UN wants control of Internet

news.com.com ^ | 3/29/2005 | Declan McCullagh

[minus_273]

The International Telecommunication Union is one of the most venerable of bureaucracies. Created in 1865 to facilitate telegraph transmissions, its mandate has expanded to include radio and telephone communications.

The ITU, a United Nations agency, would like to change that. "The whole world is looking for a better solution for Internet governance, unwilling to maintain the current situation," Houlin Zhao, director of the ITU's Telecommunication Standardization Bureau, said last year. Zhao, a former government official in China's Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, has been in his current job since 1999.

Though Zhao is far too diplomatic to state it directly, the ITU's increasing interest in the Internet could presage a power struggle between ITU, ICANN, and perhaps even the U.S. government, which retains some oversight authority over ICANN and appears content with the current structure.

In a series of speeches over the last year, Zhao has suggested that the ITU could become involved in everything from security and spam to managing how Internet Protocol addresses are assigned. The ITU also is looking into some aspects of voice over Internet Protocol--VoIP--communications, another potential area for expansion.

"Countering spam is just one of many elements of protecting the Internet that include availability during emergencies and supporting public safety and law enforcement officials," Zhao wrote in December. Also, he wrote, the ITU "would take care of other work, such as work on Internet exchange points, Internet interconnection charging regimes, and methods to provide authenticated directories that meet national privacy regimes."

CNET News.com recently spoke with Zhao about the ITU's increased interest in the Internet and its involvement in a series of meetings that will conclude in November with a U.N. World Summit on the Information Society in Tunisia.

[minus_273]

Ignoring the fact that the internet is an American Military netowrk, this is from the people who brought you oil for food..

[BullDog108]

Three words: "AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN!!!"

[Little Pig]

If they want to control an Internet, they can build their own.

[dfwgator]

People in Hell want ice water.

[Rummyfan]

They can pry my keyoboard and cable modem from my cold dead hands! FMCDH! These guys couldn't pour p*ss out of a boot with directions on the back!

[maestro]

....Islamic UN wants Islamic control of Islamic Internet.....?

naw...

[cripplecreek]

They can have the internet as soon as Hans Blix can find it.

[demlosers]

Houlin Zhao, director of the ITU's Telecommunication Standardization Bureau, said last year. Zhao, a former government official in China's Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, has been in his current job since 1999.

So the ChiComs are trying to subvert the Internet and extend their censorship policies through the UN.

[Fast1]

We invented it i meant algore did but still Why should anyone but America call the shots The UN LMAO they will be gone soon anyway.

[Calpernia]

Yeaah riiiight. What a great idea!





NOT!

[RexBeach]

Shouldn't the UN consult Al Gore about this?

[1ofmanyfree]

...interconnection charging regimes...

Another UN attempt at taxing the world.

[Sally'sConcerns]

They better keep their hands off my internet!

[johnny7]

There are many in this country that would agree with the UN.

[maine-iac7]

"The whole world is looking for a better solution for Internet governance,

Bwaawaaaaah

we all know what management skill the UN has

[bahblahbah]

The UN is an outdated organization. It should be replaced by an Internet forum.

[infocats]

"the ITU's increasing interest in the Internet could presage a power struggle between ITU, ICANN, and perhaps even the U.S. government, which retains some oversight authority over ICANN and appears content with the current structure."

Since the internet is a direct descendant of DARPAnet (Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration), it is unlikely that control will be turned over to the U.N.

[GaltMeister]

Think of it this way - Slick Willie gets the chair at the UN, Hildebeast gets the White House, and then they can be the Internet 'gatekeepers' she talked about a few years ago.

[the OlLine Rebel]

Yeah, I'm going to pay any attention when a ChiCom speaks.....

[Ex-Dem]

Zhao, a former government official in China's Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications

Would that be the Big Brother department in charge of suppressing anti-government communications? I think I might see why he'd be interesting in UN control of the Internet.