Sept. 10th is the Internet Slowdown. https://www. battleforthenet.com/sept10th/ <https://t.co/ANpo8jp8kw>
Sent with MailTrack <https://mailtrack.io/install?source=signature&lang=en&[email protected]&idSignature=22> On Tue, Sep 2, 2014 at 6:33 PM, Pirate Praveen <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > -------- Forwarded Message -------- > Subject: [Fsmk-discuss] 'U.S. monopoly over Internet must go' > Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2014 16:06:55 +0530 > > > 'U.S. monopoly over Internet must go' VIDYA VENKAT > PRINT > < > http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/us-monopoly-over-internet-must-go/article6370962.ece?css=print > > > · T > < > http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/us-monopoly-over-internet-must-go/article6370962.ece > > > T > < > http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/us-monopoly-over-internet-must-go/article6370962.ece > > > > Tweet <https://twitter.com/share> > inShare > <http://addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&username=thehindu> > > - [image: DEFINING IDEAS:Most of Pouzin's career has been devoted to the > design and implementation of computer systems, most notably the CYCLADES > computer network.-- PHOTO: BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT] > DEFINING IDEAS:Most of Pouzin's career has been devoted to the design > and implementation of computer systems, most notably the CYCLADES > computer > network.-- PHOTO: BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT > - > > Interview with Louis Pouzin , a pioneer of the Internet and recipient of > theChevalier of Légion d'Honneur, the highest civilian decoration of the > French government > > *Louis Pouzin is recognised for his contributions to the protocols that > make up the fundamental architecture of the Internet. Most of his career > has been devoted to the design and implementation of computer systems, most > notably the CYCLADES computer network and its datagram-based > packet-switching network, a model later adopted by the Internet as > Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)/Internet Protocol (IP). Apart from the > Chevalier of Légion d'Honneur, Mr. Pouzin, 83, was the lone Frenchman among > American awardees of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, given to > the inventors of Internet technology in its inaugural year, 2013.* > > *Ahead of the ninth annual meeting of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) > from September 2-5 in Istanbul, Mr. Pouzin shared his concerns regarding > the monopoly enjoyed by the U.S. government and American corporations over > the Internet and the need for democratising what is essentially a global > commons. Excerpts from an interview, over Skype, with Vidya Venkat .* > > What are the key concerns you would be discussing at the IGF? > > As of today, the Internet is controlled predominantly by the U.S. Their > technological and military concerns heavily influence Internet governance > policy. Unfortunately, the Brazil Netmundial convened in April, 2014, with > the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), following > objections raised by [Brazilian] President Dilma Rousseff to the National > Security Agency (NSA) spying on her government, only handed us a > non-binding agreement on surveillance and privacy-related concerns. So the > demand for an Internet bill of rights is growing loud. This will have to > lay out what Internet can and cannot do. Key government actors must sign > the agreement making it binding on them. The main issue pertaining to > technological dominance and thereby control of the network itself has to be > challenged and a bill of rights must aim to address these concerns. > > *What is the way forward if the U.S. dominance has to be challenged?* > > Today, China and Russia are capable of challenging U.S. dominance. Despite > being a strong commercial power, China has not deployed Internet technology > across the world. The Chinese have good infrastructure but they use U.S. > Domain Naming System, which is a basic component of the functioning of the > Internet. One good thing is because they use the Chinese language for > domain registration, it limits access to outsiders in some way. > > India too is a big country. It helps that it is not an authoritarian > country and has many languages. It should make the most of its regional > languages, but with regard to technology itself, India has to tread more > carefully in developing independent capabilities in this area. > > As far as European countries are concerned, they are mostly allies of the > U.S. and may not have a strong inclination to develop independent > capabilities in this area. Africa again has potential; it can establish its > own independent Internet network which will be patronised by its burgeoning > middle classes. > > *So you are saying that countries should have their own independent > Internet networks rather than be part of one mega global network?