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

international telecommunications and
union and it's an agency of the united

nations the meeting next week to
negotiate a treaty on internet

regulation to discuss policies ranging
from cyber security

online fraud

but did the right script to criticize
the push for so-called internet central

government

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

like china

russia and authors could lead to greater
online censorship

and i to you says

its main objective is to increase
internet access to underserved

communities

which sent the school be achieved
through international regulations

and cannot be done without harming
internet freedoms

we've seen leaked proposals that clearly
and look at the internet that way you

know that

with the goal of the improving cyber
security whatever that means different

things different countries

could limit people's privacy in by you
know to be able to identify at

communication anywhere in the network

another proposal

waved limit free expression by

authorizing governments to shut down
communication networks for you know

in the name of national security

from your view as someone who buys to
protect civil liberties online

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

how much do you see that being used as
kind of a used for booking them

i think it cyber security is such a
subjective concept that it's almost i

don't think it's useful

really use the term

that issue transparency that's coming up
soon she says

there's no transparency and all
individual governments have tried and

failed and now they want to use the you
win

to push for their big another from
muhammad who says governments will

basically use censorship to their
advantage crushing and suppressing all

voices in well how do you respond to the
critics who say that there's been a lack

of transparency in your process

will we have that on skype outside city
in a way to you at the hospital

initially

to have national consultations in many
countries have done so and hated the

press that item to send delegations that
to continue to explain what data about

and some conditioned on done so

if the country for once anyone who once
information can conduct his national

uh... government to get the information

and that the idea of trying to get

all one hundred ninety six inches
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

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

are doing online and what are their
motives there visit in

you know pursuing real criminals

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

in some kind of activism the government
doesn't like

seen reports that the internet has been
shut down inferior

and decode facts to say that there isn't
jamming today a look at what syria has

done to their internet it uses the
control arty exist

and there's a peaceful comments from now
means that is in fact dozens of

countries including china russia and
some arab states already restrict

internet access within their own borders
if these governments have greater

leverage over internet content service
providers if changes are made