Technology

‘Real News From The Blaze:’ UN Looks to Regulate the Internet, But Can It Feasibly or Ethically Do So?

The House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Communications and Technology will be holding hearings this week on the U.N.’s desire to have more control over the regulation of the Internet. While the idea is backed by world powers like Russia, China and India, opposition to increased regulation of the Internet is perhaps the one issue that Republicans and Democrats can find bipartisan agreement on.

The Hill reports that the U.N. measure would divert more control over cybersecurity, data privacy, technical standards and the Web’s address system away from the United States, and would also allow foreign government-owned Internet providers to charge extra for international traffic and allow for more price controls.

At a hearing earlier this month, Sen. Marco Rubio chastised the proposal, noting that China and Russia are “not exactly bastions of Internet freedom.”

CNS News notes that opponents of U.N. regulation say the existing state of affairs has been highly successful with the Department of Commerce-contracted nonprofit Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), assigning Internet protocol addresses and overseeing Web domains.

FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell warned during an oversight hearing earlier this month the “well-organized international effort to secure intergovernmental control of Internet governance,” should trouble everyone.

“A top-down, centralized, international regulatory overlay is antithetical to the architecture of the Net, which is a global network of networks without borders,” McDowell wrote in a February op-ed in the Wall Street Journal. “No government, let alone an intergovernmental body, can make engineering and economic decisions in lightning-fast Internet time. Productivity, rising living standards and the spread of freedom everywhere, but especially in the developing world, would grind to a halt as engineering and business decisions become politically paralyzed within a global regulatory body.”

On “Real News” Tuesday, the panel discussed the proposal, and it’s implications and likelihood of succeeding.

Guest panelist Matt Kibbe of FreedomWorks commented that he understands why top-down governments would be concerned with the Internet and would to move for increased global regulation of the web.

“This is the tool by which people take back their freedom,” said Kibbe. “It’s very Hayekian.”

Milton Mueller of Syracuse University was interviewed on the program to discuss the matter. While acknowledging that the U.S. may have more authority over the Internet than any other government, Mueller said countries expressing complaints over the U.S.’ access to ICANN would likely abuse that power if given it.

Buck Sexton later added that the idea of adding bureaucracy and regulation onto something based on freedom, is an inherently bad idea.

Comments (38)

  • margswarnabhoomi
    Posted on May 31, 2012 at 2:06am

    thank you for the information.

    Report Post » margswarnabhoomi  
  • MrObvious
    Posted on May 30, 2012 at 11:31pm

    The US is still the most powerful member of the UN.
    When we stand up to them, the UN backs down from this stuff.
    When we don’t, they take the power we gave them and grab for more.

    Report Post »  
  • m2matarazzo
    Posted on May 30, 2012 at 4:56pm

    Seems most of America agrees the U.N. is useless.

    Report Post »  
  • Vrilgesellschaft
    Posted on May 30, 2012 at 2:51pm

    Is there any technical way to take out the UN building without collateral damage? Preferably during the General Assembly meeting so we can get all the pychos and subhumans in one shot?

    Report Post » Vrilgesellschaft  
    • Realist4U
      Posted on May 30, 2012 at 4:43pm

      Hahahaha! Yes, perhaps we can build a new type of missile directly beneath it, tie the whole building to it, and send it to the Middle East. Then we have an empty lot to build Fasul’s “MegaMosque!”

      Report Post »  
  • Servant Of YHVH
    Posted on May 30, 2012 at 3:49am

    The way I see it, if the Useless Nerds wants to try and take over the internet then that should be considered a direct act of war against the United States!

    Report Post » Servant Of YHVH  
  • LeQuoix
    Posted on May 30, 2012 at 2:27am

    Its real simple….. We made it, it’s ours, if you don’t like it…… build your own and KISS OUR AMERICAN ASSES…..
    Pretty simple……. As far as the sea goes, you fight our Navy, if you can beat them, its all yours…. And if you can’t, then step on over here and AGAIN……….. KISS OUR UNITED ASS………

    Report Post » LeQuoix  
  • lel2007
    Posted on May 29, 2012 at 10:19pm

    Russia, China, India, and the U.N. have all the “regulatory” power they need already – Pull the plug.
    I don’t recall voting for anyone in the U.N. The U.S.A must get out of the UN, and get the UN out of the U.S.A.

    Report Post » lel2007  
    • lukerw
      Posted on May 29, 2012 at 10:41pm

      Can we… Exile any Representitive who Votes to surrender US Sovereignty?

      Report Post » lukerw  
    • Anamah
      Posted on May 30, 2012 at 12:02am

      Reject any kind of U.N. control over our issues; the Internet, the sea , or what ever… Put a limit to the UN we have to reject that anti American anti Israel corrupted bureaucratic organization. We should fire all that crap…from here.

      Report Post »  
    • decendentof56
      Posted on May 30, 2012 at 3:20am

      Yes…LEL2007
      We should get out of the UN immediately, then bulldoze that damn building. However…..I‘m afraid that way too many Americans don’t understand what the UN’s agenda is really about and what the end result will be. There are many books detailing the UN’s formation and the secretive operations it conducts.

