Listers

Interesting article. A few weeks ago I raised the issue on Internet Freedom and Governance and asked whether our government has a position on this?

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-06-01/is-the-un-the-next-big-threat-to-internet-freedom

This article brings to the fore the different voices that are advocating for two key positions:-

1. Should the status quo remain? Where the key player ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names & Numbers), which is a private, U.S.-based nonprofit organization) exerts control over the fundamental levers and gears that underlie the Internet—including the domain-name system.  Although ICANN says it operates on a multistakeholder model that involves such groups as the Internet Engineering Task Force and the World Wide Web Consortium, there has been a lot of criticism of the organization over the years, from allegations of conflicts of interest to moves such as the recent expansion of the top-level domain system.

2. Should the UN, through the ITU (international Telecommunications Union take over from ICANN? Critics including one of the “fathers of the Internet,” TCP/IP developer Vinton Cerf say putting control of the Net under the UN body would subject the Internet to the whims of many nations whose commitment to democracy and free speech is questionable at best, including China and Russia. Cerf, who is currently the chief Internet evangelist at Google, said the move would threaten the free and open nature of the Internet:

As the Internet Community in Kenya do we have a position on this? The Kenya Government? CCK?

Regards

--

Ali Hussein|Managing Partner


Telemedia Africa
Azania Technology Group

Chaka Court, Argwings Kodhek Road

P O Box  14556-00100

Office: +254 737 751409

Cell:     +254 773/713 601113

Nairobi, Kenya

 

 

Twitter: @AliHKassim

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