[governance] FW: [IP] a 2013 resolution: defund the ITU

[Suresh Ramasubramanian]

Disappear?  9 million dollars isn't a particularly large amount when it comes to a national budget, even of one of those G89 countries.  Defund and further it causes a massive new slippery slope that will as Michael says target good agencies as well

--srs (iPad)

On 04-Jan-2013, at 2:24, "michael gurstein" <gurstein at gmail.com> wrote:

> The problem with these kinds of statements/positions (and it should be noted that various folks in the US and some of their close allies have been making these kinds of statements concerning the UN, UNESCO, and any of the other agencies that aren't seen as immediately responding to and protecting US interests narrowly conceived) is that even if the ITU were to be totally defunded and disappear something somewhere would need to be created to take on most of its international coordinating functions. The end result of this kind of position would in fact be to further project the US's quite evident anti-government political/governance disfunctionality into the global sphere.
>  
> That being said, the creaky goverance/administrative systems of the UN and various of its agencies need to be radically renewed to reflect the new geo-political, technological and politico-cultural realities of the 21st century rather than the post-colonial/post-WWII realities of the 1950's.
>  
> M
>  
>  
> From: governance-request at lists.igcaucus.org [mailto:governance-request at lists.igcaucus.org] On Behalf Of Lee W McKnight
> Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2013 8:00 AM
> To: governance at lists.igcaucus.org
> Subject: [governance] FW: [IP] a 2013 resolution: defund the ITU
>  
> Well remember what I said about ITU carrying on...I still think it will, but echos from Dubai may shake its budgetary formula. 
> 
> And according to Tony's spin, Hurricane Sandy. 
> 
> The attachment is interesting reading.
> 
> Lee
> 
> From: DAVID J. FARBER [farber at gmail.com]
> Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2013 9:29 AM
> To: ip
> Subject: [IP] a 2013 resolution: defund the ITU
> 
>  
>  
> Begin forwarded message:
>  
> From: Tony Rutkowski <trutkowski at netmagic.com>
> Subject: a 2013 resolution: defund the ITU
> Date: January 3, 2013 9:10:09 AM EST
> To: Dave Farber <dave at farber.net>
> Reply-To: trutkowski at netmagic.com
>  
> Happy New Year, Dave.
> 
> More than a few people on the IP list
> may have an interest in this post to the
> State Dept's advisory committee list.  
> Even if a reader doesn't resonate with 
> my advocacy, the facts here are very 
> interesting and difficult to find.
> 
> cheers,
> tony
> 
> 
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject:
> a 2013 resolution: defund the ITU
> Date:
> Thu, 03 Jan 2013 08:55:04 -0500
> From:
> Tony Rutkowski <trutkowski at netmagic.com>
> Reply-To:
> trutkowski at netmagic.com
> Organization:
> NetMagic Associates
> To:
> WCIT at LMLIST.STATE.GOV
> 
> 
> What is not well known is that the ITU
> depends on voluntary contributions.  Each
> member elects to give the ITU some number (or
> fraction of a number) of "contributory units"
> each year.  A CU is currently equal to about
> $300k/yr.  Thus the U.S. actually volunteers
> to give the ITU 30 units or about $9 million
> per year.  It is the only country other than
> Japan to do so.  The difficult to find
> official ITU contributions ledger is attached.
> 
> So all those G89 countries at the WCIT that
> thumbed their noses at the U.S. and are
> trying to use the ITU to regulate the
> Internet and constrain information flow -
> they contribute almost nothing.  
> Incredulously, they get the U.S. to help fund
> them to do that.  Most of them even get free
> stipends from the ITU to go on Geneva
> vacations to rail against U.S. interests.
> That's going to increase as the WTSA-12
> voted so many of them into the ITU-T leadership.
> 
> What is remarkable about the ledger is that 
> you can readily see how over the past six years,
> many other major countries and much of
> industry have shut their wallets, and in a
> great many cases simply walked out of the ITU-T. 
> Yet the U.S. itself has kept paying the largest
> contribution amount!  Indeed, as the others cut
> back their contributions, the U.S. pays even
> more to prop up the ITU bloated budget and the
> fine lifestyle of the ITU staff.
> 
> With the 2013 Congress convening today, there
> is the perfect opportunity to begin defunding
> the ITU and send a message to those 89
> countries and the duplicitous ITU officials who
> helped them.  If the U.S. halves its contribution 
> to fifteen units like many European countries 
> have done, that's $45 million over ten years.  
> 
> Rather than flushing U.S. money down the ITU
> rathole to fund the G89 over the coming years
> to implement their extreme anti-Internet
> agenda, give it instead to the communities
> who were victims of Hurricane Sandy to
> re-build their broadband infrastructure. 
> Considering the WCIT Internet resolution was
> unanimously adopted by Congress, that should
> be a no-brainer.
> 
> Those companies who still remain as ITU-T
> members can act here as well.  Renounce your
> membership and join all the others who have
> already left.
> 
> -t
> 
>  
>  
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