Editorial
UN Strikes Back at 'Net With ITU Agency?
The Empire is most definitely striking back. Between the huge and secretive data center being built in Utah to intercept and analyze the world's communications, Barack Obama's newly signed executive order that allows him "emergency" powers and the near-passage of SOPA, the powers-that-be are making it clear they intend to try to control, more and more effectively, what we call the Internet Reformation.
Now here comes "Connect to Americas," presented by the UN's International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The summit, hosted in Panama, will gather together countries in the Caribbean to discuss technology.
It sounds like some sort of international company but actually it's a huge but low-key UN bureaucracy – and it's the latest danger to Internet freedom and maybe the gravest.
You know it's got to be bad when an article on the AOL's Huffington Post warns about it. AOL/Huffington from an editorial standpoint is not exactly known to be alarmist about what are laughingly referred to as "conspiracy theories."
But the article, written by Edward J. Black, President and CEO, Computer and Communications Industry, is a sober warning about yet another world-spanning UN facility that has the ability to create treaties affecting everyone.
The article is entitled, "UN's ITU Could Become Next Internet Freedom Threat" and Black makes the case that those in the US who are concerned about Internet censorship need to look abroad as well as at home.
Once filtering, censorship or traffic-redirecting tools are developed and deployed, they can be used for a variety of reasons – not just for the purposes that first got the regulations enacted. Some of the lessons learned from the dangers of legislation like SOPA should be the need for forbearance and a well-researched, multi-stakeholder derived policy to avoid unintended consequences.
We've been concerned about similar efforts that could result in a treaty giving a United Nations agency new power to "manage" the Internet. Russia, along with China, North Korea, Iran and other notably nondemocratic countries, are advocating for international regulation of the Internet through a treaty-based organization in the United Nations – the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
These countries are also asking for a "cyber arms control treaty." But the real goal is to give governments the international legal cover to declare information they don't like a "danger to the state" and therefore the equivalent of cyber warfare so they can censor it. An article in the World Affairs Journal outlines Russia's patient, organized effort over more than a decade.
The article warns, "If diplomats are not careful, one by-product of a push to regulate state-on-state cyber conflict could be a new effort to subject Internet activity to political scrutiny." It points to the efforts at the ITU as a telling example of this trend.
These countries have also pushed this agenda in other venues:
• Suggesting at the UN General Assembly in 2011 that a code of conduct for Internet use should be mandated in international law (and conveniently giving the governments of the world the right to determine what is outside the limits of the code);
• Proposing to create a new UN agency that would be a 'super agency' responsible for managing all aspects of Internet policy – with, naturally, governments having the only vote.
There are warning signs that 2012 is lining up to be particularly important in this fight.
The ITU is certainly a good vehicle for these sorts of maneuverings. It's brief is almost ludicrously broad and vague and there are plans in the works for what Black calls a "major ITU conference."
The conference is to be entitled, ominously, the "World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT)," and according to Black, it will be used by China and Russia to make a play for expanded authority over the Internet.
Black cites America's FCC Commissioner, Robert McDowell, who wrote in a notable Wall Street Journal editorial last month, that proponents of Internet freedom "need to play offense not just defense by encouraging all interested parties, including governments and the ITU, to examine the economic and social benefits of the open Internet and to broaden the multi-stakeholder approach to managing Internet concerns."
Now break that last wordy sentence down into normal English and what McDowell is saying is that people concerned about the Internet ought to use the agencies of state control to preserve and expand freedom.
I have a more cynical vision of this kind of argument. Black is probably correct that 2012 is an important year for the foes of the Internet who want a controlled, rigid and highly authoritarian electronic facility.
But I'm not sure that the ITU is the place where this struggle will play out. No, the ITU is likely going to be host to a kind of power-elite dialectic that will pit the forces of Internet "freedom" against the forces of control and repression. This is fairly predictable.
Out of this conversation, no doubt, will come a "compromise" that will be authoritarian in its conclusions though not as bad as some fear. It will be implemented via treaty and then expanded on until it will be terrible indeed. That's how the power elite dialectic works.
You see, there is a power elite that wants to run the world, even if we don't like to admit it. But reality is what it is.The Internet, a mistake from their point of view, and a big one, is standing in their way. They are attacking it on all fronts to try to damp down what we have called the "Internet Reformation."
In fact, from my point of view, the Internet Reformation is something much larger than any treaty or even any global accord. The old men of the power elite are fighting hard to maintain their information and the power to utilize the propaganda of their dominant social themes.
These fear-based memes like global warming and Peak Oil, are intended to frighten middle classes into giving up power and wealth to global facilities specially prepared to administer various forms international authority.
This approach worked well in the 20th century but is not working so well in the 21st. In fact, as more and more information has emerged on the Internet about the Way the World Really Works, the elites are increasingly turning toward war, economic chaos and authoritarian legislation to retain their grip.
