Sound The Trumpet : UN Summit Implodes As U.S., Others Spurn Internet Treaty

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“UN Summit Implodes As U.S., Others Spurn Internet Treaty”
by CNET
December 15th, 2012

United Nations summit breaks down after U.S., Canada, and other democracies refuse to sign treaty that would hand a U.N. agency more authority over how the Internet is managed.

In a stunning repudiation of a United Nations summit, an alliance of Western democracies including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada today rejected a proposed treaty over concerns it hands repressive governments too much authority over the Internet.

\"This conference was never meant to focus on Internet issues,\" said ambassador Terry Kramer, head of the U.S. delegation to the Dubai summit. \"The Internet has given the world unimaginable economic and social benefit during these past 24 years -- all without U.N. regulation.\"

Delegates from the Netherlands, New Zealand, Denmark, Sweden, the Philippines, Poland, and the Czech Republic also said they could not sign the proposed International Telecommunication Union treaty, which is scheduled to be finished by tomorrow. Kenya\'s delegate appeared to take the same position, saying \\\"we reserve our rights\" to \"go back home and do more consultations\" before signing, and India has signaled it agrees with the U.S. position. Japan\'s delegation said it needed to consult with Tokyo before proceeding.

The implosion of the high-profile ITU summit came late in the evening in Dubai after deep divisions became apparent over the mere mention of \"human rights obligations\" in the treaty -- a proposal that China and Iran opposed -- and whether the U.N. was the proper organization to oversee key decisions about how the Internet should be managed. Currently groups including the Internet Engineering Task Force and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, fulfill that role.

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