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UN Official Says UN Not Taking Over Internet

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the our-hands-are-clean dept.

kaufmanmoore writes "Hamadoun Toure, the new head of the UN's International Telecommunications Union says that he does not plan to take over governance of the internet and leave it up to groups like ICANN. In his statement he says that the ITU will instead focus on bridging the digital divide, internet security and standardize broadband communications. When asked about Chinese censorship Toure said that issue is beyond the mandate of the ITU."

5 of 104 comments (clear)

  1. As has been said before... by parasonic · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The UN needs to have no control over the Internet. They have demonstrated time and time again (e.g. Oil-for-Food campaign) that they are incompetent with managing programs.

    If TLD's are such an issue, let them have their own DNS system. No one is forcing anyone to use ICANN or even IANA.

    1. Re:As has been said before... by LaughingCoder · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Oh, feel free waste a mod point to mod me troll my American friends
      oops ... what happened? 5, Insightful? Hmmm, how'd that happen? Clearly you knew very well that on /., bashing Americans and America is one of the fastest ways to get karma.

      I have plenty more karma - and it will just prove my point :)
      You just proved my point!
      --
      The more you regulate a company, the worse its products become.
    2. Re:As has been said before... by +PhilipMarlowe9000 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      "Remeber Sudan/Darfur? Serbiea/Kosovo? Bosnia? Tianement Square? Tibet? Rwanda?" The UN is not on Mars, nor in heaven; it's effectives is helped or hindered by how much nation-states want to contribute. Furthermore, the UN traditionally has had a mandate not to intefere in nations because of national sovereighty.

      --
      My loathings are simple: stupidity, oppression, crime, cruelty, soft music. Vladimir Nabokov
  2. Good to see.. by madsheep · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It's good to see the U.N. has just outright came out and see it doesn't see a need for them to run this. I think Security is a bigger issue, although I do not exactly have any idea on what they are working or doing to secure anything. A large number of countries seem to look at anything associated with the U.S. as a talking point for change. There's not a whole long wrong with ICANN doing what it does right now as far as I can see. People just like to complain and try and get a change just so they can oppose someone they aren't fond of. Well so much for all the calls for the U.N. to run it. Let's see what all these whining complaining bastards try and do next.

  3. Chinese Mandate by descentintomaelstrom · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Actually, if the UN were to follow its own Human Rights Declaration, it clearly states in Article 19: "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." I would suppose that this means freedom from censorship on the internet. The UN has been constantly ignoring its own mandates for the protection of Human rights becuase its councils concering Human rights are consistently run by the countries who violate those rights. Even right now, China is a member of the Human Rights Council. The UN cannot function under the weight of its own political correctness and the weight of its member states violating its own declarations.