Representatives of 193 countries are meeting in Dubai to update a treaty known as the International Telecommunication Regulations that was last negotiated in 1988 and governs the exchange of telephone traffic between countries.
But a group of countries led by Russia and China are trying to use the deliberations, the first in 24 years and taking place under United Nations auspices, to undermine the open spirit of the Internet.
The United States, the European Union and other countries have rightly resisted any such effort, which is also supported by the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Algeria, Iraq and Bahrain. It is bad enough that most of these countries already restrict the online speech of their citizens, but now they want international law to endorse their control and censorship of the Internet and possibly even tighten control in ways that would make it harder for users to get information online and allow governments to monitor Internet traffic more readily.
One particularly disturbing element of their proposal, a copy of which was leaked last week to the Web site WCITleaks.org, has the potential to cause major disruptions to the Internet by giving each country the ability to manage Web addresses and numbering.
That important logistical task is currently overseen by the nonprofit organization known as the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers — and it should stay that way. ICANN already coordinates with governments, civil society groups and Internet service providers to assign and manage domain names . Allowing each country to manage and potentially politicize that function by giving favorable treatment to some groups or providers would risk fragmenting the Internet, which is useful precisely because it’s universal and operates on the basis of globally accepted standards.
Other parts of the proposal would give broad powers to countries over “matters of Internet governance.” Analysts say that language appears to legitimize and validate controls over content and access that many nations already use by including them in an international treaty.
The Internet provisions are ill-considered diversions from what should be the core purpose of the conference: finding ways to expand access to communications technology, including reducing international cellphone roaming charges and lowering the cost of wireless and broadband services by encouraging competition.Continue reading the main story
Organizers of the conference, which ends on Friday afternoon, have already said that no proposals or a final treaty will be put to a vote. Instead, they say an agreement will be reached through consensus. The envoy representing Washington, Terry Kramer, has made it clear that the United States will not accept any language on Internet controls, which he says does not belong in a treaty that should properly focus on telecommunications. Subjecting the Internet to more overlapping and unneeded regulations would only serve to weaken it.Continue reading the main story