The Gathering Storm: WCIT and the Global Regulation of the Internet

Bennett, Richard. "The Gathering Storm: WCIT and the Global Regulation of the Internet." The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, November 21, 2012.

From the report: "At the upcoming International Telecommunication Union (ITU) World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) in Dubai, to be held from December 3-14, delegates will consider proposals to amend the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs,) binding rules that govern telecommunications network practices around the world…. If any change needs to be made at all in the ITRs with respect to the Internet, it should be limited to creating a firewall between the authority of ITU and the operation of the Internet. The Internet’s organic governance system has proved to be quite effective, in no small part due to its close proximity to the Internet’s technical standards and business practices. 

Technologies that enable rapid rates of change need the ability to adapt to changing conditions quickly; an international treaty organization that convenes once every fifteen years does not fit the bill. The ITU is facing obsolescence as we begin to retire the telephone networks that have been its sole focus since the phase-out of the telegraph, but this existential crisis does not justify a wholesale restructuring of Internet governance." Read more

European Parliament Warns Against UN Internet Control

"European Parliament Warns Against UN Internet Control." BBC, November 22, 2012. 

From the article: "Members of the European Parliament backed a resolution which urged member states to reject changes to the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITR) which would "negatively impact the internet, its architecture, operations, content and security, business relations, internet governance and the free flow of information online"…. The European Parliament's objection follows loud opposition from search giant Google, which has invited concerned internet users to sign a petition.

"The International Telecommunication Union is bringing together regulators from around the world to renegotiate a decades-old communications treaty," the company wrote." Read more

See also
"European Parliament Resolution on the Forthcoming World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT-12) of the International Telecommunication Union, and the Possible Expansion of the Scope of International Telecommunication Regulations." European Parliament, November 19, 2012.