The United Nations has recently introduced a bill that would give power to governments to regulate the internet. The United States and the European Union plan on opposing this movement, which they say has troubling implications for internet freedom.
The treaty is being proposed by the International Telecommunications Union, a U.N. agency. The secretary general of the ITU, Dr. Hamadoun Toure, says that the treaty's purpose is to make the internet available for the underprivileged.
"The brutal truth is that the internet remains largely [the] rich world's privilege," BBC News reported him as saying. "ITU wants to change that."
In spite of the ITU's reassurance, some countries remain skeptical of the treaty's intended purpose, saying that there is no need to include language that could give governments power to monitor and censor the internet.
"There have been active recommendations that there be an invasive approach of governments in managing the internet, in managing the content that goes via the internet, what people are looking at, what they're saying," said Terry Kramer, the US representative in the U.N. discussion of this treaty.
"These fundamentally violate everything that we believe in in terms of democracy and opportunities for individuals, and we're going to vigorously oppose any proposals of that nature."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20575844
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/12/04/warning-un-is-coming-for-your-internet/
The treaty is being proposed by the International Telecommunications Union, a U.N. agency. The secretary general of the ITU, Dr. Hamadoun Toure, says that the treaty's purpose is to make the internet available for the underprivileged.
"The brutal truth is that the internet remains largely [the] rich world's privilege," BBC News reported him as saying. "ITU wants to change that."
In spite of the ITU's reassurance, some countries remain skeptical of the treaty's intended purpose, saying that there is no need to include language that could give governments power to monitor and censor the internet.
"There have been active recommendations that there be an invasive approach of governments in managing the internet, in managing the content that goes via the internet, what people are looking at, what they're saying," said Terry Kramer, the US representative in the U.N. discussion of this treaty.
"These fundamentally violate everything that we believe in in terms of democracy and opportunities for individuals, and we're going to vigorously oppose any proposals of that nature."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20575844
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/12/04/warning-un-is-coming-for-your-internet/
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