My Commentary -- or should I term it Get My Reading Perspective -- before you read?
If I have to choose between UN control of free speech with all that it entails -- or spam and business trying to get me to buy something, I'll choose the present set-up and ICANN. Freedom of expression -- even if it entails ads for penis enlargement for one who lacks one, I can DELETE. I cannot survive UN censorship -- in a UN run by tin-pot Third World and other dictatorships aided by our taxpayer-funded NGO's. Non-government organizations? You jest! Simply left-wing organs that help Liberal types do the dirty work they don't wish to to be seen doing themselves! NJC.
PS: I have updated this post with comments and emphasis.
'ICANN has to go': Developing countries say U.S. has too much influence on Internet
A rebellion is growing among developing countries against what they see as the undue influence of the United States on the Internet.
We can rely on the UN to be anti-American and this is simply the latest instalment in that on-going saga. At least, what the West--in this case, Anerica--sets up, works, which is more than can be said for anything set up by most UN organizations and those countries who hold sway over the UN at present. The US is simply the most successful at getting so much right that innovations like the Internet actually work at present. The big desire on the part of most of the UN's NGOs is that they be able to stop this success -- to curb the flow of information which is bypassing their government organs rather successfully. Do you hear that, CBC? NJC
The question of who should control the Net will be the major point of discussion at the United Nations' first conference on information technology, which opens in Geneva next month.
[. . . .]
Many developing countries and non-governmental organizations want the United Nations to manage the Internet, rather than the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a private regulator in California. The five-year-old company, which works with the U.S. government, oversees how Web sites are named and how e-mail is sent for the world's more than 550-million Internet users.
Although the ICANN board of directors is made up of representatives from around the world, many critics worry the organization is too closely linked to the United States. They would prefer the Internet to be managed by a more inclusive intergovernmental body, such as the International Telecommunications Union, the UN agency that is organizing the Geneva summit from Dec. 10-12.
Note: it is a "union" which may or may not be something concerning which you hold strong views. I do -- and I do NOT like it. NJC
"ICANN has no real right to hold the power it has been given over the day-to-day operations of the Net," said Bill Thompson, a British technical consultant who writes a technology column for BBC Online. "Many people have come to the conclusion that ICANN has to go. It has never shown that it is able to represent the majority of interests of Net users."
But many Western countries support ICANN because of its commitment to minimal regulation and commercial principles. They believe the Internet should remain decentralized in the interests of promoting free speech and free commerce.
This is the point at which many people use "children's interests" and "our young people's safety and security" to demand CONTROL over what is on the Internet -- especially as regards pornography. I do not look at pornography but I have been asked to look at a couple of pictures and then write an article on it. I suspect pictures of naked ladies are the least of the filth that is out there. Nevertheless, I BELIEVE PROTECTION OF THEIR CHILDREN IS A PARENT'S DUTY, not that of those in control of the Internet's assigned names and addresses. Parents have a duty in this department to discuss/explain/protect and even forbid/cut off access and that whole panoply of parental sanctions available. There are other ways to address Internet pornography and assorted scams through law and the common sense of taxpayers/voters/MPs not controlled by a Prime Minister or courts--which have been known to split hairs over artistic merit in pornography -- means to curb and control more preferable to me than UN incompetent control. NJC
Furthermore, U.S. and European Union officials say UN organizations are hopelessly bureaucratic and could never manage the Internet, which moves at lightning speed. Indeed, the European Commission argues putting its management in the hands of the United Nations or individual governments could threaten the flow of information and ideas on the Internet.
But many non-governmental organizations worry about the flow of hate speech, child pornography and unwanted advertising, or spam. They argue a new structure needs to be put in place that would address ways of dealing with such issues.
The Internet Democracy Project, an umbrella group for non-governmental organizations bankrolled by the international financier and philanthropist George Soros, says it is seeking to "create Internet government structures that preserve and promote the principles of a civil society." It is pushing to make ICANN more accountable to the Internet community.
"Increasingly, ICANN has been setting policies on issues that will have a significant impact on the free expression and privacy rights of Internet users, for example, by crafting policies that favour commercial interests over those of non-commercial speakers."
As mentioned above, viewers can delete -- or refuse to view filth or buy junk and gamble -- or must people whose desires outstrip their common sense be protected from themselves by the UN? Of course, for those subject to "the malling of the mind", increasingly, it is everyone's fault but their own. I vote for personal choice every time -- and particularly, the choice to say NO all by myself! NJC -- getting carried away again.
[. . . .]
Mr. Twomey, an Australian, takes exception to the idea that ICANN is somehow an American institution, pointing out that it is, in fact, a non-governmental organization with wide international representation. Much of the opposition to ICANN, he believes, is really misplaced anti-Americanism.
[. . . . ]
"How can a bureaucratic organization like the UN manage the Internet? You need a nimble organization that can make quick decisions."
[. . . .]
Internet governance is only one of many issues the summit will tackle. Another is the creation of a "digital solidarity fund" that would address the technology gap between rich and poor countries.
The push for the fund is being led by a group of African countries, although many international lending agencies, such as the World Bank, fear much of the money earmarked for the proposed "digital solidarity fund" could end up funding more bureaucracy.
"People are not excited by the idea of creating a special fund that entails massive arrangements," said a spokesman for the World Bank. "The bank would never support something that would generate a few million dollars for African countries and cost the same amount to manage."
