Comments on: About That Nov. 16-18 UN Internet Conference in Tunisia (UN-EU takeover attempt)

By: Icepick the Mad!

Icepick the Mad! — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 03:57:46 +0000

Look at the Balkans and other dubious U.N. “successes”, just imagine them managing the ICANN servers. With such a record, the U.N. shouldn’t even be handling child safe scissors.

Might poke their collective eyes out.

Icepick the Mad!

By: Corelations

Corelations — Fri, 18 Nov 2005 01:01:56 +0000

Control of Internet?

Tunisia has been in the news recently. It is holding the World Summit on the Information Society. One of the issues at stake there is who gets to control the internet? More specifically, who controls the DNS systems that is very vital the functioning…

By: Captain Marlow

Captain Marlow — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 12:45:53 +0000

“The European Union criticizes the present state of affairs but - typically - offers no alternative other than echoing the UN. The UN is clamoring that the Internet must be controlled by an international body. Unfortunately, the more vocal nations on this issue are China, Russia, Venezuela, Cuba, Iran, Zimbabwe, &c… you see my point.”…

By: NixGuy.com » Blog Archive » Internet Governance Update

NixGuy.com » Blog Archive » Internet Governance Update — Tue, 15 Nov 2005 00:59:55 +0000

[…] ate Two interesting links about the internet tonight: One to the instapundified bizzyblog who is expecting the gauntlet to be thrown down in the next few days in Tunisia for the WSIS. Slashdot […]

By: Swanky Conservative » Blog Archive » The United Nations wants the Internet

Mon, 14 Nov 2005 17:13:27 +0000

[…] nternet The bastion of free markets and democracies known as the United Nations wants to wrest control of the Internet away from the country that invented it, the United States. The host countr […]

By: The Ratnest » Blog Archive » Why Not the UN?

The Ratnest » Blog Archive » Why Not the UN? — Mon, 14 Nov 2005 06:03:38 +0000

[...] Why Not the UN?

Next week, a special conferene will be convened by the UN regarding the Internet. As if to be ironic, it will be held in Tunisia, which is preparing for the event by [...]

By: TBlumer

TBlumer — Mon, 14 Nov 2005 02:31:01 +0000

#2, good to see Dutch spine, esp in light of the (IMO) silly United Smile campaign I read about yesterday. Go to near the end of this post if you don't know what I'm referring to.

#3--Bullseye.

By: tcobb

tcobb — Mon, 14 Nov 2005 02:02:31 +0000

The real issue isn’t about other countries being able to spin off and create their own subnets. They can do that now and there is nothing the US can do about it. What they want is for the US to cede control of its own internal net to them, and hopefully this will never happen. If it did I imagine the UN would use it as a revenue source, with sites in the wealthier countries paying rather outrageous fees to renew their registrations. And even worse, they would probably create a mechanism for people or governments to file complaints against sites that had content they objected to in which case trying to access say islam_sucks.net (I made this up) you would be directed to a page on a server that would inform you that the site was unavailable because it failed to pay a judgment rendered against it in Pakistan for the offense of defaming the Prophet Mohammed.

The rest of the world does not really wish to be cut off from net access to the world’s largest economy. This is why they haven’t already split off. But with such a connection comes access to information which a lot of countries don’t want their citizens to have, and this is a price they don’t want to pay. I have no sympathy for them.

By: Tijmen

Tijmen — Mon, 14 Nov 2005 00:57:17 +0000

This just in from the Dutch wire, rough translation.

Hamelink no longer adviser to Anann

AMSTERDAM - [Dutch] Professor [from Amsterdam] Cees Hamelink has resigned as personal adviser to UN-Secretary General Kofi Annan. He disagrees about the UN organising a conference on the information society in Tunesia. In [Dutch daily] the Volkskrant he says on monday that freedom of the press and freedom of expression are essential for the exchange of information.

By holding the conference in a country where human rights are abused, the UN doesn't take the subject seriously, he says.

De conference will be held in Tunis next week. Annan hasn't reacted yet on the resignation of Hamelink.

By: Pixy Misa

Pixy Misa — Mon, 14 Nov 2005 00:19:21 +0000

I don’t think ICANN is doing a particularly good job, but there is no question but that the European and UN proposals would be worse.

And it’s all nonsense anyway. Anyone can set up their own root server at any time. What matters is whether you can persuade people to use it. As John Wayne says, “Ya want it? Build your own.” Of course, since there is already a system in place that works just fine, you’re going to have to be awfully persuasive.