[governance] Forbes Piece on the Google Campaign

[parminder]

On Wednesday 05 December 2012 10:52 PM, michael gurstein wrote:
> http://www.forbes.com/sites/jodywestby/2012/12/04/googles-media-campaign-aga
> inst-the-un-slapped-down/

Highlights very well the bogey that ITU has nothing to do with the 
Internet. It always had and will. ITRs that were written in the pre 
Internet era, in 1988, being revised in 2012 have to take explicit 
notice of this fact. That would be the default.

But how much propaganda and subterfuge has gone to deny this simple and 
obvious point. Content regulation, globally versus nationally configured 
routing of Internet traffic and DNS management are specific issues in IG 
and if these areas are to be kept out of ITU/ITRs (as I believe they 
should) then we should directly say that.... and put specific text to 
that effect in the ITRs. Keeping these specific issues away from ITU/ITR 
does not need us to say that the entire Internet system has to remain 
untouched by ITRs/ITU.

Not to take explicit note of the Internet in the ITRs would simply look 
too contrived, and by itself give a strong message. And that exactly is 
what the powers that illegitimately dominate how the Internet is being 
shaped today want - to give out the clear and strong message 'Internet 
is to be kept beyond any/all regulation'. That is all, or mostly, what 
is there to the Google's campaign and US backing or rather fronting of it.

Absence of any explicit mention of the Internet in the ITRs will send an 
especially clear and strong signal to the national regulatory systems to 
keep their hands off the Internet - which would, inter alia, mean the 
end of net neutrality movement apart from end to any other regulatory 
influence on our communications systems of the future. This ill-serves 
pulbic interest, especially the interest of the weaker and marginalised 
sections. But their voices have not been present in the civil society 
debates around ITR/ITU. That is the problem with multistakeholderism of 
the kind practised in the IG space - whoever can manage to reach the 
table will be heard...

  parminder

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