UN proposal for control of internet comes under attack

Sydney: A United Nations body is trying to get control of the unfettered Internet, under a contentious proposal.

Experts claim that Australians could see political and religious websites disappear if the Federal Government backs the plan to hand over control of the Internet to the UN’s International Telecommunications Union (ITU). A draft of the proposal, formulated in secret and recently posted on the ITU website for public perusal, revealed that if accepted, the changes would allow government restriction or blocking of information disseminated via the Internet. The proposal also revealed that it would create a global regime of monitoring Internet communications, including the demand that those who send and receive information identify themselves, news.com.au reports. It would also allow governments to shut down the Internet if there is the belief that it may interfere in the internal affairs of other states or that information of a sensitive nature is shared, the report said. Telecommunications ministers from 193 countries will meet behind closed doors in Dubai next month to discuss the proposal, with Australia`s Senator Stephen Conroy among them. According to the report, the move has sparked a ferocious, under-the-radar diplomatic war between a powerful bloc of nations, led by China and Russia, who want to exert greater controls on the net and western democracies. ANI