UN seeks to monitor Internet

[Odysseus]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204792404577229074023195322.html?m od=WSJ_hp_mostpop_read#printMode

The U.N. Threat to Internet Freedom
Top-down, international regulation is antithetical to the Net, which has flourished under its current governance model.

By ROBERT M. MCDOWELL

On Feb. 27, a diplomatic process will begin in Geneva that could result in a new treaty giving the United Nations unprecedented powers over the Internet. Dozens of countries, including Russia and China, are pushing hard to reach this goal by year's end. As Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said last June, his goal and that of his allies is to establish "international control over the Internet" through the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a treaty-based organization under U.N. auspices.

If successful, these new regulatory proposals would upend the Internet's flourishing regime, which has been in place since 1988. That year, delegates from 114 countries gathered in Australia to agree to a treaty that set the stage for dramatic liberalization of international telecommunications. This insulated the Internet from economic and technical regulation and quickly became the greatest deregulatory success story of all time.

Since the Net's inception, engineers, academics, user groups and others have convened in bottom-up nongovernmental organizations to keep it operating and thriving through what is known as a "multi-stakeholder" governance model. This consensus-driven private-sector approach has been the key to the Net's phenomenal success. (cont'd)

[Odysseus]

How does this promote free trade?

[alkemical]

With GoogleAds?

[elsid13]

How does this promote free trade?

It doesn't. Free flow of information is one of the keys to effectively making a market work and efficiency moving resources . Free flowing information also is the worse thing that can happen to authoritative regimes.

[alkemical]

why aren't the .com's fighting this?

is anon needed?

why aren't more people concerned with this.

what's the us's response?

[Rohirrim]

The freedom of the internet is the death knell for Putin and China. No doubt they hear that loud and clear.

[Odysseus]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-17144760

The White House has called on internet firms to develop stronger privacy protections for consumers.

The move comes amid worries that browsing information is being tracked and given to advertisers.

State attorneys in 36 states recently sent a letter of concern over Google's plan to share personal information across its products.

As part of the announcement, the firms' ad networks said they would support a "Do Not Track" browser option.

The US has advocated since 2010 for "Do Not Track", a one-click option to prevent information gathered while web browsing being shared with third parties.

(CONT'D)

[Odysseus]

It doesn't. Free flow of information is one of the keys to effectively making a market work and efficiency moving resources . Free flowing information also is the worse thing that can happen to authoritative regimes.

I see this as a two edged sword. What if the regime that is destroyed is us? Think of it this way. We are in the process of allowing commies, the Russian Mob, and multiple "pirates of free trade have access to consumer and corporate secrets. How safe are VPN tunnels? Who watches the watchers?

Us monitoring them is one thing but this is them monitoring us.

Why don't we have someone at the table saying this includes monitoring China's internet?
Why don't we have someone at the table saying that no .mil site should be monitored for any purpose?
Why don't we have someone at the table making sure the data isn't being used to build algorithmic data or decide what they can or cannot see?

[Odysseus]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-17148496

Speaking of challenging regimes. Wikileaks PFC is on trial.

[alkemical]

http://www.disinfo.com/2012/02/wikileaks-accuses-swedish-foreign-minister-of-being-u-s-spy/

WikiLeaks Accuses Swedish Foreign Minister Of Being U.S. Spy


WikiLeaks takes on Sweden’s elite? Russia Today writes:

The world famous whistleblowing group WikiLeaks claims it has documents exposing Sweden’s FM Carl Bildt as an American spy and is promising to publish them soon. The documents prove that Bildt has been a US informer since 1973 and that he collaborated with the US government in ways that contradict Swedish law, the Swedish tabloid Expressen reports.

It also reports that publication of the materials will inevitably lead to the resignation of the foreign minister and the end of his political career. The Swedish Foreign Ministry said that it first needs to see the documents before issuing any comments on the case.

Some say that WikiLeaks threats to Swedish officials are directly connected to the case of the website’s founder, Julian Assange, who is wanted in Sweden over rape and sexual assault allegations. Assange is currently in Britain fighting extradition to Sweden. His supporters say that if he is sent to Sweden he will then be extradited to the US.

[Odysseus]

http://www.itu.int/en/Pages/default.aspx

These are the guys that want to monitor the Internet.

Robert Dowell is a Bush holdover who was elected unanimously. He is like Robert Gates in that he was an excellent hire.

All of this is thanks to ITU and its membership:

ITU makes phone calls possible: whether to the office next door or to a friend in another country. ITU standards, protocols and international agreements are the essential elements underpinning the global telecommunication system.

ITU coordinates the world’s satellites through the management of spectrum and orbits, bringing you television, vehicle GPS navigation, maritime and aeronautical communications, weather information and online maps, and enabling communications in even the remotest parts of the planet.

ITU makes Internet access possible. The majority of Internet connections are facilitated by ITU standards.

ITU helps support communications in the wake of disasters and emergencies – through on-the-ground assistance, dedicated emergency communications channels, technical standards for early warning systems, and practical help in rebuilding after a catastrophe.

