How the ITU is threatening Internet freedom and access

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The world's governments are currently meeting to update a key treaty of a UN agency called the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Some governments are proposing to extend ITU authority to Internet governance in ways that could threaten Internet openness and innovation, increase access costs, and erode human rights online.

Original video viewable at The Stream: http://youtu.be/d8fTgTrb3CQ

(Openmedia - the Stream)

[Josh Rushing] ...International Telecommunications and Union, and it's an agency of the United Nations.

They're meeting next week to negotiate a treaty on internet regulations

and discuss policies ranging from cybersecurity to online fraud

but digital rights groups have criticized the push for so-called internet central government.

and insist that an international treaty that includes the influence of countries

like China, Russia and others could lead to greater
online censorship

and ITU says

its main objective is to increase internet access to underserved communities.

But should this goal be achieved through international regulations?

And can it be done without harming internet freedoms?

[Ellery Biddle] We've seen leaked proposals that clearly
implicate the internet that would -

you know, with the goal of the improving cybersecurity, whatever that may mean

- it means different things different countries -

could limit people's privacy by, you know, being able to identify

a communication anywhere in the network

another proposal would limit free expression

would limit free expression by authorizing governments

to shut down communication networks for, you know - in the name of national security.

[Rushing] From your view as someone who fights to protect civil liberties online,

how much of a realistic threat do you see in cyber security and cyberwar,

and how much do you see that being used as kind of useful boogey man?

[Biddle] I think cybersecurity is such a subjective concept that it's almost -

- I don't think it's useful to really use the term very much.

[Unidentified speaker?] It's that issue transparency that's coming up, Sunju says

there's no transparency at all. Individual governments have tried and failed

and now they want to use the UN

to push for their bid, another from
Mohammed who says governments will

basically use censorship to their advantage, crushing and suppressing all voices against them

[Josh Rushing] Well how do you respond to the critics who say that there's been a lack

of transparency in your process?

[Hamaoun Toure] Well, we have asked - I've asked as secretary general of ITU,

I've asked every nation to have national consultations.

And many countries have done so, and I've requested ITU

to send delegations there to continue to explain what the ITR (?) are about.

and some countries have done so.

And every country who wants - anyone who wants information

can contact his national government to get the information.

[Biddle] And that the idea of trying to get

all 193 countries together to agree by consensus

on policies related to anything - anything related to content really,

that alone

it's very difficult to imagine how you could come to consensus that

would be acceptable to all players.

The general question about how much should government's be able to watch

what users are doing online, and what are their
motives there - is it in,

you know, pursuing real criminals

in some normative sense, or is it trying to control people who might be engaged

in some kind of activism that the government
doesn't like?

[Unidentified ?] We've seen reports that the internet has been shut down in Syria.

dc0de says: To say that there isn't "Jamming" today, look at what syria has done

to their internet? The abuses of control already exist.

and there's a Facebook comment from Noemi who says:

In fact dozens of countries including China Russia and some Arab states already restrict

internet access within their own borders,

but these governments would have greater leverage over internet content service providers

if changes are made.