character. In other words, no one was coerced to join or use it or to implement it. Interconnection of the networks of the Internet was accomplished under bilateral or multilateral agreements among the implementing entities. The freedom to choose the equipment, software, services, and business models has been key to the widespread . . . . "

In other words, we don't want or need the ITU, WCIT, or any UN agency controlling, regulating, or otherwise ruining the most successful communications network ever developed by humankind!

US drops 'net regulation bombshell, threatens WCIT exit
Register
As the ITU's WCIT conference rolls on in Doha, the head of the American delegation Terry Kramer has pointed to the big red button, threatening to veto any new treaty it believes puts the Internet at risk. America's delegation has become increasingly ...

Reuters: ITU: Russia Backed By China, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Sudan and the ...
TheDomains.com
Reuters, is reporting that Russian is backing a proposal with the support of China, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates at the ITU is calling for sweeping new powers to regulate cyberspace. The United States, Europe and other ...

Crovitz: Would-Be Internet Regulators Need Deleting - WSJ.com: "Instead, authoritarian governments want to legitimize government censorship, tax Internet traffic that crosses national boundaries and mandate that ITU bureaucrats replace the nongovernmental engineering groups now smoothly running the Internet. . . . "

Leaked: ITU's secret Internet surveillance standard discussion draft
Boing Boing
Yesterday morning, I wrote about the closed-door International Telecommunications Union meeting where they were working on standardizing "deep packet inspection" -- a technology crucial to mass Internet surveillance. Other standards bodies have refused...

Boing Boing

ITU's DPI standard leaks after email SNAFU
Register
A moment of inattention has allowed the ITU's proposed deep packet inspection (DPI) standard to escape. The slip-up happened when an Australian CryptoParty activist Asher Wolf put out a public call on Twitter asking for a copy of the text. The ITU duly ...

ITU approves deep packet inspection standard behind closed doors
Inquirer
That the first act by the ITU members at this meeting was to approve the Y.2770 standard entitled "Requirements for deep packet inspection in next generation networks" should send a shiver through every internet user who is concerned about their privacy.

Inquirer

Velcro Feline: "ITU and WCIT off-track -- US Ambassador threatens veto . . . "December 10 2012 - Head of the American delegation to the World Conference on International Telecommunications, Ambassador Terry Kramer, has promised to veto revised international telecommunications regulations if they go anywhere near content. He told a Dow Jones reporter that the US delegation could walk away from the conference. The threats came as revelations emerged that the World Telecommunications Standards Assembly held in Dubai immediately prior to WCIT approved a 66 page standard for how to track and block Internet communications.""

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