IP: Nader wants global U.N. Net-regulation body

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

> http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,41106,00.html
>
>    Nader Wants Internet Control
>    by Declan McCullagh (declan () wired com) and Nicholas Morehead
>
>    8:25 a.m. Jan. 10, 2001 PST
>    WASHINGTON -- To most people, the Internet is a way to communicate, an
>    untapped business opportunity, or a symbol of dot-com greed run amok.
>
>    Not so Ralph Nader. The former Green Party presidential candidate sees
>    an opportunity for a new global bureaucracy.
>
>    On Tuesday, Nader called for the creation of a "World Consumer
>    Protection Organization," comparable to the United Nations' World
>    Intellectual Property Organization, only "more democratically run."
>
>    Nader, at a National Press Club event, said the proposed WCPO would
>    focus on regulation of privacy, e-commerce, intellectual property,
>    antitrust and Internet governance -- areas he said affected consumers
>    directly.
>
>    "The technology of the Internet is far ahead of any legal framework,
>    any ethical framework or global framework," Nader said. "Are we going
>    to be left with self-regulatory standards set and implemented by
>    individual companies? Are we going to be left with standards set by
>    the Better Business Bureau as a last resort?"
>
>    Another justification: Fraud. During the panel discussion organized by
>    Forbes magazine, Nader said a recent Harris poll showed that 6 million
>    Americans felt that they were "somehow defrauded" on the Internet
>    during 2000.
>
>    The odds of a WCPO being created anytime soon, of course, range
>    between zero and infinitesimal.
>
>    [...]



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