U.N. to Seek Control of the Internet

[Olo]

That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard the U.N. say. NO ONE SHOULD CONTROL THE INTERNET. It is the last bastion of human freedom.

The internet is already controlled by a handful of nonprofit US companies.

[Ave07]

This made me laugh pretty hard, since people consider the U.N a joke I guess they want to be taken serious by controlling the internet lol.

[Sykol]

Nobody listens to the U.N. as it is now, so why would they start on the internet of all places?

[Politicus]

So in response to this Google itself has made a petition, if you, like me, care greatly how this issue is resolved, then please, sign Google's petition:
http://www.google.com/intl/en/takeac...at-you-can-do/

Here is the WhiteHouse.gov petition as well:
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/pet...t-and/b5xkTZgz



(Mods, if I've overstepped my bounds posting the petition links, let me know and I'll take them down )

Cheers - Hastings

[jotabe]

I don't see how the UN or even the ITU are trying to do anything at all. It's the authoritarian governments who are trying to push that into the ITU treaty. But only with that support it cannot pass.

[semaphore]

The internet is already controlled by a handful of nonprofit US companies.

It's more like they administer the internet infrastructure.

[Tomatketchup]

In the unlikely event that this does happen, I could imagine the EU creating "free internet access between EU countries, so I'm not THAT worried, though I would miss all the wacky Americans.

[DEATHETERNAL]

Just stop funding the U.N. already...

[Kangodo]

That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard the U.N. say. NO ONE SHOULD CONTROL THE INTERNET. It is the last bastion of human freedom.

Except for the internet already being controlled by US-companies. >.>

[Tomatketchup]

Except for the internet already being controlled by US-companies. >.>

I really don't care who rules it as long as no bullshit law that bans or taxes websites comes up.

[jotabe]

I think most Americans would be shocked if they were told that outside the US, the general perception is that the UN is a tool at their service.

[Kalyyn]

You know, I keep calling for the disbanding of the UN, and you guys always call me crazy...

[Ryuukon]

You know, I keep calling for the disbanding of the UN, and you guys always call me crazy...

I don't. Since the UN was founded, it has done.... pretty much nothing. Either it needs huge reform with unilateral cooperation by ALL countries, or it just needs to go (which is the more likely of the 2 scenarios).

Especially in this regard. The internet is often times the only source for people to garner the actual truth about what is happening in their region and what they can do to change it. Making the internet a global exchange commodity filtered by people who aren't even elected officials is propaganda in its purest form, regardless of where you live.

[Tomatketchup]

We need an organization that get countries to communicate with each other on neutral ground in order to keep the world semi-peaceful. Just having countries communicate with themselves in private will just lead to ideological disputes and accusations of ideological bias. With neutral parties being a part of the debate they can give insightful opinions, ideas and non-war threats (or whatever it's called) which can influence the outcome of the conflict. The UN might not stop all wars, but at least they can help to find a common ground.

Now, no doubt about that some stuff about the UN is stupid - like major powers having more votes and the ability to veto which other smaller countries can't, and ideas like these that the UN shouldn't be a part of to begin with.

[Baiyn]

U.N couldn't organize a pissup at a brewery

Very crudely but poignantly put!

The U.N. needs to be disbanded and reformed as something better. I see very little value or relevancy in it at the this point, especially when they do stuff like pass international blasphemy laws and attempt to deal with fascist dictators slaughtering their own people by sheepishly asking them to stop or simply ignoring them altogether in the case of Rhodesia.

[Shiny212]

Erm, all there is to say to the UN on this is: Knock yourself out..

[smokii]

the internet is the only place i actually feel free, now the U.N. want to take that away from me, they can suck my balls.

this is the kind of thing that starts revolutions and wars

edit: but on the other hand, software engineers would never let this happen. the government pays 100 software developers to design the software, 1000 hackers will work tirelessly for free to break it.

the government need to learn to step the fuck away.

it's like the war on drugs, a complete waste of time and money because they will never win.

[Vellerix]

Well, if this goes through I don't even want to imagine the ammount of rioting.

[gullfaraz]

Wasn't the internet created by physicists during the Cold War as a weapon of war and then given to the general public for free?

15 years ago, it might have been possible for them to take control of the internet, but considering the impact it has on people's lives nowadays... yeah, good luck with that. You'd have an easier time taking control of our firearms. http://www.readenews.com

[rainiothon]

I feel bad about bashing the UN, because I know it's predecessors failure, the League of Nations indirectly lead to World War II. On the other hand it's often so incompetent I feel I can leave it's failings to speak for themselves.