U.N. proposes changes to Net's operation

UN PROPOSES CHANGES TO NET'S OPERATION
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Declan McCullagh]
A top United Nations official on Monday called for changes in the way the Internet is operated, taking aim at "self-serving justifications" for permitting the United States to preserve its unique influence and authority online. Speaking during opening ceremonies at a four-day U.N. summit , Yoshio Utsumi criticized the current rules for overseeing domain names and Internet addresses, stressing that poorer nations are dissatisfied and are hoping that this week's meeting will erode U.S. influence. "Many of them are tired of hearing 'You just don't understand,'" said Utsumi, a lawyer and former government official who is the secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union, a U.N. agency. "Many do understand." He added: "No matter what technical experts argue is the best system, no matter what self-serving justifications are made that this is the only possible way to do things, there are no systems or technologies that can eternally claim they are the best." Human rights groups, however, have warned that many of the nations most critical of the current arrangement -- Tunisia, Cuba, Iran, China -- rank among the world's most repressive. The worry: If those governments have their way, the current, virtually limitless amount of free expression on the Internet may come to an end.
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