Eric Schmidt on threats to internet freedom

Eric Schmidt talks about Internet Freedom and the threats--note what he is talking about, in the case of North Korea and China, is exactly what the UN and its corrupt agency, the ITU, want:

Inside the mind of Eric Schmidt | Alan Rusbridger | Technology | guardian.co.uk: "Let me give you some examples of what governments could do. There is something called the DNS, which is the Domain Name Service, which is how you get to things, so Google.com, Microsoft.com, guardian.co.uk. If you go in and you programme that in a certain way, you can actually delete things. You can also, at the protocol level, lock ports, so you can block, for example, access to YouTube in its entirety. So those have the property that it's not a flat open internet but rather it depends on which country you're in. There are things called VPNs. The Chinese Government, for example,plays a game we call whack-a-mole, where every time a VPN shows up, they shut it down and people move. Using modern encryption there are ways of getting even more sophisticated versions of this kind of thing working. The problem is that if you put these restrictions in place, the elites will figure out a way to get around it, but the average person won't, because they don't have time, or knowledge, or education, so there's a real loss of information."

Never, ever, let the ITU or UN take over the internet!


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Internet Under Assault by the UN and ITU

“The idea that the UN ought to be controlling the Internet . . .  is like putting the Taliban in charge of women’s rights”

Thank God for the United States and allies who are trying to keep the Internet free--

Internet ‘Under Assault’ by Censoring UN, Regulator Says - Bloomberg: "International proposals to control the Internet will continue after a United Nations conference in Dubai and the U.S. should be ready to fight such efforts, lawmakers and a regulator said. “The Internet is quite simply under assault,” Robert McDowell, a member of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, said yesterday at a joint hearing by three House subcommittees. McDowell, a Republican, warned of “patient and persistent incrementalists who will never relent until their ends are achieved.” The U.S. and other nations refused to sign a revised telecommunications treaty at the UN conference (WCIT 2012 sponsored by the ITU) in December, saying new language could allow Internet regulation and censorship by governments. Technology companies including Google Inc. (GOOG), owner of the world’s largest Internet search engine, also opposed the changes. . . .  The U.K., Canada and Australia were among 55 delegations that refused to sign the telecommunications treaty or indicated they would need to check with their governments, while 89 countries signed the pact, according to a House Energy and Commerce Committee memorandum. The treaty doesn’t take effect until January 2015, providing an opportunity to persuade other nations not to adopt the regulations, the committee said in the memorandum. . . . " (read  more at link above)


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Inventor of WWW says an open net is crucial

Are you listening US DOJ, ITU, UN???--

Inventor of WWW says an 'open' net is crucial - One News | TVNZ: "The inventor of the World Wide Web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, says an "open" internet, free of Government and corporate controls, is crucial. The physicist is in New Zealand for a series of public appearances, including a rare public lecture at Te Papa museum in Wellington. Three hundred people attended the lecture tonight and appropriately those who missed out on tickets could log on and watch it streamed live through the internet. Sir Tim said it was important to ensure the internet is a place of open communication. . . . The issue of copyright and internet freedom has been particularly topical in New Zealand in the past year with the ongoing extradition case for Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom. The internet tycoon is wanted by US authorities for online piracy charges related to his former file sharing website."


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FCC to Congress: UN and ITU Internet plans must be stopped

FCC to Congress: U.N.'s ITU Internet plans 'must be stopped' | ZDNet: " . . . in a rarely seen show of harshly-written rhetoric, McDowell will also demonstrate that the U.N.'s harmful designs on the Internet are at least a decade old, and its agenda is comprised almost entirely of lies and deceit. McDowell's astonishingly blunt statements (prepared and published in "Fighting for Internet Freedom: Dubai and Beyond") outlined the ITU's frighteningly successful agenda to take control of the Internet by redefining telecommunications treaties in direct benefit to ITU bedfellows not limited to China, Russia, Iran, and Saudi Arabia. . . . "


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The forces of Internet darkness will strike again

The forces of Internet darkness will strike again | Fox News: "At the end of the conference, Ambassador Terry Kramer, head of the U.S. delegation, noted, “It is clear that the world community is a crossroads in its view of the Internet and its relationship to society in the coming century.” While the importance of global dialogue was made clear in Dubai, so was the fact that the ITU is not the appropriate place for Internet governance."

We will not forget: "the ITU is not the appropriate place for Internet governance."