The trouble with global technological revolutions such as the one represented by the 'Net is that they are extremely broad based and hard to supervise. That's why we've argued that it will take decades to fully control what technology has unlocked, and by then new technologies may cause nerw problems for the power elite.
There are forces in the world that have an agenda that is at once globalist and repressive. These forces may go back hundreds or even thousands of years. But in fact that is just the point. History seems to show us that sometimes elite control is more effective and all-encompassing than at other times.
Here, in these modest pages, we've argued that the Internet has sparked a mysterious "hive mind" process and that the truth-telling the Internet has unlocked has reverberations beyond what can be easily explained. I would argue that it is somewhat simplistic to view the Internet simply as a kind of electronic tablet that can be blocked or erased at will.
The interactions between humans and the facilities of the Internet are likely a good deal richer and more complex than is commonly presented. And there is the tool-making issue as well. Humans tend to exploit cutting-edge tools to their fullest, sooner or later.
A facility like the Internet is complex indeed, and it is a moving target. Yesterday's censorship may not be applicable tomorrow. China's leaders, for instance, now demand that all Internet users use their real name. Yet the Internet in its current incarnation is an essentially anonymous device.
In the US, a huge information-gathering facility is being built, as I mentioned at the beginnning of this article, but once again, I would argue that such efforts do not fully acknowledge the complexity of the interactions between the Internet and its human users.
The Internet is unusual because it allows people, especially young people, to interact with it independently. Whole, complex facilities can be created and then connected to the larger system. Not so long ago we wrote about a BBC article suggesting that the Internet ought to be torn down and rebuilt in a way that would make it more conducive to monitoring. Too late.
The real problem with Internet authoritarian control is that in the modern era, the one-world conspiracy has reiled on persuasion and the use of dominant social themes when it comes to creating globalism. The powers-that-be have used these tools because to show the naked face of aggression is to invite confrontation.
The more obvious the attempts are at censoring and controlling the Internet, the more fierce the push-back will become. Additionally, as governments, at the behest of top-level power elite, make these attempts, the good will between citizens and the authorities is eroded. This is a negative trend for those in charge.
Add to this that the Internet is a moving target and that authoritarian solutions will constantly have to be upgraded and redesigned and you have a recipe for continual conflict on a legislative level and also within a wider sphere. That sort of conflict does not bode well for an elite that has relied on suasion and stealth to pursue its agenda in the past.
Ultimately, as we often point out here at DB, the Internet is a process not an episode. Even an effective solution that retards certain aspects of Internet communication may not work so well tomorrow. It is no doubt a frustrating situation for those who want to control the world and steer it in certain directions.
They should have been more careful, but apparently they missed the 'Net's initial significance. Now they are playing "catch up." This is something to keep in mind.
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Posted by ThomasJSzeles on 03/27/12 01:38 AM
... .about the printers... .I've been handing out free mini-papers of The Daily Bell at rallies here at home, so spread the word... .give credit where credit is due... .don't forget about the Gutenburg press... .Reformation, Reformation, Reformation!
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Posted by ThomasJSzeles on 03/27/12 01:30 AM
... .the elite have been watching and controlling themselves for a long time... .not just decades... .a long time... .your in the right place, so keep on researching and reading and don't give up. And keep the net free... .!
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Posted by ThomasJSzeles on 03/27/12 01:08 AM
... .About the article... .great stuff. Don't Stop. Sit back for a minute and have a beer from me, so too speak, and sit back and keep on thinking. Your direction of shared thought offers enough independent thought to allow anyone to think for themselves. Keep on challenging my intellect.
Reply from The Daily Bell
Thanks.
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Posted by ThomasJSzeles on 03/27/12 12:59 AM
Not about the numbers thing... .but thanks for the Rothchild thing... .lots of fun. Thanks again.
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Posted by ThomasJSzeles on 03/27/12 12:49 AM
Thank you!
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Posted by amanfromMars on 03/26/12 10:13 PM
And here's another tale to look into, lovetaniwha ... ... ... Click to view link
A tale, Daily Bell, which has the integrity of Switzerland as a pure base for liquid asset protection questioned/severely compromised/shot all to hell because of ... ... ... . Click to view link
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Posted by lovetaniwha on 03/26/12 05:46 PM
We need the net to free ourselves... anybody reading this please look into 'The White Dragons Trillion Dollar Lawsuit'... and... 'Mass arrests of Dark Cabal leaders 2012'... happening right now.
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Posted by elray on 03/26/12 04:52 AM
"You could always BUY a Printer".
The word BUY is at the heart of my problems with the internet being a long term voice.
Many people I know are no longer connected because they can not pay for the required parts, family, food and housing have taken precedent.
Will this leave the elite watching and controlling them selves. LoL.
