Breaking America's grip on the net (US FORCED to give up control of the Internet?)

http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,16376,1585288,00.html ^ | October 6, 2005 | Kieren McCarthy

[Blogger]

Buh bye sovereignty.

[DuncanWaring]

If they don't like the way we run it, why don't they build their own?

[Politicalmom]

WHY do we have to "acquiesce"?

[decal]

"Breaking America's grip on the net"

They wish.

[coydog]

What are they going to do if the US simply says "NO"

The US has the deed and the keys to the house, weenies.

[Chuckster]

$$$ Ca-Ching!! $$$

[Blogger]

I think American's would stop using it and invent something else and not share it.

[Czar]

Any American representative who is stupid enough to attempt to make any agreement diluting American control over the internet will be quickly ID'd and trashed accordingly, right along with any of the other crapweasels in Washington who want to sign on.

[Jim_Curtis]

They can start their own internet and control it any way they want.

[SaveTheChief]

I sometimes wonder where we would be today if we stopped doing nice things for the rest of the world and started to focus on problems at home. It has become painfully obvious that we are just another "resource" the rest of the world uses whenever they need money, or a friend when it becomes necessary.

I'm afraid that if I had control of the Internet, I would unplug it to everyone outside of the United States and tell the ungrateful bastards to either start appreciating what America and Americans have done for the world, or just shut up.

But first, I would close down the U.N. headquarters, turn it into cheap housing for those in need, and make sure each and every last foreign diplomat is escorted to an airplane on it's way out of the country.

It's time to start working with individual countries on our own. Enough of this "one world government" garbage.

[sourcery]

But the refusal to budge only strengthened opposition, and now the world's governments are expected to agree a deal to award themselves ultimate control. It will be officially raised at a UN summit of world leaders next month and, faced with international consensus, there is little the US government can do but acquiesce.

Absolutely false. Anyone who wants to can set up a root server, and that's always been the case. There have actually been previous attempts to do just that. All have failed. It's not a matter of law. It's not even a technical issue. It's a social one. You can't force anyone to use any particular root server. Each internet user has the power to use whatever root servers he or she prefers (although few know anything about this, or how to do it.)

So this dispute will be decided by the market.

[denydenydeny]

It will be officially raised at a UN summit of world leaders next month and, faced with international consensus, there is little the US government can do but acquiesce.

The Guardian hippies are high again. This is the cybernetic equivalent of Kyoto.

[MississippiMan]

...Hendon explained the EU had decided to end the US government's unilateral control of the internet...

And HOW, pray tell, did the EU get the authority to end our control over a system WE built?

MM

[Wuli]

Hendon is the Department for Trade and Industry's director of business relations and was in Geneva representing the UK government

Hendon is also adamant: "The really important point is that the EU doesn't want to see this change as bringing new government control over the internet. Governments will only be involved where they need to be and only on issues setting the top-level framework."

Mr Hendon and the rest of the EU are fools, and the people in the EU will live to regret what their leaders foolish attitude, based on envy of the U.S., brings down on them.

The internet, untrammelled by government's and politicians is one of the greated modern forces for freedom. The EU is now going to allow tyrants to start setting back the clock to the 1950s and before. The United States really will become that one shining beacon on the hill, where all who yearn to be free will long to be allowed to go.

The U.N. must now become dead to the U.S.

[Myrddin]

We invented it. We have been kind enough to share it with the world. If they don't like it, we can snip the connections outside of the US. The 3rd world $hitholes can use what is left as they see fit.

[Ramius]

Hey France! I got Yer root right here!

[wildwood]

i don't get what they are going to do. the EU is going to make their own internet, set up their own internet?

where are they going to get the cash for THAT, considering universal health care, rooms with vews, guaranteed college tuition, and twenty five dollar pizzas?

[airborne]

This is bad but....

Maybe it will get John Q. Public worked up enough to get off of his a$$ and out the door, down to his local Representative.

In the end, I think it's going to come down to "people in the street", shutting things down until we get our elected deadbeats to start protecting us.

They don't seem to be willing to do it on their own!

[pickrell]

I am no expert in this field, however...
Large systems like the internet are invariably covered by a blizzard of patents on the software, hardware, etc.
As owners of these patents, we can decide to license users, at considerable revenues to us- remember microsoft- or we may elect not to.
My guess is that this is the first salvo in a game to pressure us to relinquish our rights in this system to "world control". We would be idiots to give it away. I think 60 billion per year from each user country sounds about right.

[cyberdasher]

I hate it when the media talks so generally about a subject ("control over the internet"). Are they talking about control over the '.com' root?