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The two visions of the internet

The UN's ITU decided in 2012 to join the dark forces--those who do not want the internet to be open and free (Russia, China, some Arab nations, etc.)--

Who Signed The ITU WCIT Treaty... And Who Didn't | Techdirt: " . . . So, what does it all mean? Very little right now. Even those countries that signed on still need to go through a ratification process -- and one hopes that people in some of those countries will realize that it's bad to be supporting a regime that wants political bureaucrats having anything to do with the internet, even if it's dipping a toe in the water. However, many of the countries don't much care about that, and simply want the new rules so they can try to control parts of the internet (and/or profit from it). The rules won't actually go into effect for a while. While they aren't binding, it is pretty customary for signatories to eventually adopt such rules locally. The real story here is a world in which there are two competing visions for the future of the internet -- one driven by countries who believe the internet should be more open and free... and one driven by the opposite. . . these two visions of the internet are unlikely to go away any time soon. The next decade is going to be filled with similar clashes as certain countries seek to limit what the internet can do, for their own political needs and desires. Seeing the initial breakdown of who's in which camp is useful, but this isn't over yet."

Staying Alert--My claws are sharp!


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Activists v ITU -- WCIT Treaty rendered VOID

The new politics of the internet: Everything is connected | The Economist: "WHEN dozens of countries refused to sign a new global treaty on internet governance in late 2012, a wide range of activists rejoiced. They saw the treaty, crafted under the auspices of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), as giving governments pernicious powers to meddle with and censor the internet. For months groups with names like Access Now and Fight for the Future had campaigned against the treaty. Their lobbying was sometimes hyperbolic. But it was also part of the reason the treaty was rejected by many countries, including America, and thus in effect rendered void. The success at the ITU conference in Dubai capped a big year for online activists. In January they helped defeat Hollywood-sponsored anti-piracy legislation, best known by the acronym SOPA, in America’s Congress. A month later, in Europe, they took on ACTA, an obscure international treaty which, in seeking to enforce intellectual-property rights, paid little heed to free speech and privacy. In Brazil they got closer than many would have believed possible to securing a ground-breaking internet bill of rights, the “Marco Civil da Internet”. In Pakistan they helped to delay, perhaps permanently, plans for a national firewall, and in the Philippines they campaigned against a cybercrime law the Supreme Court later put on hold. “It feels like when ‘Silent Spring’ was published,” says James Boyle, an intellectual-property expert at Duke University, North Carolina. . . . "


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Remember the ITU is a Liar

From the Wall Street Journal article by L. GORDON CROVITZ--

"On behalf of the two billion people now online, a look back at 2012, with thanks where it's due: . . . To the United Nations: When the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), a U.N. agency, held its conference in Dubai (WCIT 2012), its leaders promised not to claim power over the Internet and pledged to operate by consensus, not by voting. Late one night, there was a vote of 89 authoritarian regimes against 55 free countries to give governments the U.N.'s blessing to censor the Internet, monitor traffic and lock up online troublemakers. The U.S. walked out. It is unregulated engineers at private companies who run the tens of thousands of networks that make up the Internet. Keeping an open Internet is more valuable than continuing any U.N. agency."

Abolish the ITU! Internet Freedom!

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China tightens Internet restrictions

The following must make the ITU and WCIT really proud--

China tightens Internet restrictions - Salon.com: "China has further restricted Internet usage, legalizing the deletion of posts or pages that contain illicit information and requiring all users to provide their real names to service providers. The new rules, issued on Friday, make it harder for businesses to protect commercial secrets and for individuals to access websites from abroad that the Chinese government believes are politically sensitive, The New York Times reported. The estimated number of Internet users in China has grown to more than 500 million, about 40 percent of the population, the Bangkok Post reported. While netizens are allowed to use pseudonyms, under the new rules they first must provide their real names to service providers, which is expected to stifle conversation on microblogging websites. China’s biggest Internet firm, Sina Corp, reported that the move would reduce traffic to websites like Weibo, China’s version of Twitter. Chinese authorities and Internet companies have always monitored and censored what citizens can say online, but now the government has actually put in place measures that would make deleting possibly controversial posts into law, Reuters reported."

Remember it was China (among other repressive governments) that supported the ITU's attempt to take over the internet at WCIT 2012.


