The following is part of a discussion that I started by posting a link to this Wall Street Journal opinion piece by Gordon Crovitz on proposals for the International Telecommunications Union to have more authority over the Internet - http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303822204577470532859210296.html. It is available for free without logging in. In it Vinton Cerf (influential in the start of the Internet and now with Google) also is mentioned as being concerned. Since all of us on ibm-main use the Internet and we are more involved with computers I believe some of us here might be able to comment more cogently than I can on the issues.
On Mon, 18 Jun 2012 10:31:36 -0700, Access Bob wrote: (Access Bob is a consultant on accessibility issues primarily in the transit field and in the case of W3C he is involved in issues of computer use by the blind, deaf, motion impaired, etc.) > >I am a member of a W3C subcommittee (the W3C is the world wide web >consortium www.W3C.org which sets the internet standards) if any of this >were true I am sure we would be being asked to write code that might >comply, we are not and in fact we work VERY hard to keep the internet >open and "WORLD WIDE" it is a daunting task with so many companies >trying to control the net and a few countries talking about it but so >far it seems to be working. all discussions and proposed standards or >reccomended practices are open and avaliable at the above web site. BTW >countries are not members of the W3C only individuals, cream rises to >the top among their peers, and become committee chairs, they represent >an almost world wide spectrum of individuals. > >based on the basic makeup of the W3C and as established it would be >almost impossible to regulate, the W3C sets standards. but has no >authority to enforce them, and this is intentional. The W3C would continue to function as is, I think, under the proposals. This proposal is to put the actual transmissions under the control of the International Telecommunications Union. Vincent Cerf, one of the founders of the Web has expressed concern about this. There is a proposal to measure Internet traffic across borders and bill the originating country as is currently done with telephone calls. The ITU is like many other bodies in this world, almost unknown to the general public working in an area of importance but rarely newsworthy. The interpretation by Gordon Crovitz on the proposals may be an overreaction and the Dutch document on http://wcitleaks.org/ seems to have only mild concern about some of the proposals. Those interested in pursuing this can check documents on http://wcitleaks.org/. http://files.wcitleaks.org/public/ETNO%20C109.pdf may or may not raise concern and on the face seems reasonable but who is the sender in this scenario? http://files.wcitleaks.org/public/Sixth%20CWG%20-%20TD-43%20Summary.pdf gives a summary of some of the issues that might cause concern. This may be a tempest in a teapot or there may be real areas of concern. The problem in general with regulatory bodies is that we need many things to be regulated though not necessarily all that are regulated. Because of this there are more bodies than any of us can keep track of including whoever is president, governor, or secretary general of the United Nations. They wield power in ways we may or may not approve. I suspect I am not alone in having little knowledge of the ITU which is just one of many organizations needed to look after the plumbing in our society. I selected 3 articles found by Google on Vinton Cerf's testimony. The Register is a British Information Technology web site. I know nothing about webpronews and cio.com is a web-site aimed at Chief Information Officers and I recognize the IDG. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/06/07/ from the Register disagrees with Vinton Cerf and is of the tempest in teapot opinion. http://www.webpronews.com/vint-cerf-united-nations-2012-06 has a more favorable take on Cerf's stand. http://www.cio.com/article/707401/ \US_Tech_Leaders_Fear_Proposed_Internet_Regulations_Taxes_At_ITU_Meeting?page=2&taxonomyId=3061 seems to support the Cerf statements. While many involved and agreeing with Vinton Cerf and Gordon Crovitz seem to be conservative or libertarian, this is something that those who understand these matters more than I do and are interested in the Internet should be following. Clark Morris > >Bob ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
