Dominique Lazanski - Should the UN take over the Internet?

An upcoming meeting of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in Dubai in December is widely tipped - and denied - as being the kickoff of a international power-grab for governance and control over the Internet.

Some are positioning it as an attempt by the ITU to regain some of its otherwise shrinking remit and power, others as a kind of US "imperialism" over the net, whilst yet others see ITU control as a lever by which network freedoms can be diluted by the likes of Russia and China.

Coverage includes:

The ITU WCIT And Internet Freedom
http://publicknowledge.org/blog/itu-wcit-and-internet-freedom

US resists control of internet passing to UN agency
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19106420

Vint Cerf on U.N. regulation of the internet (audio podcast)
http://surprisinglyfree.com/2012/09/25/vint-cerf-on-u-n-regulation-of-the-internet/

Dominique Lazanski is an independent consultant and head of digital policy at the TaxPayers' Alliance and will be attending the upcoming ITU meeting; in our pub meet she will discuss what is know of the proposals, the potential risks raised by ITU governance, and the potential impacts upon liberty.