Posted on 05/05/2009 9:21:38 PM PDT by ScaniaBoy
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Commission wants the US to dissolve all government links with the body that 'governs' the internet, replacing it with an international forum for discussing internet governance and online security.
The rules and decisions on key internet governance issues, such as the creation of top level domains (such as .com and .eu) and managing the internet address system that ensures computers can connect to each other, are currently made by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a private, not-for profit corporation based in California which operates under an agreement with the US Department of Commerce.
The decisions made by ICANN affect the way the internet works all around the world.
EU information society commissioner Viviane Reding on Monday (4 May) suggested a new model for overseeing the internet from October this year, when the Commerce Department agreement runs out.
She called on US President Barack Obama to fully privatise ICANN and set up an independent judicial body, described as a "G12 for internet governance," which she described as a "multilateral forum for governments to discuss general internet governance policy and security issues."
"I trust that President Obama will have the courage, the wisdom and the respect for the global nature of the internet to pave the way in September for a new, more accountable, more transparent, more democratic and more multilateral form of Internet Governance," she said via a video message posted on her commission website.
The expiry of the agreement between ICANN and the US government "opens the door for the full privatisation of ICANN, and it also raises the question of to whom ICANN should be accountable," she said.
"In the long run, it is not defendable that the government department of only one country has oversight of an internet function which is used by hundreds of millions of people in countries all over the world."
Instead, Brussels would prefer that an international government forum that to meet twice a year makes recommendations by majority vote to the newly privatised ICANN. The forum would be restricted to representatives from 12 countries, with a regional balance taken into consideration.
Her "Internet G12" would include two representatives each from North America, South America, Europe and Africa, three representatives from Asia and Australia, as well as the Chairman of ICANN as a non-voting member. International organisations with competences in this field meanwhile could be given observer status.
The new US administration's position on global internet governance is not yet clear. However, during the Bush administration, Washington was steadfastly opposed to handing ICANN over to the United Nations.
The commission will hold a conference on Wednesday (6 May) in Brussels to discuss the issue with Europe's internet community.
This time Mr. O will hand the EU the keys to the servers & tell them to enjoy themselves.
beware......jimmah gave away the panama canel....no telling what theOne will do.
Carter - the Panama Canal
Obama - the Internet
Excellent comparison!
Talk about censorship! International groups would paralyze the net with ridiculous rules, regulations and taxes. They can’t stand freedom of speech. Unfortunately the lefties in this country would welcome it.
Is this something the sneaky little bitch, Obama, can do all by himself or will congress have to approve?
Let them try. I’d be DDosing their regulatory access point behind a Russian proxy and loving every minute of it.
If this every happens and stuff gets censored, the american internet underground would unleash a s**t storm unimaginable by most Europeans. And many of the Euro-kids would be helping.
Ameri-kids and Euro-kids might jab each other about who they are, but they both abhor censorship.
The EU, and all global others have no rights of ownership or justfiable claims to the Internet, and there is nothing they could offer to us that would be fair compensation for it. They have some nerve.
I see the Internet as a great symbol of American sovereignty, which can never be given away, please God.
I don't know. Would have to look up some of the old threads when the former administration putdown its foot and declined the demands from the EU (and the UN IIRC).
Anyhow, I hope you keep your eyes open. Don't let this issue get hidden. I think Zero may burn himself quite badly if he tries to give away the governance of the Internet. I happen to agree with struggle that 0's youthful followers on the Internet will not like this, will not like this at all.
Obama will give it too them and the censorship will then begin. :(:(:(:(
The Congress is controlled by people who think like Obama.
So even if he does have to go through Congress, this is still probably going to happen. :(:(:(:(:(
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