"ALL CAPS IN DEFENSE OF LIBERTY IS NO VICE."

Monday, August 29, 2016

INTERNET COULD BE CONQUERED BY THE UN IN OCTOBER

Joel Pollak once again warns that Obama could transfer ICANN into the hands of the UN, which is bound to destroy internet freedom unless an alternative can be found:
It’s shocking the administration admits it has no plan for how Icann retains its antitrust exemption. The reason Icann can operate the entire World Wide Web root zone is that it has the status of a legal monopolist, stemming from its contract with the Commerce Department that makes Icann an “instrumentality” of government. [...]

Without the U.S. contract, Icann would seek to be overseen by another governmental group so as to keep its antitrust exemption. Authoritarian regimes have already proposed Icann become part of the U.N. to make it easier for them to censor the internet globally. So much for the Obama pledge that the U.S. would never be replaced by a “government-led or an inter-governmental organization solution.”
The worst part is that, much like with the Iran deal, Obama could push this through no matter what protests are issued. There are already Senators introducing a bill to protect the internet. But everyone who believes in freedom will have to be wary of what could happen in another month.

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