The United Nations officially condemned the practice of countries shutting down access to the internet at a meeting of the Human Rights Council on Friday. A resolution [PDF] entitled The promotion, protection and enjoyment of human rights on the Internet effectively extends human rights held offline to the internet. It was passed by consensus, but …
The Hill has reported a widely expected action by Sen. Ted Cruz who has been on the fore front of efforts to ensure that the IANA transition is delayed atleast until ICANN has proven that it is well capable of managing its own internal affairs. The new bill by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is that …
The UNESCO facilitated and international multistakeholder conference under the theme CONNECTing the Dots: Options for Future Action to discuss the first draft of the Comprehensive Study on Internet-related issues. The objective of the conference was to discuss the first draft of the Comprehensive Study on Internet-related issues as part of UNESCO’s response in support of …
As originally posted by Monika Ermert on Intellectual Property Watch The European Parliament today adopted a resolution calling on the UN General Assembly to renew the mandate of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), while strengthening its resources and the multi-stakeholder model of internet governance. The Parliament resolution is available here. The list of amendments is …
The people behind a plan to create a sort-of UN Security Council for the internet have backed down from giving themselves permanent seats on the panel. Domain-names overlord ICANN, the World Economic Forum (WEF) and Brazilian internet body CGI.br – which are behind what’s called the NetMundial Initiative – announced the climbdown earlier today. It …
By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch US Ambassador Daniel Sepulveda on the eve of the final celebration of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Plenipotentiary Conference last week said he was “happy” about the results. Asked what he thought was the most important resolution of the three week conference, he told Intellectual Property Watch …
Anthony Rutkowski, Principal, Netmagic Associates LLC writes an analytical article on CircleID on member states dropping their contributions to the ITU The ongoing ITU Plenipotentiary Conference wraps up at the end of the week. The more than 2000 people present in Busan Korea from 171 countries — overwhelmingly government bureaucrats — have been busily polishing …
According to a recent report by the French news organization Agence France-Presse, “US officials are pledging to fight a fresh effort to give a UN agency authority to regulate the Internet, two years after a huge diplomatic battle over the issue.” The AFP story refers to the upcoming Plenipotentiary Conference in Busan, South Korea, of …
Back in November 2012, Arthur Herman, author of Freedom’s Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II, warned in the pages of COMMENTARY about what was at stake because of the Obama administration’s decision to turn control over the governance and regulation of the Internet to the United Nations. He explained: This all …
In a recent essay entitled, “The Strategic Significance of the Internet Commons,” former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff describes cyberspace and the Internet as a “global commons” that must come under “global governance.” This is the latest salvo in an ongoing campaign by a disparate congeries of internationalists, socialists, communists, and jihadists to turn …