U.N. to Take Over the Internet
Beneath the overhyped fears, there are real issues—backbone policies, cybersecurity, the free flow of information—at a major telecom conference
Steven Cherry: Hi, this is Steven Cherry for IEEE Spectrum’s “Techwise Conversations.”
An obscure U.N. agency, the International Telecommunication Union [ITU], wants to take over the Internet. Don’t believe me? Just read the headlines in the tech press. “Google Rallies Opposition to U.N. Takeover of Internet Governance” was the one in the normally sane online publication Ars Technica. PCWorld had the European parliament saying, “Stop the ITU [from] Taking Over the Internet.” ZDNet said, “Take Action Before the U.N., Russia, and China Hijack the Internet.” Forbes’s article had the tongue-in-cheek title “U.N. Agency Reassures: We Just Want to Break the Internet, Not Take It Over.” more