      Report Post »  
    • rickc34
      Posted on June 2, 2012 at 11:39pm

      I agree . The U.S. is not the cop and nanny for the world we need to get out of the UN. We cannot afford them. We should not be giving any authoriety to any outside goverment. But Obama will go along with it is the sad thing. Vote him out of office and send him back to Kenya. Saddest thing is the truth has no weight in our goverment any longer. The halls of congress are covered in lies.

      Report Post »  
  • Creativethinker
    Posted on May 29, 2012 at 9:33pm

    It appears that the UN’s LAW OF THE Sea treaty is up again before the senate. Please contact your senator and say NOOOOO. The UN wants to control 70% of the seas on the planet, and this does threaten soverignty They would have authority to set control for ocean mining and drilling and fishing and regulate ocean exploration. Look it up on the internet.

    Report Post »  
  • possom
    Posted on May 29, 2012 at 8:54pm

    Throw out the UN!

    Report Post » possom  
  • RightUnite
    Posted on May 29, 2012 at 8:38pm

    The UN needs to be booted from this country… Let them set up shop in Iran for all I care!

    Report Post »  
  • Watermain
    Posted on May 29, 2012 at 8:34pm

    They haven’t ever done anything else right. The John Birch Society had it right years ago with “Get us out of the UN”.

    Report Post » Watermain  
  • Rayblue
    Posted on May 29, 2012 at 8:28pm

    My wife tries to regulate me so I know how the net must feel.

    Report Post » Rayblue  
  • ALL4FREEDOM
    Posted on May 29, 2012 at 8:27pm

    The words ‘feasability’ and ‘ethics’ should not be used in the same sentence with the UN. Something will explode or melt down.

    Report Post »  
  • Dougral Supports Israel
    Posted on May 29, 2012 at 8:13pm

    The UN should not be allowed to regulate the Internet. It works fine the way it is. If we allow the Internet to be globally regulated it will be certain that a global tax will be levied and that many freedoms we enjoy will be limited.

    Imagine a governing panel that included China, Russia, and Iran. What might they demand in terms of control over what could be posted? Imagine all the demands for rules cultural sensitivity in online discussions? I can just see the OIC members salivating over that prospect.

    Report Post »  
  • Apple Bite
    Posted on May 29, 2012 at 8:09pm

    They can’t even regulate the Pirates out of Somalia. How are they going to dictate what happens on the net?!

    Report Post » Apple Bite  
  • Netizen Kane
    Posted on May 29, 2012 at 8:04pm

    The headline kills me, as if a consideration of “ethically” could have any bearing on the United Nations body where ethics don’t even exist as a concept…..

    Report Post » Netizen Kane  
  • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
    Posted on May 29, 2012 at 7:57pm

    Remember that with ethics, the UN has none across the board; they care nothing save for the dominance of their own agendas and power. Can they control the internet? Yes. Do so fairly and in a free manner? Nope, that will never be allowed to occur. This is about the UN gaining absolute control of the world wide web and all its information; and with that will come absolute domination over everything once and for all.

    Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
  • progressiveslayer
    Posted on May 29, 2012 at 7:47pm

    The globalist pigs at the UN want to control the internet? I’m shocked who would of thought that anti American group would want to do such a thing.The UN needs to be abolished once and for all,they’ve been working against our interests since it was inflicted on us.

    Report Post » progressiveslayer  
    • JACKTHETOAD
      Posted on May 29, 2012 at 7:56pm

      By horse or by force!

      Report Post » JACKTHETOAD  
    • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
      Posted on May 29, 2012 at 7:58pm

      Do more than abolish it; try them for crimes against the United States and throw them in jail for the rest of their days.

      Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
    • starman70
      Posted on May 29, 2012 at 8:14pm

      Not only control it but TAX it also.

      With the likes of China, Russia, Cuba and a host of other loonie bin countries in control the internet would become utter chaos. Innovative Americans would have to invent a new and more sophisticated platform to bypass the Commie Control freaks.

      The United States needs to divest itself of membership in the UN and tell them to move the whole operation to Zimbabwe, a country far more suited for its political thought than the USA.

      Report Post »  
    • JACKTHETOAD
      Posted on May 29, 2012 at 9:30pm

      Geneva is where they should be. It always has been.

      Report Post » JACKTHETOAD  
  • DEFCON4
    Posted on May 29, 2012 at 7:43pm

    The United Nations Could’t Run A Coin – Operated Car Wash !!!!!!!!!

    Report Post » DEFCON4  
  • moussiagilda
    Posted on May 29, 2012 at 7:40pm

    You are so scared that I will keep the world from going to hell, you power-luster.

    You’d rather be in the heaven called Madison, Wisconsin.

    Report Post »  
  • JACKTHETOAD
    Posted on May 29, 2012 at 7:40pm

    Come get some you blue-helmeted bastids!

    Report Post » JACKTHETOAD  
  • lukerw
    Posted on May 29, 2012 at 7:38pm

    Get out of my Sovereign Territory!

    Report Post » lukerw  
  • The Gooch
    Posted on May 29, 2012 at 7:38pm

    Gee, is it just me or does the U.N.’s concern about the Flame virus seem a bit conveniently timed? For that matter, doesn’t the Flame virus seem conveniently timed?

    Report Post »  
  • moussiagilda
    Posted on May 29, 2012 at 7:33pm

    You bumbling frauds, you’re not gonna. You blank-minded cross-burners, you have no chance.

    Report Post »  

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