[kictanet] Is the UN (Read Governments) the Next Big Threat to Internet Freedom?

[Ali Hussein]

Listers

Interesting article. A few weeks ago I raised the issue on Internet Freedom
and Governance and asked whether our government has a position on this?

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-06-01/is-the-un-the-next-big-threat-to-internet-freedom

This article brings to the fore the different voices that are advocating
for two key positions:-

1. Should the status quo remain? Where the key player ICANN (the Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names & Numbers), which is a private, U.S.-based
nonprofit organization) exerts control over the fundamental levers and
gears that underlie the Internet—including the domain-name system.
Although ICANN says it operates on a multistakeholder model that involves
such groups as the Internet Engineering Task Force and the World Wide Web
Consortium, there has been a lot of criticism of the
organization<http://www.computerworlduk.com/news/public-sector/3344078/icann-commits-tackling-conflict-of-interest-concerns/>over
the years, from allegations of conflicts of interest to moves such as
the recent expansion of the top-level domain system.

2. Should the UN, through the ITU (international Telecommunications Union
take over from ICANN? Critics including one of the “fathers of the
Internet,” TCP/IP developer Vinton Cerf say putting control of the Net
under the UN body would subject the Internet to the whims of many nations
whose commitment to democracy and free speech is questionable at best,
including China and Russia. Cerf, who is currently the chief Internet
evangelist at Google, said the move would
threaten<https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BwxyRPFduTN2Y0d4bDN0YmotbVk/edit?pli=1>the
free and open nature of the Internet:

As the Internet Community in Kenya do we have a position on this? The Kenya
Government? CCK?

Regards

-- 

*Ali Hussein|Managing Partner*

*
*Telemedia Africa
Azania Technology Group

Chaka Court, Argwings Kodhek Road

P O Box  14556-00100

Office: +254 737 751409

Cell:     +254 773/713 601113

*Nairobi, Kenya*





Twitter: @AliHKassim

Skype: abu-jomo


"You generally hear that what a man doesn't know doesn't hurt him, but in
business what a man doesn't know does hurt.". - E. St. Elmo Lewis, member,
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