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World Telecommunication Day
Paul McCord writes "The International Telecommunication Union is asking everyone to join in for World Telecommunication Day 2003, Saturday, May 17. The ITU suggests that this is 'an excellent opportunity to launch public campaigns and advocacy activities in favour of greater access to [information and communication technology] and how the work of ITU helps all of the world's people to communicate.' It may be a bit late to join in on some of the official activities, but awareness if nothing else will help to serve the day's purpose. See the WTD2003 site or this Google News query for information, links."
Nice to see that Slashdot remains a relevant news source.
I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
Here in .au, there's a story about plans to add submarine cable protection zones. Do other countries already have similar restrictions in place? I would be interested to know. Thanks. (Submarine cable is related to international telecommunications, so I'm not entirely Off-topic!)
Sorry folks, May 17th is taken! It's Norway's national day, and we don't wanna share it with some telecom day! Grr! :)
How about all the telcos let us make free calls anywhere all day to celebrate it.
Do not try to read the dupe, thats impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth
What truth?
There is no dupe
I'm surprised that the ARRL isn't jumping all over this. I'd think many ham clubs would want to have field days and demonstrate free portable telecommunications. Of course, it's kinda late now. Maybe next year :-)
There is no reasonable defense against an idiot with an agenda
:wq
IAATM (I am a telemarketer) and I have probably reached more places around the globe and woken people up early on Saturday morning today than any of you will in your entire lives! mwahahaha!
(Please don't mod me as a troll. I'm sorry)
Slashdot is an anagram for Has Dolts, and I am Dolt number 468543
Helping all of the world's people to communicate
Today's telecommunication world would not be what it is without the untiring efforts of the ITU to help countries harmonize their national policies, bridge technological differences, foster interconnectivity and interoperability of systems on a global scale. Anytime, anyone makes a phone call, checks their email, watches television or surfs the Web, they benefit from the work of the world's first universal organization: ITU. For over 135 years, ITU has been helping people to communicate. But its mission is also to bring the benefits of information and communication technologies to all of the world's inhabitants.
The need for ITU to focus on a global policy perspective does not mean we intend to turn our back on the specific needs of Member States or on the telecommunication industry. However, we must acknowledge that the broader goals of humanity, such as those expressed in the UN Millennium Declaration, will be much easier to achieve once developing countries benefit from the same ubiquity of advanced information and communication technologies as developed countries.
World Telecommunication Day 2003 is therefore an excellent opportunity to launch public campaigns and advocacy activities in favour of greater access to ICT and how the work of ITU helps all of the world's people to communicate.
ITU Members are invited to celebrate this year's World Telecommunication Day by organizing national programmes that would address:
How the information and communication technology issues of your citizens can best be reflected in the declaration of principles and action plan that will be developed for the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society being organized by ITU and to be held in Geneva 10-12 December 2003.
How you might express a commitment to ensure that the 1.5 million villages who are unconnected to the information society are brought into the information age.
Helping all of the world's people to communicate
Today's telecommunication world would not be what it is without the untiring efforts of the ITU to help countries harmonize their national policies, bridge technological differences, foster interconnectivity and interoperability of systems on a global scale. Anytime, anyone makes a phone call, checks their email, watches television or surfs the Web, they benefit from the work of the world's first universal organization: ITU. For over 135 years, ITU has been helping people to communicate. But its mission is also to bring the benefits of information and communication technologies to all of the world's inhabitants.
The need for ITU to focus on a global policy perspective does not mean we intend to turn our back on the specific needs of Member States or on the telecommunication industry. However, we must acknowledge that the broader goals of humanity, such as those expressed in the UN Millennium Declaration, will be much easier to achieve once developing countries benefit from the same ubiquity of advanced information and communication technologies as developed countries.
World Telecommunication Day 2003 is therefore an excellent opportunity to launch public campaigns and advocacy activities in favour of greater access to ICT and how the work of ITU helps all of the world's people to communicate.
ITU Members are invited to celebrate this year's World Telecommunication Day by organizing national programmes that would address:
How the information and communication technology issues of your citizens can best be reflected in the declaration of principles and action plan that will be developed for the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society being organized by ITU and to be held in Geneva 10-12 December 2003.
How you might express a commitment to ensure that the 1.5 million villages who are unconnected to the information society are brought into the information age.
Helping all of the world's people to communicate
Today's telecommunication wo
There are those who would like to see the ITU take over from ICANN. I'm not sure that the ITU is the perfect organisation to do it. It is bureaucratic and is a group of telcos rather than including wider Internet interests. However, I do agree that it would be a lot better than what we have at the moment.
Perhaps World Telecommunications Day would be a good opportunity for the ITU to put this agenda forward.
Telecom as a whole isn't dead. Long-distance is what's dead, thanks in large part to the Internet. AT&T and MCI realized this, and with the help of some recent laws began poking into the local service market, reselling service over the local companies' lines. Local-LD Combo packages like AT&T's One Rate and MCI's Neighborhood are a real threat to ILECs, and now both of the big'uns are also branching into DSL territory (I believe MCI literally just started offering DSL in some states), ensuring their corporate relevance.
The coolest voice ever.
73 DE KE6ISF
This sig no verb.
I for one could not imagine anything worse.
The ITU takes every available opportunity to put itself between enabling technologies and the people who could benefit from them.
Here's what the internet would look like under ITU:
Standards documents are copyrighted, redistribution is forbidden, and cost $1,000 and up from the ITU Publications office (go ahead, try to get a protocol definition off their site).
No individuals or companies have any representation or even a right to comment except at the request of their government.
Decisions are made by a collection of national telecom monopolies who have a strong vested interest in stifling any development that cannibalizes their core revenues (i.e., overpriced landline phone service).
Arbitrary complexity will be added to all communications protocols in order to ensure difficulty of reverse-engineering.
Absolutely everything will be regulated to death and beyond.
New technology adoption will languish several years behind competing environments. In fact, for this reason, I speculate that if the ITU does manage to gain any appreciable control over internet infrastructure, interesting activity on the internet will quietly migrate to a "same but different" network free of their stifling control.
Frustrated by the growth of the internet at the expense of the centralized data network they had been advocating, and livid at the way that techologies like VOIP have decreased the relevance of their constituent monopolies, for the last few years all the ITU has really done is schemed for a hostile takeover of the internet. It's as dangerous as dealing with a herd of angry dinosaurs: While they are rapidly growing technologically irrelevant, their bureaucratic and political skills are well-honed and they are both rich and ruthless.
In sum: ITU = enemy of the people, enemy of the internet, enemy of affordable communications, enemy of democracy. And I say this as a touchy-feely left wing one-worlder. If you're anywhere to the right of me you should be outside their gates with a torch and pitchfork.
"Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." -- GBS