"While most of the world follows the ITU, North America does not. They have ANSI/Bellcore. China and Japan have their own specifications also.

After years of promoting CDMA against GSM and finally giving in, I doubt the Americans will give up their hold on the internet that lightly."

"TED 2009 - Jonathan Zittrain: The Web as random acts of kindness

»www.ted.com/talks/jonathan_zittr···ess.html

Trying to control how every computing device on the planet talks to each other is impossible. Better that corps and agencies spend their time on finding common protocols, removing walled gardens, and accept the fact that the Internet is probably the single-most important; and single-most uncontrollable tool that mankind has at it's disposal."

" rather suspect the Internet is controlled by the US government except for the bit in China which is controlled by the Chinese government. Given its origins in the US military it is hard to get worked up about this.

In general I tend to view Google as the biggest threat to the western Internet because of its worrying use of people's confidential data and its corruption of search facilities. I suspect it has enough information on our politicians to shut them down if they cause it trouble. Fortunately it can't seem to get a handle on the faceless Eurocrats that are causing it so much trouble. It is a weird world when our only defence against Google is the EU."

"Telcos are always trying to get a slice of the content revenue. The reason isn't hard to spot, over 80 percent of the cost of broadband is incurred by the telcos building the access networks but they get a very small slice of the revenue."
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"..over 80 percent of the cost of broadband is incurred by the telcos building the access networks but they get a very small slice of the revenue."

Really? Why not take a look at Verizon's revenues last year, one of the so-called telco monopolists in the US (ATT and Verizon have a majority of the mobile customers). In my book $ 110 billion of annual revenues at Verizon is not "a very small slice."

»www.marketwatch.com/investing/st···nancials

What about £ 46 billion in revenues at Vodafone last year? Small too?

»www.marketwatch.com/investing/st···nancials

"Some people think of the telco operators/carriers as "dumb pipes". With the great service your telco apparently provides you (singing their praises), you are paying them through the nose for getting in the way of your content in actual fact. They throw all sorts of roadblocks and barriers up ---- bloatware on your mobile device, carrier customisation, etc--- between you and your content. All in the name of "value added". Not bad revenues for a dummy?"

The Internet might be something that needs to be 'free' but unless you are taxed to get it or pay out of your own pocket..if it were not subsidized by ads..the cost to run it will not come from the tooth fairy.

These are some of the mundane but essential logistical achievements of the International Telecommunication Union, a specialist UN agency that dates back to 1865.

Article talks about the point of struggle for control of the internet, without identifying what's at stake:

1 - Control of root DNS servers - these are the central directors for all traffic on the internet. They absolutely have to be kept out of the hands of repressive governments who would be able to monitor traffic and trace it back to the user.

2 - Net neutrality - Here Google and the other big US corporates don't disclose their agenda where they'd dearly like to have their content prioritised over other internet traffic. The ITU strongly supports net neutrality.

3 - Internet standards and governance - Currently internet technical standards are developed in a collaborative fashion by mainly US technologists. US corporations are well represented on the boards that approve these standards. Shifting standards development to the ITU would over time alter the trajectory of the internet, to be less aligned to the interests of US corporations, and more in line with the agendas of UN membership.

"If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you've got a business, you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen," he said. "The Internet didn't get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet."

I guess that depends on your viewpoint. DARPA (funded by the US military and hence gummint) came up with the protocols etc that form the internet.

I guess that depends on your viewpoint. DARPA (funded by the US military and hence gummint) came up with the protocols etc that form the internet.

The ITU proposals are a ridiculous. This is two things: a basic power grab by countries who want to exercise control of what their people see; and a desire by telecom companies to 'tax' content for their own enrichment.

The International Telecommunication Union is holding its first global conference for 14 years in Dubai in December.
Have you ever noticed that wherever you are in the world, every telephone keypad looks the same? Or wondered why satellites don't crash into each other? Or why you dial 64 to reach New Zealand, but 65 for Singapore? These are some of the mundane but essential logistical achievements of the International Telecommunication Union, a specialist UN agency that dates back to 1865.

Yet as it gears up for its first global conference in 14 years, the ITU has found itself under unprecedented attack. The first assailant is the powerful US technology lobby. Companies, including Google, are claiming that new ITU proposals would mean internet companies paying hefty fees to local telecoms companies, reigniting historic tensions between US internet giants and incumbent telecoms firms across the world.

But that's not the only battle that will be played out this December when the ITU's 193 member states gather in Dubai. Russia and China have been explicit in their goal of taking control of the internet away from the US, while developing countries feel the western technology hegemony is limiting their economic opportunities. With the world's internet population predicted to reach 3.4 billion by 2016, there is everything to play for.

The ITU has not helped its case. Suspected by some critics of encouraging the controversial proposals, comments by the eloquent secretary general Dr Hamadoun Touré seem designed to antagonise the US. He told Vanity Fair earlier this year: "When an invention becomes used by billions across the world, it no longer remains the sole property of one nation, however powerful that nation might be. There should be a mechanism where many countries have an opportunity to have a say."

The reaction to some of these new proposals, or ITRs, has been a comprehensive, well-organised and well-funded campaign by a cabal of powerful American corporates – including Google, Microsoft, Cisco, AT&T and Comcast. Much of the resulting media coverage of the ITU, particularly in the US, has ranged from dismissive to aggressive, labelling the low-profile union obscure and irrelevant and exploiting American animosity for the UN.