UN Official Says UN Not Taking Over Internet

kaufmanmoore writes "Hamadoun Toure, the new head of the UN's International Telecommunications Union says that he does not plan to take over governance of the internet and leave it up to groups like ICANN. In his statement he says that the ITU will instead focus on bridging the digital divide, internet security and standardize broadband communications. When asked about Chinese censorship Toure said that issue is beyond the mandate of the ITU."

Re:As has been said before...

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah I remember the Korean War and the failure to either win or negotiate a peace settlement. I remember Oil for Food and all the kickbacks, I remember Darfur, Rwanda, Somalia, Ethiopia, Former Yugoslavia and all the other genocidal and refugee human tragedies that the UN did and are doing nothing about, I remember all the meaningless resolutions passed against Iraq without any consequences, I remember several individuals at the UN that sold the world famous stamp collection without approval, I remember the Tianamen Square crackdown and the UN doing nothing, I remember the UN peacekeepers being called umbrellas that fold up and go home when it rains, I remember other UN peacekeepers raping young African girls without consequence. I remember a lot of this. I also want others to remember that you can't be UNhelpful without the UN in the lead.

Re:As has been said before...

[Anonymous Coward]

They have demonstrated time and time again (e.g. Oil-for-Food campaign)

That's a really bad example. Oil-for-food was a fine plan, it was particular UN member nations (including the USA [wikipedia.org]) that undermined it.

they are incompetent

Ever made an international phone-call? Telecommunications is one area that the UN does well in and corporations do poorly in. The ITU, being discussed here, is the worlds oldest international organisation. Meanwhile, telephone operators in the USA had to be forced into guaranteeing 911 service by the government. A bit of a stark contrast in quality, wouldn't you say?

Re:As has been said before...

[Anonymous Coward]

For all practicality's sake, they don't even know what an IP is.

What kind of fantasy world do you live in? The UN has been running international telecommunication systems very successfully since before I was born. It's one of their strongest areas.

If you seriously think this and aren't just trolling, then you are deluded and you need to familiarise yourself with the UN and not just the anti-UN propaganda that's so popular in the USA.

The truth about the UN

[voss]

With no global tax and no global army, the UN lacks the money and the power
to rule the internet.

Any power the UN has is because the world powers use it to provide the cover of international law
to protect their interests. Of course this is significant because when world powers want to do something
they must compromise to get UN backing. The absence of UN backing means additional political costs for
any nation that acts without UN backing.

Re:As has been said before...

[jav1231]

When you put Libya on your Civil Rights commission, nuff said. The U.N. servers only one useful purpose: Having them meet on U.S. soil provides a convenient place to spy on them. Which I think is great!