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IP: Geneva machinations - it just never ends... NOT IAHC
From: Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>
Date: Thu, 20 Nov 1997 09:59:38 -0500
From: "Craig A. Johnson" <caj () tdrs com> To: cpsr-cyber-rights () sunnyside com Date: Mon, 17 Nov 1997 11:12:47 +0000 Subject: Geneva machinations Lest anyone think that the ITU is not seriously considering content controls on the Net, I hope this summary of a working group session at the UNHCR conference will divest her/him of such thoughts. The dangers are very real. Craig ------------------------------------------------------------ Geneva, 13 November 1997. This afternoon, at a Geneva conference dealing with Internet hate material convened by a U.N. Human Rights Commission, the ITU made its bid to become the primary global forum for controlling Internet content. Before a meeting attended by more than 70 representatives of national Administrations, various U.N. agencies, and NGOs, the ITU Chief of Protocol saying he was "representing the ITU Secretary-General," stated that "ITU may be the best place for guides, codes of conduct and other controls on Internet content." The ITU official noting that its 188 Member nations consisted of virtually every country, and combined with its long history of telecommunication regulation made it the perfect place for dealing with important Internet matters like content control. He stated that "the question of whether the ITU should take up this issue is vital." When meeting participants noted that this was not a traditional ITU activity, nor did it posses the expertise, the ITU official noted that the Secretary-General intended to bring the matter before the Member States at the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference next year and request the content regulatory role. To bolster its claims of expertise in dealing with content matters, the ITU official stated that ITU Internet experts had the ability to "precisely identify the location of Internet servers." The formal statement before the Commission was the first step taken toward a content control role first mentioned by the ITU Secretary-General several weeks ago in an interview with tele.com executive editor Karen Lynch. ITU Deputy Secretary-General Henry Chasia this past Spring, signed a self-enacting MoU on the Internet on behalf of the ITU, which among other things asserted the ITU's jurisdiction over the Internet. ------------------------------------------------------------ Geneva, 14 Nov. The ITU proposal to become the central global agency to control Internet content was dealt a defeat today. This intervention at the U.N. High Commission on Human Rights Conference on hate material on the Internet by ITU Protocol Chief Venen Paratian on behalf of the ITU Secretary-General appeared briefly in the draft conclusions of the conference prepared by the UN HCHR Secretariat, reading: 8. The ITU proposal That the ITU has been set up to deal with telecommunications and the Internet falls within the ambit of its mandate. Any study, investigation, report, recommendation or regulation of the Internet should be left to the ITU. However, during the final editing session the conference chair, indicating that it was inappropriate, directed that it be removed from the conclusions and placed in the record of the conference. A veteran Canadian ITU observer present at the conference opined that the ITU staff appeared embarked on frenetic multiple efforts to assume various Internet related roles in a belief that complete control over the Internet is necessary for continued ITU relevance. He said "why don't they stick to things where they have competence and support, like radio spectrum regulation." --------------------------------- [end fwd.] ************************************************** "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Ben Franklin, ~1784 **************************************************
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