[LINK] Fwd: UN hosts conference on safeguarding freedom of expression on the internet

[Frank O'Connor]

Yo All,

The 'plan' apparently is to give the ITU a role in the Internet ... 
something the ITU has been angling for, in one form or another, for 
the last 20 years.

Now I have no great admiration for ICANN (and would probably prefer a 
solution that reverted to the old IANA and IETF way of doing things) 
but proposing the UN and the ITU take over things is something I 
would regard as a backward step in no uncertain terms.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, maintaining the Internet 
is a matter of technical competency and not politics or morlaity or 
any metaphysical considerations. True, the people running ICANN are 
no technocrats ... but people like the late Jon Postel, who ran IANA 
for gratis and largely oversaw the explosion that resulted in the 
current Internet come along once in a generation. That said, I find 
ICANN preferable to the UN.

The UN hasn't had a sterling record with regard to decision-making in 
the past (as witnessed by a number of politicking and other debacles 
over the last few years that resulted in inaction in many cases that 
demanded action - and I don't include Iraq under this heading) ... 
and its standards body (the ISO)

At 5:58 PM +1100 22/2/05, Antony Barry wrote:
>Begin forwarded message:
>
>>From: "UN News Service" <UNNews at UN.Org>
>>Date: 4 February 2005 6:00:18 AM
>>To: <news11 at list.un.org>
>>Subject: UN HOSTS CONFERENCE ON SAFEGUARDING FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 
>>ON THE INTERNET
>>Reply-To: <UNNews at UN.Org>
>>
>>UN HOSTS CONFERENCE ON SAFEGUARDING FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION ON THE INTERNET
>>New York, Feb  3 2005  2:00PM
>>In fulfilment of its mandate to nurture the democratic debate, the 
>>United Nations cultural agency today convened 150 media 
>>professionals, policy-makers and freedom of expression advocates to 
>>consider ways of safeguarding that freedom on the Internet.
>>
>>The two-day meeting at the Paris headquarters of the UN 
>>Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization 
>>(<"http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=1789&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html">UNESCO) 
>>is part of the preparation for the final phase of the World Summit 
>>on the Information Society 
>>(<"http://www.itu.int/wsis/index.html">WSIS) scheduled to take 
>>place in November in Tunisia.
>>
>>The meeting was scheduled to hear from speakers on topics ranging 
>>from freedom of expression on the web, by examining such issues as 
>>lack of access, low information literacy and deliberate 
>>restrictions on the free flow of information, to the use of the 
>>Internet in the political process and whether legitimate concerns, 
>>such as fear of terrorism, could justify limiting the free flow of 
>>information.
>>
>>Other subjects to be covered include the impact and social 
>>consequences flowing from restrictions and regulations on news 
>>media on the Internet, and the issue of continuing to contribute 
>>content to the Internet despite the codes some are trying to impose.
>>  2005-02-03 00:00:00.000
>>
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>phone : 02 6241 7659 | mailto:me at Tony-Barry.emu.id.au
>mobile: 04 1242 0397 | http://tony-barry.emu.id.au
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