A meeting of the United Nations' International TelecommunicationUnion (ITU) in December could lead to broad new regulations of theInternet, including per-click taxes, if U.S. and other delegationsdon't work hard to oppose proposals, U.S. officials and Internetgovernance experts told lawmakers Thursday. A December ITU treaty-writing meeting in Dubai, the WorldConference On International Telecommunications, could includeefforts from Russia, China and other countries to impose newregulations on the Internet, witnesses told the communicationssubcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives Energy andCommerce Committee. "The open Internet has never been at higher risk than it is now,"said Vinton Cerf, vice president and chief Internet evangelist atGoogle. "A new international battle is brewing -- a battle thatwill determine the future of the Internet." Cerf, co-developer of the TCP/IP standard, urged U.S. policymakersto resist attempts at the ITU meeting to regulate the Internetthrough the U.N. and to give dictatorial countries more "top-down"control over Internet content. "If all of us -- from Capitol Hillto corporate headquarters to Internet cafés in far-offvillages -- don't pay attention to what's going on, users worldwidewill be at risk of losing the open and free Internet that hasbrought so much to so many," he said. Officials from Russia and other countries have pushed in the pastfor the ITU to take Internet governance away from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) andother organizations, but there are no current proposals to overhaulInternet governance during the December meeting, said PhilipVerveer, deputy assistant secretary of state and coordinator forinternational communications and information policy at the U.S.Department of State. More of the focus for the December meeting seems to be on countriesgenerating new revenue from Internet services, including per-clickor traffic transmission taxes and roaming fees, Verveer said.Challenges to the current multistakeholder model of Internetgovernance could still come up, but are unlikely to pass, he said. Other hearing participants were less optimistic. The ITU meeting,"if we're not vigilant, just might break the Internet," saidRepresentative Greg Walden, an Oregon Republican and subcommitteechairman. Verveer noted that the U.S. government would not be bound bydecisions at the ITU meeting, but delegates there could set theexpectations for international regulation of the Internet. Subcommittee members said they are united in opposition to anyproposals to give the U.N. or individual countries more controlover the Internet or to tax Internet traffic. On Wednesday, abipartisan group of subcommittee members, led by RepresentativeMary Bono Mack, a California Republican, introduced a House resolution saying it is the "consistent and unequivocal policy of the UnitedStates to promote a global Internet free from government control." Some proposals for the December conference would "fundamentallyalter the governance and operation of the Internet," the resolutionsaid. Russia, China and other countries will likely continue to push forexpanded U.N. control of the Internet that could lead to censorshipand a balkanization of the Web, Robert McDowell, a Republicanmember of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, told thesubcommittee. "The threats are real and not imagined, although they admittedlysound like works of fiction sometimes," McDowell said. With few details about ITU proposals available, witnesses calledfor more transparency in the process. A lack of transparency tonon-governmental groups results in "insufficient accountability,"Cerf said. "It is important for parties to fully understand aprocess that affects all Internet users," he said. Grant Gross covers technology and telecom policy in the U.S.government for The IDG News Service. Follow Grant on Twitter at GrantGross. Grant's e-mail address isgrant_gross@idg.com. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as High Rise Maintenance Platform , China Window Cleaning Platform, and more. For more , please visit Window Cleaning Platform today!
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