China wants the UN to impose a code of conduct on the internet

Yeah, let's not give away our internet, okay? We're doing a fine job of running it and keeping it free. From the Washington Examiner:

"It is highly necessary and pressing for the international community to jointly bring about an international code of conduct on cyberspace at an early date," said Wang Qun, director-general of the Arms Control Department of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, in comments to the U.N. General Assembly. . . .

"China, for its part, will continue to commit itself to establishing a peaceful, secure, open and cooperative cyberspace and pushing for an early international code of conduct acceptable to all," Wang added.

How about you chew the bark off my big fat log instead, Wang? Do we really want a bunch of people like this in control of our internet?

Read more about ICANN at The Register: Is domain overlord ICANN the FIFA of the internet?

It's an unspoken truth that the reason it has taken 10 years longer than originally anticipated for the US government to hand over control of the "IANA functions" to ICANN is because the govt agency in charge – the National Technology and Information Administration (NTIA) – has always been mildly despairing of how its experiment in representational democracy has turned out.

Far from creating an organization that was able to reflect the extraordinary collective effort that made the internet possible, ICANN has become an unwieldy monster: riven with politics, brimming with self-importance, driven almost entirely by status and insider concerns, and never looking outside its own bubble unless under threat.

ICANN is a dangerous size: large enough to envelop its adherents with reward and status, yet small enough to avoid the penetrating gaze of society. It makes decisions that impact huge numbers of people outside its walls, but spends most of its time focused entirely on itself.

And it'll be run like the UN, no doubt--well, that or FIFA.

posted by rdbrewer at 08:06 PM

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