Nations Meet for Control over the Internet

Say NO to Censorship and Keep the Blogosphere FREE:

Here we go. It's Potsdam all over again. The United Nations is meeting to discuss control of the internet. When I read this it was as if I were hit by a lightning bolt.

"Tunisia is preparing to host the United Nation's World Summit on the Information Society, and the United States is bracing for a brawl. While the Internet grew out of U.S. military research, more nations want a greater say in how cyberspace is regulated, the BBC reported Tuesday."

The Tunis meeting, which starts Wednesday, is nominally scheduled to explore ways to extend Internet use to poor nations. But Washington expects opposition to its influence over the Internet to be the real focus of the meeting.

'The rest of the world doesn't want to see U.S. hegemony here, in large part just for symbolic reasons,' says Jonathan Zittrain, chair in Internet Governance and Regulation at Oxford University.

'So there's one set of countries, anchored by Iran, Cuba and China, that would like to see some process by which governments of the world have a much larger hand in controlling the shape of the Internet.'

What did we tell you?

"Mark my words. The blogosphere is on the fast track to being hijacked by the control freaks and big business interests. More restrictive laws and government intervention. Acquisitions and mergers, IPO offerings, get-rich-quick dot-com scam artists, media moguls, ABC, MSNBC, FOX, Pajamas party, whatever."

So why do we need government sticking it's nose in the internet in the first place? Obviously China, Iran, North Korea et al want to silence the human rights activists.

And what's the US's interest? To protect it's turf? Well, maybe. To brainstorm new ways of taxing us? Getting warm. Or maybe Bush just wants to put a stop to us making caricatures of him, all in the name of Homeland Security. Yeah, that's probably it.

There I go being cynical again. But seriously, this is a subject that we bloggers need to watch closely. Although it doesn't mention anything about the blogosphere directly, whatever affects the internet affects bloggers as well.

Let's be real. This isn't an issue about fairness amongst nations. It smells more like governmental control and dividing up the spoils than anything else.

It starts with your rights being eroded one bit at a time, until one day you wake up and find that you have no more rights.

Anything that encumbers openness and transparency in the blogosphere is akin to a good old fashioned book burning. It is censorship any way you look at it.

Are any bloggers attending the meeting? You can bet the farm Bill Gates' entourage will be there in one way shape or form.

The blogosphere is the last remaining FREE democratic organism in a world without borders. Let's keep it free fellow bloggers. This is the time to stand up for your rights and say YES to freedom of speech.

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