United States cedes control of the internet - but what now?

The Register ^ | 27 July 2006 | Kieren McCarthy

[atomic_dog]

Bad precedent if correct.

[EQAndyBuzz]

"In a meeting that will go down in internet history, the United States government last night conceded that it can no longer expect to maintain its position as the ultimate authority over the internet. "

Here comes the censorship.

[TChris]

Bad, bad news. This day will be looked upon historically as a watershed event.

[taxed2death]

Didn't DARPA develop the internet (with my tax dollars)?

[pgyanke]

I am so sick of the globalists! You see this every day... company X makes a product so good that it becomes a resource. Therefore company X shouldn't be profiting from a vital resource and should now give the product to a global market.

Forget that! We made it, we operate it--they like it, they can use it. We should maintain control of the product in which we invested so much.

[the invisib1e hand]

I don't like this at all. it's like ceding the control of ports...

[boughtwithaprice]

"and it then has to sell that decision to a mindlessly patriotic electorate"

mindlessly patriotic? I think not...I'd rather have my nation controlling the internet than letting countries like China have a say in what goes on.

[gogeo]

1. That the US government recognises it has to transition its role if it wants to keep the internet in one piece (and it then has to sell that decision to a mindlessly patriotic electorate)

2. That ICANN has to open up and allow more people to decide its course if it is going to be allowed to become the internet's main overseeing organisation

This blather betrays a mindset so twisted that I have to walk away from the computer!

[observer5]

As long as they can keep the UN out of it...

[jpsb]

I am so sick of the globalists!

BUMP!

[madison10]

If this is true...

Life as cybercitizens as we know it...just went to H311. Giving our honest, not-so-PC opinions, as we do in FreeRepublic, will end. I have a BAD feeling about this. We've just lost a great deal of our freedom.

[The Spirit Of Allegiance]

Nothing like abdicating sovereignty, eh?

In other news, McCain, Feingold, Kofi and Hillary no doubt toasted the announcement.

[xroadie]

(and it then has to sell that decision to a mindlessly patriotic electorate)
That's us, you know.

[ThisLittleLightofMine]

Here come the taxes.

[Syntyr]

remains an English-speaking possession.

represented only a tiny minority of those that now use the internet every day.

highlighted the very parochialism of those that currently form the ICANN in-crowd.

why landowners or the educated classes shouldn't be given more votes than the masses.


A stark warning came from the Canadian government - the only government except for the US government invited to speak.


there needs to be an explanation of the decisions and the reasons for it; and ultimately there needs to be a mechanism for the board to be held accountable by its community."


Ultimately, what came out of a gathering of the (English-speaking) great and the good regarding the internet was two things:

(and it then has to sell that decision to a mindlessly patriotic electorate)

2. That ICANN has to open up and allow more people to decide its course if it is going to be allowed to become the internet's main overseeing organisation

The next step is for everyone invited into the party this time to recognise that they too play only a small role in the global revolution



Ohhhh Yes Communism and Socialism rears it's ugly head again...

[Allan]

This article appeared in "The Register"
whose web address is:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/

The US invented and developed the internet.
So far as I am concerned, it is US property.

[FlyVet]

Here comes the censorship.

Don't worry, that's for our own good. And of course, we'll have to enact some taxes, fees, surcharges, and service funds to ensure that this regulation is done properly. (For reference, take a look at the back of your phone bill.)

It was only a matter of time before the greedy Socialists got their corrupt, dirty hands all over the Internet. It's downhill from here.

[lost_sovereignty]

In a meeting that will go down in internet history, the United States government last night conceded that it can no longer expect to maintain its position as the ultimate authority over the internet.

WAIT A MINUTE !! The internet started as Arpanet, a MILITARY project. The internet belongs ultimately to the US TAXPAYERS. I wasn't asked if MY INTERNET could be disposed of! More globalist BS from this administration.

[kaylar]

I remember news from last year about ICANN . (I tried to find last year's articles posted to FR but no luck.) The consensus on FR in 2005 was that ICANN would be given a face lift making it look like a multinational decision making body, but the US would in fact retain ultimate control, that ICANN was mainly "window dressing" to placate mindlessly multinational idiots here and abroad. I hope that's true. If the author of this editorial is correct, this is one of the worst things I've ever read on FR. The rest of the world is the home of blasphemy laws, no First Amendment rights, and confiscatory taxes on everything-to 110% of income, per one recent FR article. They want the internet-let them set up their own servers and run them as they please. (But I'll admit much of the technical aspects of the net is beyond my understanding.)

[stylin19a]

holy cripes !
The US fought like hell to keep control during the UN meeting in tunisia in 11/2005. Any transition wouldn't take place for 5 years or more.

This turnaround is stunning - though no target dates are mentioned.