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Does the UN threaten Internet freedom?
- TAGS:enterprise, Insider Content, ITU, UN, United Nations
- IT TOPICS:Government & Regulation
Yesterday's opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal by FCC commissioner Robert M. McDowell furiously criticized the United Nations for trying to seize control of the Internet. His inflammatory language pointed the finger at imagined enemies of a free and open Internet. But this looks like a transparent attempt to stop the international community from its rightful control over a critical international resource, as we'll see in The Long View...
Opinion, by Richi Jennings.
All the old bogeymen are here: China, Russia, and top-down, big government. The supposed aims of these Internet enemies also make familiar reading: Governmental control of thought-crime, privacy infringement, and Internet taxes.
But is this a serious threat, or is McDowell trying to head off a more sensible proposal? It's a proposal that reduces the control that the U.S. government has over the net. Hence the rabid fear-mongering, presumably.
Read on...
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