UN Takeover of Internet? Some Are 'Not Amused'

Technology News ^ | December 9, 2003 | Jennifer L. Schenker

[antiRepublicrat]

Twomey, reached by mobile phone outside the conference room, said: At ICANN, anybody can attend meetings, appeal decisions or go to ombudsmen, and here I am outside a UN meeting room where diplomats most of whom know little about the technical aspects are deciding in a closed forum how 750 million people should reach the Internet. I am not amused.

Paul Twomey, the president of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, found out what it feels like to be voiceless.

On Friday night, Twomey, who flew 20 hours to Geneva from a meeting in Vietnam to take part in a preparatory session for this week's United Nations summit meeting on Internet issues, was escorted to the exit of the meeting room by guards after participants suddenly decided to exclude observers.

The move underscores the wrath of countries that for years have been unhappy with what they perceive as their voicelessness over how the Internet is run and over U.S. ownership of key Internet resources. It also foretells the level of criticism that both the U.S. government and the Internet Corporation, or ICANN, may face at the UN meeting, one of the largest gatherings ever of high-level government officials, business leaders and nonprofit organizations to discuss the Internet's future.

Media and Reps Evicted

Formal meeting activities begin on Wednesday. Although more than 60 nations will be represented in Geneva by their heads of government, only a handful of industrial nations are sending their leaders. President George W. Bush has no plans to attend, though the U.S. government will be represented by other officials.

To the great frustration of the international community, ICANN, a private company under contract to the U.S. government to oversee the technical aspects of the Internet's address system, has been in a pole position of power since its formation in 1998, deciding such issues as when languages could be used as a communication tool by other nations.

Twomey, reached by mobile phone outside the conference room, said: At ICANN, anybody can attend meetings, appeal decisions or go to ombudsmen, and here I am outside a UN meeting room where diplomats most of whom know little about the technical aspects are deciding in a closed forum how 750 million people should reach the Internet. I am not amused.

Twomey said he, representatives of the news media and anyone who was not a government official had been evicted from the meeting.

(continued)

[antiRepublicrat]

If the president of the current governing body of the Internet can't get in on meetings for the future governance of the Internet, it doesn't bode well for how openly the Internet would be run under the U.N.

[inkling]

If any organization seeks to "control" the Internet, it proves that that group doesn't know anything about how the Internet works.

[RonHolzwarth]

OH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Calpernia]

ping

[Calpernia]

ping

[MontanaBeth]

Should calls be made to President Bush on this? The UN in charge of the internet would be a crime.

[Calpernia]

>>>Should calls be made to President Bush on this? The UN in charge of the internet would be a crime.

Interesting question. Is this insanity obvious? Or should we inact a campaign on this?

[GovernmentShrinker]

Please, please, let the UN try to take control of the Internet! Then we could witness an epic showdown between UN bureaucrats and benevolent (mostly) techno-geeks whose IQs and skills make the UN idiots look like earthworms. The UN would finally be the laughing stock of the whole world.

[JSteff]

"heads of state from six African, five Middle Eastern, four European and two Asian countries as well as the UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, and Erkki Liikanen, the European Union's commissioner for enterprise and information society."

Oh and they all had such a large role in the development of the Internet. Give us a break. Name me the contributions that were made in developing or furthering the technology behind the Internet by any of the above.

It is NONE so the get no role in it's governance. End of story.

[zeugma]

I must say that barring ICANN from a meeting about the internet has a certain poetic irony to it. ICANN is evil. Look it up. Unfortunately, giving the U.N. any significant input into internet governance is insane.

[af_vet_rr]

Some of the countries represented at this gathering are doing good if a majority of their people have running water, what business they have of trying to regulate anything so technical is beyond me. Perhaps it's revenue generation (taxes) with the backwards countries. Certainly with China, North Korea, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, etc. it's censorship.

[reagan_fanatic]

Don't like it...don't use it.

[antiRepublicrat]

ICANN had a pretty evil past. But after the big showdown with Auerbach and losing their first president, they've come a long way. They are still far better than the U.N. trying to run things.

[antiRepublicrat]

Don't like it...don't use it.

We like it, we use it, and we don't want those incompetent bureaucrats to ruin it.

Of course, the U.S. is already working on Internet 2.

[Coleus]

[The Louiswu]

The UN can't control the Internet, I already control it, I bought if from Algore a couple of years ago, right after the election...he was a little down on his luck, sold it to me for $200 and a pack of Luck Strikes!

I have a receipt!!!