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The UN’s ITU attempt to takeover the Internet at WCIT 2012

Well worth reading the full article (excerpt below) for the true story of the ITU attempt to take over the internet at WCIT 2012--the ITU lied about consensus and their intent to take over the internet--

Behind closed doors at the UN’s attempted “takeover of the Internet” | Ars Technica: " . . . The United States took the floor. Ambassador Kramer announced that the US would not be signing the new treaty. He was followed by the United Kingdom. Sweden said that it would need to consult with its capital (code in UN-speak for “not signing”). Canada, Poland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Kenya, New Zealand, Costa Rica, and the Czech Republic all made similar statements before the Chairman cut the meeting short. At a later meeting that night, additional countries expressed their reservations. The EU issued a directive that the new human rights language was unacceptable, and therefore no EU country would be allowed to sign. An intensive overnight lobbying effort was launched. Once senior-level ministers got an earful from private sector representatives back in their own countries, they sent instructions to their delegations in Dubai not to sign the new treaty. All told, 89 countries signed while 55 did not. This produced a great deal of relief on the US delegation. We were able to dilute the worst proposals of the treaty, even without ultimately signing on to a document that did not match our values, and we were able to achieve that without being isolated, which could have had negative consequences both for American companies doing business abroad and for future diplomatic interactions. But it was a narrow escape. Had the Africa region not overplayed its hand at the last minute with the new “human rights” language, the outcome might have been quite different. Running WCITLeaks and experiencing the WCIT in person impressed upon me the importance of transparency in the decision-making processes that concern the Internet. While we were able to make some WCIT documents public, the group’s formal processes remain arcane and fundamentally closed. . . ."

The ITU should be abolished--one word sums up the organization, its leadership, and its processes at WCIT and elsewhere--DYSFUNCTIONAL! What does the future hold for the ITU? Increasing marginalization as it is now recognized as an untrustworthy organization which bears watching 24/7 as it continues to do the bidding of the most repressive governments in the world.


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The disasters known as ITU, WCIT, and Hamadoun Toure

Here's what you need to know--

US rejects UN telecom treaty over Internet rift - Story | The Star Online:" . . . "Under the cover of darkness the United Nations appears to have moved one step closer to regulating the Internet," association president Michael Beckerman said. "Millions of people across the globe have rejected the proposed UN takeover of the Internet," he said, adding that the treaty "may forever alter the free and open multi-stakeholder governance model under which the Internet has thrived." Another US group, the Computer & Communications Industry Association, said the proposal "was adopted over substantial opposition and undermines the current bottom up, multi-stakeholder governance structure of the Internet." CCIA said the vote also "sidesteps the traditional practice" of the ITU, which has operated by consensus and "contradicts the words of the ITU Secretary General Hamadoun Toure, who for months insisted that the WCIT would under no circumstances address Internet concerns." - AFP"

US, 20 countries boycott UN treaty endorsing gov't control over cyberspace | Fox News: "In the end, it was supported by 89 countries in the 193-member U.N. telecoms union. Fifty-five did not sign, including the U.S.-led bloc of more than 20 nations, and others needing home country approval. The remainder did not have high-ranking envoys in Dubai."

Those of us who live in the "free world" need to realize that most governments in the world (think of North Korea, Iran, Cuba, most of the Arab countries, Russia, China, and some other nations in Africa, Asia, Central and South America) do not hold the same values (free speech, free internet) as those who live in the "free world."  Toure complains about the lack of connectivity in some of those repressed nations--yet it is the lack of western values (some would use the phrase "civilized values") that causes the repression, ignorance, backwardness, and lack of development of the internet in those nations who jumped at the opportunity to add the internet to the bucket of technologies they can harness to enslave their populations in accordance with that "treaty" signed by those 89 countries at the WCIT. As for Dr. Toure--being a "Russian agent"--I doubt if he cares much for free speech or a free internet either! Finally-- ITU, WCIT, Hamadoun Toure --good riddance!


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ITU's Hamadoun Touré and Russia - a secret "agenda"

A big thank you to CNET for their exclusive and Anthony Rutkowski for having the courage to speak out about the ITU, its secretary-general Hamadoun Touré, and the Russian "agenda"--

