Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Does the Internet Need a Global Regulator?


From the article: "2012 has already witnessed historic Internet policy debates in the United States over digital copyright, online privacy, and cybersecurity. These issues have bitterly divided many organizations, academics, companies, and policymakers. 

It comes as some relief, then, that the next major Net policy battle will unite almost everyone in a common cause: stopping the United Nations from taking over the Internet. 

The U.N.’s International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is currently planning what will be on the agenda for this December’s World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) in Dubai. The fear that the ITU might be looking to exert greater control over cyberspace at WCIT has led to a rare Kumbaya moment in U.S tech politics and everyone is rallying around the flag in opposition. 

In the short term, however, this threat is somewhat overstated. There’s no way the U.N. could “take over the Net.” It’s a technical impossibility. The Internet’s infrastructure and governance structure are both too decentralized for any one global entity to take control."
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