ITU works with the industry to define the new technologies that will support tomorrow’s networks and services.

ITU powers the mobile revolution, forging the technical standards and policy frameworks that make mobile and broadband possible.

ITU works with public and private sector partners to ensure that ICT access and services are affordable, equitable and universal.

ITU empowers people around the world through technology education and training.

[Odysseus]

http://www.un.org/en/ecosoc/cybersecurity/itu_sg_20111209_nonotes.pdf

White paper Dec 2011

[Odysseus]

ITU thinks that developing countries are most at risk for cyber threats.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?Cr=cyber&NewsID=40692

[Odysseus]

http://www.readwriteweb.com/enterprise/2011/12/issues-for-2012-1-should-the-u.php

ITU versus ICANN

[Odysseus]

Putin wants the ITU to monitor the Internet
We are thankful to you for the ideas that you have proposed for discussion," Mr. Putin told Toure, according to the Russian government's official English-language transcript. "One of them is establishing international control over the Internet using the monitoring and supervisory capabilities of the International Telecommunication Union. If we are going to talk about the democratization of international relations, I think a critical sphere is information exchange and global control over such exchange. This is certainly a priority on the international agenda."

[Requiem]

Hell yeah. They caught Epic.

[Odysseus]

http://www.icann.org/

They want to take power away from ICANN.

[Odysseus]

ICANN
http://www.internetgovernance.org/pdf/ICANNInc.pdf

Censorship
http://blog.internetgovernance.org/pdf/EC-TLD-censorship.pdf

UN Document regarding Internet rules 20011
http://blog.internetgovernance.org/pdf/UN-infosec-code.pdf

IGP: Internet Governance Project:
http://blog.internetgovernance.org/blog/_archives/2008/12/5/4007873.html

[Odysseus]

Obama vows to protect Net Neutrality:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/09/us-usa-internet-obama-idUSTRE7A86SK20111109

Why aren't the Republicans on board the FCC in favor of Net Neutrality?

[Odysseus]

Which side is Obama really on and what direction is the Internet really going?
http://www.deceptionsusa.com/Internet.html

As I stated it in my film, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of the Internet. It is the only level playing field left, the last bastion of free speech. It affords little David's like myself the ability to compete with the Corporate Goliaths. Alas though, despite pledges to fight for the little guy Obama dances whenever he is told to by by big money. Blessing a merger between Comcast and NBC (which is owned by General Electric) he has begun the death march for Net Neutrality yet another universal deceit. Above the roar of the public Obama can still be heard chanting "YES WE CAN' to his corporate handlers.

Huffington Post
Comcastrophe: Comcast-NBC Merger Approval Expected Today
By Josh Silver, January 18, 2011

Today, the Federal Communications Commission is expected to bless the merger of Comcast, the nation's largest cable and residential Internet provider, with NBC-Universal. The Justice Department is expected to follow suit right away, removing the last obstacle to the unprecedented consolidation of media and Internet power in the hands of one company.

You should be afraid and mad as hell.

The new Comcast will control an obscene number of media outlets, including the NBC broadcast network, numerous cable channels, two dozen local NBC and Telemundo stations, movie studios, online video portals, and the physical network that distributes that media content to millions of Americans through Internet and cable connections.


Culmination of the deal combined with the FCC's recent, loophole-ridden "Net Neutrality" rules, sets the table for Comcast to turn the Internet into cable television, where it has the ability to speed up its content, slow down or block its competitors such as Netflix, and hike the rates for its programming and services. We'll all end up paying more -- whether you're a Comcast subscriber or not.


More Broken Promises

The merger further squeezes what's left of independent, diverse voices from the television dial, laying waste to President Barack Obama's promise to reign in runaway media consolidation. As a candidate in June 2008, he said:

I strongly favor diversity of ownership of outlets and protection against the excessive concentration of power in the hands of any one corporation, interest or small group. I strongly believe that all citizens should be able to receive information from the broadest range of sources.
Where's that Barack Obama today? He's on the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal announcing an executive order that will "make sure we avoid excessive, inconsistent and redundant regulation," focusing on rules that "stifle job creation and make our economy less competitive." Given the president's long list of massive compromises to corporate lobbyists during his first two years, today's gesture to Wall Street is galling.

This is the same Obama who promised to "take a backseat to no one" on Net Neutrality before applauding the FCC's AT&T-approved Internet rule. It's the same Obama who promised to provide the public option on health care and to end the massive bonuses to Wall Street titans...the list of broken promises is far longer than space allows.

And it's the same Obama who, in the same 2008 interview about media consolidation, said:

There is a clear need in this country for the reinvigoration of antitrust enforcement. ... to step up review of merger activity and take effective action to stop or restructure those mergers that are likely to harm consumer welfare.
So much for that one, too.
...........(Cont'd)

[Odysseus]

http://www.vjolt.net/vol13/issue1/v13i1_a1-Yemini.pdf

University of Virginia white paper regarding net neutrality