Posted on 12/05/2003 7:11:53 PM PST by NotchJohnson
THE UN IS PUSHING FOR CONTROL OF THE INTERNET
Yup .. you got it. There is a move afoot to turn the control of the Internet over to a United Nations agency. You can almost imagine the arguments. Right now the names and Internet URLs are assigned and controlled by an American entity. Most of the computing power that drives the Internet is located in the United States. In a situation like this it is easy to develop various conspiracy theories pointing to U.S. efforts to keep undeveloped and developing countries down by denying them full access to the Internet and manipulating Internet access for the benefit of America's friends. It doesn't matter whether these claims are true (they're not) or untrue. It just matters that charges like this resonate with America's haters around the world.
This move was inevitable. For the most part the Internet knows no international boundaries. Someone in Croatia can order a book from a Japanese book store with a few mouse clicks. A villager in Uganda can voice an opinion on a Hollywood chat line in seconds. These capabilities are not going to escape those who would like to establish a one-world government through the UN. In their minds anything with the international reach of the Internet simply has to be regulated and controlled by the United Nations.
And just how does the UN feel about things such as freedom of speech and freedom of expression? Just read the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Sure, right there in Article 19 it says that "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression." It also says that everyone has the right "to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." That sounds pretty good, doesn't it? Even if the UN did control the Internet we would be assured of our freedom to seek, receive and impart information, right?
Not so fast. You need to read a little further. Just read Article 29 Section 3. Here, I'll print it for you:
"These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations."
Do you need me to translate? This section says that your freedom of speech, your freedom of expression, and your freedom to "seek, receive and impart information" cannot be exercised if you would interfere with the "purposes and principles of the United Nations," whatever those are.
Remember also that the United Nations has recently determined that some forms of "hate speech" can actually be war crimes. Now ... define "hate speech." And while you're working on that definition remember that liberals, the very people who love the United Nations and who feel that we should turn over our sovereignty to this august organization, would tell you that the very idea expressed on this web page are "hate speech."
Yeah ... UN control of the Internet would certainly be something to look forward too. Not only would web site content end up being censored, but you could also look for other goodies such as a UN imposed sales tax on all Internet transactions to fund UN activities around the world .. activities that usually work against the interests of the United States
No one except God controls all of the internet. Or ever will. It's just nodes of independently owned computers, and various and sundry communication lines. And an agreement among free men about how those nodes will communicate.
/john
That is unbelievable.
The last hack I personally authored was in 1983 -- let's face it, hacking would-be totalitarians is boring. They DO NOT get it, period, stop, end, and the design of their assorted (or wildly mis-sorted software) almost perfectly echoes their general stupidity, and always has.
However, I'll be quite willing to shake off the rust and get back up to speed if the Useless Nutless crowd wants to become (yet more) offensive.
Why, other than the accrual of power, these amateur-night bozos would want to attempt to wreck the 'net is absolutely beyond me.
But, they won't. Don't worry about it.
Considering what they think constitutes "regulating commerce among the several states", I don't think that's going to slow them down much.
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