Controlling the internet requires nothing more then filters at your ISP.
Most search engines already filter your results, try putting Black listed words in your emails or sending info embeded in photos.
It seems to me that we have lost so much to gain this communication, have we not given "them" the keys to our most personal details, thoughts, desires.
Will "they" use this info to make the world a better place? How come I feel like I am being led down the internet path to the detention camp?
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Posted by Hoss on 03/25/12 02:22 PM
1) You could always buy a printer.
2) Though not what it was invented for, and totally unforeseen, the computer revolution turned out to be all about two-way and many-to-many communication. Controlling it will be like trying to outlaw CO2.
Reply from The Daily Bell
People don't see this. They think of it linearly. Or maybe like a bottle that can be corked. Or a drain that can be stoppered. In fact it is like a tree. Cut off a branch and another grows back. Sure you can chop it down, but that is unfeasible now. You'd have to stop the world ...
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Posted by Danny B on 03/25/12 01:18 PM
Joelg or anyone else, have you looked into this? I have zero background on this idea.
Click to view link
What Fidel has yet to comprehend is that the full "state monopoly ownership" form of socialism that he and the PCC have experimented with before the world has made it impossible, thus far, for US transformationaries to win the US people to socialist consciousness. By following the statist, bureaucratic economic formula that sunk the Soviet Union and other state socialist countries, he has helped discredit socialism as an alternative to the horrific system of monopoly capitalism.
The US people are backward and politically paralyzed because the Marxian core principle of the state owning everything productive has virtually ruined the good name of socialism.
If Fidel should have a theoretical epiphany, he could save the world by causing a massive, rapid radicalization among the US and world peoples. All that he and the PCC would have to do is give Cuba a modern cooperative, state co-ownership form of socialism. This would utilize private productive property rights and the conditioned trading market for building the socialist bridge to a classless society. it would ally the proletariat, small bourgeoisie and intelligentsia for non-bureaucratic socialism.
Such a form would allow the socialist state to silently co-own most significant industry and commerce with cooperative worker-owned corporations on the Mondragon model, and get its revenues from quarterly dividends, rather than from taxes and full state ownership of bureaucratically choked up enterprise.
If such a form of socialism should in fact invigorate the Cuban economy and society, the US and other peoples of the world would quickly achieve socialist consciousness, and we could avoid the grave that monopoly capitalism is digging for humankind.
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Posted by DwightMann on 03/25/12 12:00 PM
The freedom offered by the Net or the Web(ensnaring terms to say the least) is the ultimate freedom, and can not really be controlled effectively at this point, by the powers that be.
It is the power of the modern man, and needs to remain unadulterated, at all costs, by the elites.
It provides for an even playing field for all peoples, and prophets.
Thank you DB, you are one of the good guys. . .
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Posted by earnst on 03/25/12 10:29 AM
"Knowledge is power." Free and open discourse is, I believe, the absolute most critical element to ending this tyranny. Most public forums are already self-censored and it is certain that all power hungry predators and their sycophants will be trying to control speech as always. Insofar as we are able we should attempt to play one side off against the other, divide and conquer so to speak, by utilizing apposing forums and encouraging all points of view. Especially criticizing openly any attempts to hinder free speech or its growth.
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Posted by kenn on 03/25/12 10:22 AM
No, Darryl, The real danger is not the super spy building itself... . the danger is the people that will man it along with the rest of the intel infrastructure and government.
Even worse is the apathetic citizens that rush to buy the the latest tablets, cell phones and other devices, together with online banking and socialized medicine that enable the intelligence gathering community.
Then there are the majority that still cling to the left, right, Demopuplican paradigm. While most will agree that the elections are a manipulated scam,,, they still 'vote' because they say "it's their civic duty".
In a nutshell... "I have seen the enemy,,, and it it us!"
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Posted by Col on 03/25/12 08:02 AM
Really not seeing/understanding your problem.
"My computer and Data will last just a handful of years, even if I take care and don't use it. "
Back it up on Discs & or external Hard-Drives, my own "War Chest" is a Panasonic Toughbook complete with it's own faraday cage.
"I can't build a computer."
Learn, it's not hard & you can save yourself 2/3 of the cost by buying the components & assembling the pc yourself, I've done this since '96.
"I have no way of building the physical infrustructure to run my/our own "internet". "
No, you simply lack the knowledge, there are many "How to" articles on the net for building (from redundant pc parts) & launching you own Sever.
I've been on the net, even before it was the "net" way back when the "net" was nothing more than a series of Bulliten Boards accessed by a Commordore 64 & a modem & images had to be re-assembled from code.
Whatever they tear down can be rebuilt by hackers, crackers & phishers... ... & better.