Exclusive: ITU 'failed,' says former policy chief | Internet & Media - CNET News: " . . . Rutkowski holds the ITU's secretary-general, Hamadoun Touré, accountable for a decade of "spin" and close work with the Russian Delegation -- ostensibly to further advance what Rutkowski sees as an "agenda." "Touré's technical education was in Russian schools. The official Russian Ministry website on Putin's visit to Geneva hosted by Hamadoun contains surprisingly candid remarks regarding Touré being a 'brother' of Russia, and that Putin anticipated his help in pursuing Russian goals in controlling the Internet. [Touré] is a master at spinning up half truths and all kinds of propaganda to drive the agenda he's been pursuing for the past ten years in the ITU. They get an A-plus for adaptability," Rutkowski said. "Classics are things like the ITRs and the ITU being responsible for the Internet's existence, or that the ITU has developed hundreds of security standards used today, or that the [WCIT-12 conference] is all about connecting the world to broadband facilities, or Dr. Vint Cerf and Google are the ones primarily leading a campaign against the ITU." "The reality is that other than ITU radio spectrum management work, the rest is a worthless institution that does nothing more than flush money into the Geneva economy," Rutkowski added. . . . "Soon after taking over as secretary general, Touré eliminated the existing policy planning staff and pulled his own confidants around him. His initial major aegis for moving forward was his Global Cybersecurity Agenda. In all these activities, Russia was a constant ally. Sometimes [Touré] would lead; sometimes Russia. They operated as a tag-team in the forums.""Russia also got some of its key operatives into different WCIT preparatory and ITU-T security committee leadership positions. You can map many of them to the Russian delegations to both WTSA and WCIT. Russia is typically good at long range planning in these intergovernmental bodies," he said. . . " (Read the full article here--it is outrageous that Touré and Russia are attempting to hijack the internet for their own purposes!)

So now we all know the truth about Hamadoun Touré, his deceptions, his attempts to promote the Russian "goals" in the ITU, WCIT and elsewhere--isn't it time to get rid of both Touré and the ITU--a "worthless institution"?


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Abolish the ITU!

Internet freedom remains US priority at UN conference | PCWorld: "Instead of creating new regulations that could affect the Internet, the ITU should do away with the international telecom regulations, he said. Instead of the ITU, private companies and civil society should come up with rules for interconnection and other telecom issues, he said. The ITU and its telecom regulations have hung around after their original purpose has expired, Mueller said. "It's almost impossible for intergovernmental organizations to go out of existence," he said. "They just hang on and try to think of new things to do.""

Abolish the ITU!

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ITU and WCIT off-track -- US Ambassador threatens veto

In Today’s Edition | CommsDay: "December 10 2012 - Head of the American delegation to the World Conference on International Telecommunications, Ambassador Terry Kramer, has promised to veto revised international telecommunications regulations if they go anywhere near content. He told a Dow Jones reporter that the US delegation could walk away from the conference. The threats came as revelations emerged that the World Telecommunications Standards Assembly held in Dubai immediately prior to WCIT approved a 66 page standard for how to track and block Internet communications."


In this video interview between Kramer and the ITU’s Sarah Parkes, Kramer says he was “surprised and disappointed” at the version of the ITRs put forward on 7 December, saying it “creates an open door for review of content and potential censorship.”

US drops ‘net regulation bombshell, threatens WCIT exit • The Register: "As the ITU’s WCIT conference rolls on in Doha, the head of the American delegation Terry Kramer has pointed to the big red button, threatening to veto any new treaty it believes puts the Internet at risk. America’s delegation has become increasingly agitated at the content of proposed changes to the ITRs – International Telecommunications Regulations – coming from countries such as Russia and China. According to Australian telecommunications newsletter Communications Day, the veto threat was made to a Dow Jones journalist, with Kramer saying the US delegation could walk away from the conference."

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WCIT-12 leak shows ITU, Russia, China, others seek to define 'government-controlled Internet'

The ugliness of the conspiracy to undermine internet freedom, led by the nefarious ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré, Russia, China, and other governments of repression, is now coming to light--

WCIT-12 leak shows Russia, China, others seek to define 'government-controlled Internet' | ZDNet: "New proposals submitted to the World Conference on International Telecommunications(WCIT-12) aim to redefine the Internet as a system of government-controlled, state-supervised networks, according to a leaked document. The WCIT-12 summit in Dubai is currently where the U.N.'s International Telecommunications Union (ITU) is being held, where member state countries are going head-to-head about proposed revisions to the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITR), a legally binding international treaty signed by 178 countries. The leaked document [PDF] was proposed by a member state bloc comprised of Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Sudan, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). . . . . It cannot be understated the damage such a proposal could do to the free and open Internet, online privacy and anonymity, with access to the Internet at risk from an array of oppressive governments."

The proposals won't even be available to delegates until Monday (December 10th) in spite of requirements that all such proposals be pre-filed 4 months before the conference!

"ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré (said) . . . it was "really premature" to discuss the document or "prejudge what would happen." Also on the table is a proposal to create a new article, 3A, to discuss Internet issues." Read more: http://www.fiercetelecom.com/story/wcit-12-uae-submits-surprise-inter-regional-proposal-itrs/2012-12-07#ixzz2EWPn145H 


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Congress approves resolution to keep Internet control out of UN hands

House approves resolution to keep Internet control out of UN hands - The Hill's Floor Action: ""The 193 member countries of the United Nations are gathered to consider whether to apply to the Internet a regulatory regime that the International Telecommunications Union created in the 1980s for old-fashioned telephone service," Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) said on the House floor. He said countries will also consider whether to "swallow the Internet's non-governmental organizational structure whole and make it part of the United Nations." "Neither of these are acceptable outcomes and must be strongly opposed by our delegation," Walden added. Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) said both the White House and lawmakers were united against U.N. control of the Internet. "I think that we are all very, very proud that there is not only bipartisan, but bicameral support underlying this resolution, and there is complete support across the Executive Branch of our government," she said. "In other words, the United States of America is totally unified on this issue of an open structure, a multi-stakeholder approach that has guided the Internet over the last two decades.""

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US issues statement on WCIT talks - "Progress"

Current News from the ITU - WCIT talks:

U.S. issues statement on WCIT talks: Progress, not failure | ZDNet: "The following is according to Ambassador Terry Kramer, Head of the U.S. Delegation to the WCIT:

Early reports suggesting failure of support for a joint U.S. - Canada proposal for early discussion on the scope of the International Telecommunications Regulations (ITRs) are inaccurate. The proposal called for priority discussion of certain “foundational” issues and definitions at the WCIT. As of the end of Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012, the following progress had been made: As proposed by Canada and the United States, the WCIT took up the foundational issues at a high level, within the first two days of the Conference; As a result, the Preamble of the ITRs was retained with only minor changes, preserving the original scope and purpose of the treaty; The definition of telecommunications in Article 1 of the ITRs was retained with no change;

The discussion of which entities the treaty would apply to - recognized operating agencies (RoAs) or operating agencies (OAs) – was taken up by a high-level working group reporting directly to the Chairman of the Conference. The RoA issue remains an important point of discussion for the United States, which will continue to work for its retention in the ITRs.

The U.S. positions on these definitional issues have been supported or shared by numerous countries in Europe, Latin America and Asia. There has been no “failure” to achieve U.S. objectives; to the contrary, the WCIT has made progress on these issues, validating the proposal by the U.S. and Canada to address them early in the proceedings. The U.S. Delegation will continue to make efforts to provide information on a transparent basis to the media and the public."


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Internet freedom remains US priority at UN conference

Internet freedom remains US priority at UN conference | PCWorld: "The U.S. delegation to an upcoming United Nations telecom treaty-writing conference will not budge on its positions advocating free speech online and opposing broad new regulations for the Internet, the leader of the delegation said. The U.S. delegation wants a successful World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT), said Terry Kramer, head of the U.S. delegation. But if other delegates to WCIT attempt to expand the U.N. International Telecommunication Union's telecom regulations to the Internet, "we might as well not waste our time," Kramer said during a WCIT discussion in Washington, D.C. last week. The U.S. delegation, however, will work hard to advocate for telecom competition and free expression during the ITU event, starting December 3 in Dubai. Open markets offer the only proven way to expand telecom and broadband services to more people, and the U.S. delegation has strong support for that position from parts of Europe, the Far East, and Latin America, Kramer said at the event, sponsored by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University."

Internet Freedom!


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Cat Signal Alert has been issued by the Internet Defense League

A Cat Signal Alert has been issued by the Internet Defense League:

"We're writing to tell you about a serious threat to Internet freedom, and invite you to take part in an action this Monday, December 3rd. In short, an obscure international meeting next week could give a top-down, non-transparent UN body (one with representation from many dictatorships) the power to regulate the Internet. It's called the ITU. The ITU would literally give dictators like Syria’s Assad (who was trending yesterday for--it seems--cutting Syria off from the Internet) a role in crucial decisions about the Internet’s future. You can learn more here: http://internetcoup.org/ (scroll down for a video . . . ) . . . "

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How the ITU could put the Internet behind closed doors.

How the ITU could put the Internet behind closed doors.: "Think of all the terrible things governments do to the Internet. The US destroyed Megaupload, Russia jailed activists over a YouTube video, and China monitors Internet users' every move-- even hacking activists outside its borders. Now imagine if a panel of governments, giant corporations, and dictatorships had absolute power over the entire Internet, deciding in secret what you can see & do online. When the ITU meets December 3rd, they'll decide on this. Only a global outcry can stop it. Join us on December 3rd, and tell your leaders right now: “I don't trust the world's governments to run the global Internet. Don't give the ITU any more power.”

On Dec 3: Stop the Internet Coup


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