* > > Developing independent networks will take time, but to address the issue of > dominance in the immediate future we must first address the monopoly > enjoyed by ICANN, which functions more or less as a proxy of the U.S. > government. The ICANN Domain Naming System (DNS) is operated by VeriSign, a > U.S. government contractor. Thus, traffic is monitored by the NSA, and the > Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) can seize user sites or domains > anywhere in the world if they are hosted by U.S. companies or subsidiaries. > > ICANN needs to have an independent oversight body. The process for creating > a new body could be primed by a coalition of states and other organisations > placing one or several calls for proposals. Evaluation, shortlist, and > hopefully selection, would follow. If a selection for the independent body > could be worked out by September 2015, it would be well in time for the > contract termination of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) with > the U.S. government. > > Breaking that monopoly does not require any agreement with the U.S. > government, because it is certainly contrary to the World Trade > Organization's principles. In other words, multiple roots [DNS Top Level > Domains (TLD)] are not only technically feasible; they have been introduced > in the Internet back in 1995, even before ICANN was created. This avenue is > open to entrepreneurs and institutions for innovative services tailored to > user needs, specially those users unable to afford the extravagant fees > raked in by ICANN. The deployment of independent roots creates competition > and contributes to reining in devious practices in the domain name market. > > The U.S. government is adamant on controlling the ICANN DNS. Thus, copies > (mirrors) should be made available in other countries out of reach from the > FBI. A German organisation Open Root Server Network is, at present, > operating such a service. To make use of it, users have to modify the DNS > addresses in their Internet access device. That is all, usage is free. > > *But would this process not result in the fragmentation of the Internet?* > > Fragmentation of the Internet is not such a bad thing as it is often made > out to be. The bone of contention here is the DNS monopoly. > > On August 28, nearly 12 millions Internet users subscribing to Time > Warner's cable broadband lost connectivity due to a sudden outage in one > day. In a world of fragmented Internet networks, such mass outages become > potentially impossible. The need of the hour is to work out of the current > trap to use a more interoperable system. > > In this context, a usual scarecrow brandished by the U.S. government is > fragmentation, or Balkanisation, of the Internet. All monopolies resort to > similar arguments whenever their turf is threatened by a looming > competition. Furthermore, the proprietary naming and unstable service > definitions specific to the likes of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, > Twitter, and more, have already divided the Internet in as many closed and > incompatible internets of captive users. > > *Recently, the Indian External Affairs Minister had objected to U.S. spying > on the Bharatiya Janata Party. Can governments like India use a forum like > IGF to raise concerns relating to surveillance?* > > Even if governments do attend IGF, they do not come with a mandate. A major > problem with the Internet governance space today is that they are under the > dominance of corporate lobbies. So it is a bit hard to say what could be > achieved by government participation in the IGF. This is a problem of the > IGF: it has no budget or secretary general, it is designed to have no > influence and to maintain the status quo. That is why you have a parallel > Internet Ungovernance Forum which is not allying with the existing > structure and putting forth all the issues they want to change. Indian > citizens could participate in this forum to raise privacy and > surveillance-related concerns. > > *Do you feel Internet governance is still a very alien subject for most > governments and people to engage with?* > > Unfortunately, the phrase "Internet governance" is too abstract for most > people and governments to be interested in. The most crucial question is > what kind of society do you want to live in? Should governments allow > citizens to end up as guinea pigs for global Internet corporations? The > revelations by NSA contractor Edward Snowden have proved beyond doubt that > user data held by Internet companies today are subject to pervasive > surveillance. Conducting these intrusive activities by controlling the core > infrastructure of the Internet without obtaining the consent of citizen > users is a big concern and should be debated in public. Therefore, debates > about Internet governance are no longer alien; they involve all of us who > are part of the network. > > [email protected] > > *The most crucial question is should governments allow citizens to end up > as guinea pigs for global Internet corporations?* > > http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/us-monopoly-over-internet-must-go/article6370962.ece > > > > -- > " Life's most urgent question is: What are you doing for others ? -Martin > Luther King " > > Best regards, > Nidheesh.V > _______________________________________________ > fsmk-discuss mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.fsmk.in/listinfo.cgi/fsmk-discuss-fsmk.in > > > > > _______________________________________________ > network mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.fosscom.in/listinfo.cgi/network-fosscom.in > >
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