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Posted by amanfromMars on 03/25/12 07:27 AM
"How can a technology with a "Use by Date", built, owned, operated and controled by the Elite give me/us unfettered access to alternative voices ?? " ... ..Posted by elray on 03/25/12 05:58 AM
Hi, elray,
You might like to check with whomever/whatever you perceive the Elite to be, to learn if they agree with you regarding ... .. a technology with a "Use by Date", built, owned, operated and controled by the Elite. You may find that is a long gone missed opportunity right at the top of their current mission impossible wish list ... .. and of grave concern to them, or at least of grave concern to those of them with a higher intelligent level.
Having said that though, there is very little, other than a lack of intelligence and remedial foresight , to stop them buying in whomever/whatever can operate and control the technology if it is threatening to destroy them in what needs to be nothing more than a series of flash crashes/zeroday vulnerability exploits which just highlight abiding systemic weaknesses in the systems they micro/macromanage.
For goodness sake, it is not as if paying someone a mountain of dollars/pounds/euros/whatever is expensive whenever it is just a pile of paper that would be spent to regenerate their fortunes and kickstart a New World Order, virtually/relatively anonymously/very SMARTly, is it ? It does make you wonder what they are waiting for, whenever it is so simple.
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Posted by elray on 03/25/12 05:58 AM
Hi everyone, Some of my concerns/misconceptions regarding the "Internet Reformation".
I pay for a book once, put it in my pocket and if I take care it will last, perhaps, a hundred years or more.
My computer and Data will last just a handful of years, even if I take care and don't use it.
I can't build a computer.
I have no way of building the physical infrustructure to run my/our own "internet".
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How can a technology with a "Use by Date", built, owned, operated and controled by the Elite give me/us unfettered access to alternative voices ??
We could Stop using it, listen to our elders and read more paper books.
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On the one hand "They" want me to listen to their BS and use their money while on the other hand "They" want to reduce me to poverty and control what I read.
Right, um, so, Good luck with that plan.
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I can't live without my cell phone/email/faceb/Twit, business would stop without the internet and central banking is essential otherwise we would all be poor and uneducated.
To my mind the above statement is Wrong on so many levels I don't know where to start.
Perhaps you do. :-)
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Posted by amanfromMars on 03/25/12 02:48 AM
Proof positive of the pathetic corrupt state of politics, with an admitted lying fraudster exposed right at the heart of the UK government and Conservative Party? ... ... ... . Click to view link
"Expert said there was now a greater chance of some form of state funding for political parties to come in." ... .. Click to view link
Public funding for private gatherings of recognised practising crooked liars? Oh please, how well do you think that is going to work whenever so much is being uncovered and found to be a disgrace in and to a once proud nation?
And is anyone else finding it difficult to find online, the online trading company, Currency Management Consultants.
And posed as questions there, DB, lest any fraudster would think to object to what is shared here and wish to engage in some dim-witted litigation against a valid alien voice.
And the lesson to be learned by Pommies in this tale ... ... ... Don't mess with a Digger. Nice one, Rupert. Encore, encore.
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Posted by amanfromMars on 03/25/12 02:02 AM
Is it the intimidation factor? … Reply from The Daily Bell [to Posted by Joelg on 03/24/12 04:50 PM]
Methinks, it is the lack of educational intelligence supply, DB, which allows ignorance and arrogance to reign in environments which have novel events overwhelm them. A deficit which the Daily Bell is pleased to be addressing/redressing with its constructive commentaries exploring supply feeds/seeds/needs? I do believe so. Bravo.
And with traditional self-servering political and media machines complicit in failed conspiracies of false trails of half truths and deliberate misinformations exacerbating and speeding up the inevitable decline of systems which now find themselves having to try and conceal the truth in order to survive and avoid the wrath of nations of serially abused peoples, are such times ahead ideal for the advent of cool smart heads supplying new intelligence.
"I cannot imagine anyone with the wisdom to figure out what to do with all the information, and any dreams of finding something timely to act on are pure utopian and probably unrealistic. To think that some super-bureaucracy can get everything right is to ignore the failures of central planning in Eastern Europe and around the globe." ….. It is then indeed most fortunate, Joelg, that one is not dependent upon your thought input/output and you have no proactive and/or HyperRadioProActive part to play in ITs Future Building, other than as one in billions of passive spectators in the madding crowd.
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Posted by bewer on 03/24/12 07:13 PM
I trust the market continues to out fox those who want to control world politics; with new high tech material changing the systems drastically, freedom should reign in the end. Graphene and LNG.
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Posted by rossbcan on 03/24/12 07:10 PM
internet censorship is just to put blinders on the asses, so they only observe what is placed in front of them, and, follow the path that is mapped out for them.
Reality is far broader and deeper, and, if we venture too far, we will not fall of the edge of the earth, nor be consumed by demons:
Click to view link
the converse is true. If we don't throw off our harnesses and blinders, we WILL be consumed by demons.
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