OK, folks, everyone take a chill pill! This is not about who invented what, how big is our military, Bush-lovin' or Bush-bashin. It is about a couple of other realities. This is a power-play and the rewards (and consequences to us) are huge. Consider:
1. The EU is untried and unproven as a governmental organization. Some of its own members won't even approve the EU Constitution, so there will be some major teething problems as the EU sorts itself out. Is this unstable structure where we want the Internet to be placed?
2. The Internet works under the current structure. Most of the issues people have brought up here (and I readily admit I have not read all 1000+ posts so there may be some significant issues I missed) seem to be technical or procedural in nature, and reflect the reality that comes with any attempt to manage an organization of this size and complexity. For example, not everyone is going to like your decision.
3. In general, the free market has always proven itself far superior to governmental control or interference. One doesn't have to look too far back in history to remind ourselves of the failures of the Communist and Socialist governments in providing basic human services (e.g. Soviet Union/China and food production, Canada and socialized medicine, etc.). What would make any rational person even consider thinking that the EU would be good at running the Internet?
4. France is a mjor force in the EU - wanna turn the Internet over to their control? Aren't they the ones that have forced ISPs and search engines to filter access and results just based on where the Internet users live?
5. The UN is a major bureaucratic joke. Rampant corruption, child sex slavery rings, failed missions, bloated administrative staffing, billions of $ for a new home, and the list just goes on. The US has limited its contributions precisely because of these major problems. As others have pointed out, the UN cost structure was built precisely so the US would be the only nation paying at the highest rate.
6. The UN would also provide control over the Internet to known human rights abusers such as China, Cuba, well most of the world that is run by dictators (military and civilian), oppressive oligarchies, et al. This has been true as such human rights abusers have been granted seats on the very panels to investigate human rights abuses! China this year alone has shut down thousands of cyber cafes simply because people were using the Internet to comment unfavorably on their own government. And these are the countries who might end up running a free and open Internet?
7. Both the UN and the EU (and its member nations in Western Europe) have consistently failed to take action against any of its members who have significantly violated the "rules". Darfur comes to mind, as does Rwanda/Uganda, Bosnia, Somalia, and well the list is lengthy. Most of the key EU countries worked hard AGAINST intervention in Bosnia as thousands of people were murdered in ethnic cleansing, mortar attacks on markets in Sarajevo, etc.
8. The big one - TAXATION! Neither the EU nor the UN are answerable to anyone, so there is no way to limit what they would do. The US Congress has been pressured many times to start taxing Internet usage and Internet sales. Each time the Congress has heard from its consiituents and each time the measures have fallen by huge margins. Granted, the US Congress is a huge, sedentary, ravenous beast. But every once in a while it stirs itself when poked and prodded by the American people as with Internet taxation. Is there any way to poke or prod the EU or UN? Not that I've seen.
Taxation is where this will all lead. Now, you and I won't be taxed - directly that is. But, the infrastructure servers, ISPs, content providers, et al. will be taxed as they are the easiest sources for determining the revenue and will pass those costs along to us. Just think what US$0.01 per email would add up to, or US$0.10 per email ID. All of these costs will be passed to
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OK, folks, everyone take a chill pill! This is not about who invented what, how big is our military, Bush-lovin' or Bush-bashin. It is about a couple of other realities. This is a power-play and the rewards (and consequences to us) are huge. Consider:
1. The EU is untried and unproven as a governmental organization. Some of its own members won't even approve the EU Constitution, so there will be some major teething problems as the EU sorts itself out. Is this unstable structure where we want the Internet to be placed?
2. The Internet works under the current structure. Most of the issues people have brought up here (and I readily admit I have not read all 1000+ posts so there may be some significant issues I missed) seem to be technical or procedural in nature, and reflect the reality that comes with any attempt to manage an organization of this size and complexity. For example, not everyone is going to like your decision.
3. In general, the free market has always proven itself far superior to governmental control or interference. One doesn't have to look too far back in history to remind ourselves of the failures of the Communist and Socialist governments in providing basic human services (e.g. Soviet Union/China and food production, Canada and socialized medicine, etc.). What would make any rational person even consider thinking that the EU would be good at running the Internet?
4. France is a mjor force in the EU - wanna turn the Internet over to their control? Aren't they the ones that have forced ISPs and search engines to filter access and results just based on where the Internet users live?
5. The UN is a major bureaucratic joke. Rampant corruption, child sex slavery rings, failed missions, bloated administrative staffing, billions of $ for a new home, and the list just goes on. The US has limited its contributions precisely because of these major problems. As others have pointed out, the UN cost structure was built precisely so the US would be the only nation paying at the highest rate.
6. The UN would also provide control over the Internet to known human rights abusers such as China, Cuba, well most of the world that is run by dictators (military and civilian), oppressive oligarchies, et al. This has been true as such human rights abusers have been granted seats on the very panels to investigate human rights abuses! China this year alone has shut down thousands of cyber cafes simply because people were using the Internet to comment unfavorably on their own government. And these are the countries who might end up running a free and open Internet?
7. Both the UN and the EU (and its member nations in Western Europe) have consistently failed to take action against any of its members who have significantly violated the "rules". Darfur comes to mind, as does Rwanda/Uganda, Bosnia, Somalia, and well the list is lengthy. Most of the key EU countries worked hard AGAINST intervention in Bosnia as thousands of people were murdered in ethnic cleansing, mortar attacks on markets in Sarajevo, etc.
8. The big one - TAXATION! Neither the EU nor the UN are answerable to anyone, so there is no way to limit what they would do. The US Congress has been pressured many times to start taxing Internet usage and Internet sales. Each time the Congress has heard from its consiituents and each time the measures have fallen by huge margins. Granted, the US Congress is a huge, sedentary, ravenous beast. But every once in a while it stirs itself when poked and prodded by the American people as with Internet taxation. Is there any way to poke or prod the EU or UN? Not that I've seen.
Taxation is where this will all lead. Now, you and I won't be taxed - directly that is. But, the infrastructure servers, ISPs, content providers, et al. will be taxed as they are the easiest sources for determining the revenue and will pass those costs along to us. Just think what US$0.01 per email would add up to, or US$0.10 per email ID. All of these costs will be passed to