1 00:00:00,172 --> 00:00:03,990 The internet gives us the freedom to talk with friends, make art, 2 00:00:03,990 --> 00:00:09,430 start business or speak out against our governments, all on an unprecedented scale. 3 00:00:09,430 --> 00:00:10,981 This isn't a coincidence. 4 00:00:10,997 --> 00:00:13,395 The Internet's design came out of open inclusive discussions 5 00:00:13,395 --> 00:00:16,437 by a global community of scientists and engineers, 6 00:00:16,437 --> 00:00:19,688 so there was no pressure from above to lock it down. 7 00:00:19,688 --> 00:00:23,396 But now a Government controlled international body is making a play 8 00:00:23,396 --> 00:00:27,834 to become the new place where the Internet's future gets decided. 9 00:00:27,834 --> 00:00:31,559 It's called the International Telecommunciation Union (or ITU). 10 00:00:31,559 --> 00:00:34,556 and in December the world's Governments will meet, to decide whether to 11 00:00:34,556 --> 00:00:38,529 expand its mandate to making important decisions about the net. 12 00:00:38,529 --> 00:00:42,439 The ITU could pose a risk to freedom of expression on-line everywhere. 13 00:00:42,439 --> 00:00:44,887 Here's why. First the basics. 14 00:00:44,887 --> 00:00:48,001 Nobody owns the Internet. 15 00:00:48,001 --> 00:00:51,586 It's a collection of independent networks around the world. anybody can build one. 16 00:00:51,586 --> 00:00:56,106 The common standards on which the Internet was build gre out of open on-line discussions, 17 00:00:56,106 --> 00:01:00,417 not on the priorities of a particular Government or company. 18 00:01:00,417 --> 00:01:02,962 But now let's meet the ITU! 19 00:01:02,962 --> 00:01:08,478 First the ITU is old. Really old. Not CDs old, not rotary phone old, 20 00:01:08,478 --> 00:01:11,689 telegraph old, as in Morse code. 21 00:01:11,689 --> 00:01:15,875 WHen founded in 1865 it was called the International Telegraph Union. 22 00:01:15,875 --> 00:01:20,680 Unlike the Internet the ITU was not build on open discussion among scientists and engineers. 23 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:23,460 Instead only Governments have a vote at the ITU. 24 00:01:23,460 --> 00:01:26,710 And these votes take place behind closed doors. 25 00:01:26,710 --> 00:01:31,412 If Governments succeed in giving the ITU more power to make decisions about the Internet, we get 26 00:01:31,412 --> 00:01:34,874 an old-school, top-down, government centric organisation 27 00:01:34,874 --> 00:01:37,392 replacing the open bottom-up governance 28 00:01:37,392 --> 00:01:40,128 that made the Internet so world-changing. 29 00:01:40,128 --> 00:01:42,319 and that's just the beginning of our problems. 30 00:01:42,319 --> 00:01:45,162 The ITU is not transparent. 31 00:01:45,162 --> 00:01:52,662 The ITU's draft proposals aren't public, and its "one country - one vote" model gives Governments all the power. 32 00:01:52,662 --> 00:01:57,945 They get to make decisions about our internet, without us even knowing what they're discussing 33 00:01:57,945 --> 00:02:00,763 and then tell us, once the decision is made. 34 00:02:00,763 --> 00:02:04,328 What kinds of decisions will be considered at the ITU meeting this December? 35 00:02:04,328 --> 00:02:06,762 Well, here's some actual proposals that have leaked: 36 00:02:06,762 --> 00:02:11,287 cutting of internet access for a number of braodly defined reasons; 37 00:02:11,287 --> 00:02:14,124 violating international human rights norms; 38 00:02:14,124 --> 00:02:19,764 giving Governments more power to monitor internet traffic and impose regulations on how traffic is sent; 39 00:02:19,764 --> 00:02:23,281 defining span so broadly that they could justify blocking anything 40 00:02:23,281 --> 00:02:26,724 from photos of cute cats to human rights campaigns. 41 00:02:26,724 --> 00:02:30,663 and new rules to charge online content providers to reach users, 42 00:02:30,663 --> 00:02:36,112 which could mean less content going to the developing world, and blocking sites that don't pay up. 43 00:02:36,112 --> 00:02:40,177 But the really scary part: the countries pushing hardest for ITU control 44 00:02:40,177 --> 00:02:43,913 are the same countries that aggressively censor the internet. 45 00:02:43,913 --> 00:02:48,602 In Russia, making a YouTube video against the Government can get you two years in jail. 46 00:02:48,602 --> 00:02:51,763 In China, you can't even get to most social media websites 47 00:02:51,763 --> 00:02:59,310 and Iran is trying to build its own national internet and email network to keep the entire population under its control. 48 00:02:59,310 --> 00:03:01,757 Now the ITU also does good work. 49 00:03:01,757 --> 00:03:06,938 They help the developing world establish telecommunication networks and expand high speed broadband connections 50 00:03:06,938 --> 00:03:09,746 and existing internet governance isn't perfect. 51 00:03:09,746 --> 00:03:13,464 The US has out-sized influence and authority when it comes to this. 52 00:03:13,464 --> 00:03:16,254 But we need to fix these problems in a way that preserves 53 00:03:16,254 --> 00:03:19,393 the openness, pragmatism and bottom-up governance, 54 00:03:19,393 --> 00:03:22,326 that made the Internet so great. 55 00:03:22,326 --> 00:03:27,179 This December our Governments meet to make thier final decisions about the Internet's future. 56 00:03:27,179 --> 00:03:30,481 It's up to us internet users, in every country of the world, 57 00:03:30,481 --> 00:03:33,587 to tell them; to stand for the open internet. 58 00:03:33,587 --> 00:03:39,002 If everyone who sees this video speaks out and contacts their Government, w have got a chance of winning. 59 00:03:39,002 --> 00:03:40,434 Help us share this video 60 00:03:40,434 --> 00:03:42,615 and visit this site to speak out 61 00:03:42,615 --> 00:03:44,972 and contact your Government right now. 62 00:03:44,972 --> 00:03:48,286 Let's use the internet's global reach to save it. 63 00:03:48,286 --> 00:03:56,441 Tell your leaders to oppose handing over key decisions about the Internet to the ITU.