Note to the UN

The remarkable social impact and economic success of the Internet is in many ways directly attributable to the architectural characteristics that were part of its design. The Internet was designed with no gatekeepers over new content or services. The Internet is based on a layered, end-to-end model that allows people at each level of the network to innovate free of any central control. By placing intelligence at the edges rather than control in the middle of the network, the Internet has created a platform for innovation. This has led to an explosion of offerings – from VOIP to 802.11x wi-fi to blogging – that might never have evolved had central control of the network been required by design.

As we move to a broadband environment and eliminate century-old non-discrimination requirements, a lightweight but enforceable neutrality rule is needed to ensure that the Internet continues to thrive. Telephone companies cannot tell consumers who they can call; network operators should not dictate what people can do online.
vint cerf, letter to Congress, google blog

The idea that the UN or a body appointed by the UN could be remotely trusted to uphold the value of network neutrality is simply a joke. We have already seen how much of a joke with the French government shutting down blogs and harrassing ISPs in its attempts to quell the rioting. (Moves which I think may have been justified, or at least explicable in this case; but imagine if Syria, China and Burma were, for example, allowed to withhold domain names world wide to “subversive elements”. Oh joy.)

Written by jay on November 15th, 2005 with no comments.
Read more articles on Uncategorized and blogging and tech.