The End Of The Free Internet?
[The End Of The
Free Internet?
By Dick Morris]
"...Until now,
the work of the
UN negotiators
who are
pondering how to
regulate the
Internet has
been shrouded in
secrecy. But as
1,950 delegates
from 193
countries gather
this week in
Dubai to
consider 900
proposals to
regulate the
Internet, their
game is becoming
clear.
The
Russian-educated
head of the
International
Telecommunications
Union (ITU), the
UN body seeking
to control the
Internet, Dr.
Hamadoun Toure
says: "The
brutal truth is
that the
internet remains
largely [the]
rich world's
privilege." He
adds that "the
ITU wants to
change that."
Here's how:
The ITU wants to
force companies
-- and
eventually their
users (us) -- to
pay for
streaming video.
The proposal is
called "pay to
stream" or "a
quality based
model."
According to the
BBC, "This would
see firms face
charges if they
wanted to ensure
streamed video
and other
quality-critical
content download
without the risk
of problems such
as jerky
images."
Presumably the
revenues from
this Internet
Tax would go to
building up Net
infrastructure
in the less
developed world.
And,
undoubtedly, the
cost will be
passed onto the
users throughout
the world --
including you!
But building up
the Net's third
world
infrastructure
is not the real
agenda here.
It's a facade.
Russia and China
want firms like
Google to have
to pay to send
streaming video
into other
countries,
creating a
charge that can
be passed on to
the users. The
idea is to make
it so expensive
that nobody in
their
totalitarian
countries
downloads
anything they
shouldn't which
might open their
eyes to the
truth Moscow and
Beijing want to
keep out.
The ITU is now
charged with
regulating long
distance phone
services. But
Moscow and
Beijing, want to
expand its power
to dictate to
the Internet and
they have a
willing tool in
Toure who was
educated in
Leningrad and
Moscow in the
pre-glasnost
era.
The delegates
and would-be
regulators have
until December
14th to agree on
which proposals
to adopt. Russia
and China are
seeking a
declaration that
each nation has
an "equal right
to manage the
Internet" to
enhance its
ability to block
politically free
sites.
Fortunately, the
European Union's
digital agenda
commissioner
Neelie Kroes has
tweeted that
"the internet
works, it
doesn't need to
be regulated by
ITR Treaty." And
Vinton Cerf, the
computer
scientist who
co-designed some
of the
Internet's core
underlying
protocols, says
"a
state-controlled
system of
regulation is
not only
unnecessary, it
would almost
invariable raise
costs and prices
and interfere
with the rapid
and organic
growth of the
internet."
Cerf notes that
"only
governments have
a voice at the
ITU...engineers,
companies, and
the people that
build and use
the web have no
vote."
And so it would
be if these
talks lead to a
new treaty: Only
governments will
run the Net. God
help us all!"
The End Of The
Free Internet?
Re 13:17
