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Google Warns Against UN Net Conference

Posted by Soulskill on from the deciding-how-you-view-cat-pictures dept.

another random user writes "Google has warned that a forthcoming U.N.-organized conference threatens the 'free and open internet.' Government representatives are set to agree a new information and communications treaty in December. It has been claimed some countries will try to wrest oversight of the net's technical specifications and domain name system from U.S. bodies to an international organization. However, the U.N. has said there would be consensus before any change was agreed." Google is using its Take Action page to encourage people to speak out on this issue.

6 of 79 comments (clear)

  1. The Devil we Know... by jythie · · Score: 5, Interesting

    While I feel that the US domination of the Internet is a problem.. and its current unilateral control over so many part of it is not just bad for foreigners but not that good for US citizens either... I am not convinced that the UN would do a better job and would likely make the situation even worse. Just look at the domain name dispute process.....

    1. Re:The Devil we Know... by Krojack · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I always see non US citizens complain about the USA having control over the internet yet I never seen any examples of what the US control does to hinder their Internet experience. Is the US preventing you from doing something on the Internet? Is the US throttling your internet connection? Is your monthly Internet bill to the US to high? Are you upset because the US caps your monthly download limit?

      Please give some examples because I'm honestly confused.

  2. Re:The UN = Censorship by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    So what you're saying is that the UN votes should be weighted based on how democratic they are? The US barely makes the top 20 in that regard (Democracy Index.)

  3. What specific services does the US control? by MobyDisk · · Score: 1, Interesting

    What specific services does the US control? What aspects does the ITU control? And how can we get those onto a peer-to-peer system? People have talked about peer-to-peer DNS before, but I'm unclear if that is the only item that needs to be relinquished. The items Google mentions all sound like peering agreements, so I'm unclear what is even on the table to discuss.

  4. Re:The UN = Censorship by sortius_nod · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Democracy is about counting the votes of people equally, good or bad. In essence you're advocating a dictatorship (as the Internet is run now by the US) over a democracy by claiming that dictatorships (countries) will have more of a say.

    I trust the US less than I trust the UN with the Internet. When "Internet Kill Switches" are being investigated by the US, it's clear this is not about democracy but protecting US assets/companies at the cost of the rest of the world.

    US citizens, as usual, see the US as the police of the world, the rest of us are the criminals. The truth is, the US are the criminals & we're trying to wrest control of a powerful tool from despotic megalomaniacs.

  5. Re:The UN = Censorship by Hentes · · Score: 3, Interesting

    You confuse people with states. If you really want a democratic control of the internet (a bad idea IMO), you shouldn't propose giving votes to leaders that weren't elected democratically. It's double standards to talk about democracy and at the same time making excuses for tyrannies.