Hmmmm…I would prefer govts don’t hinder my freedom on the net as well…already the US is in everybody’s FB accounts and Twitter accounts…and ofcoz China monitors there internet very closely! What more do they want to do… ?
"**Google has warned that a forthcoming UN-organised conference threatens the “free and open internet”.
**Government representatives are set to agree a new information and communications treaty in December.
It has been claimed some countries will try to wrest oversight of the net’s technical specifications and domain name system from US bodies to an international organisation.
However, the UN has said there would be consensus before any change was agreed.
Google has asked web users to add their name to an online petition to support its view.
“The [UN agency] International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is bringing together regulators from around the world to renegotiate a decades-old communications treaty,” it wrote on its Take Action site.
“Some proposals could permit governments to censor legitimate speech - or even allow them to cut off internet access.”
I'll sign it because government bureaucracies should not have a say in controlling the internet. That said, the current model "works" because non-profit groups make technical decisions, with the US government supposedly staying hands off. It makes sense that other countries would want a say in who governs the internet. If the UN could govern it by staying hands off, and by standing up to meddling governments who want to institute international tolls (that's just idiotic), then I would not sign the petition.
Also, Google has a big stake in preserving the status quo, seeing as they have so much data on billions of people around the world. Kind of scary.
Just signed it . Man its pathetic how governments nowadays try to control every bit and piece of our free life . Douchebags .
This didn't just start. Its always been going on. Only now, thanks to the internet and free flow for information, we get to hear about all these things.