Loudernet

The American blogosphere is going increasingly “viral” about a proposal advanced at the recent meeting of the Davos Economic Forum by Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer for Microsoft, that an equivalent of a “driver’s licence” should be introduced for access to the web. This totalitarian call has been backed by articles and blogs in Time magazine and the New York Times.

As bloggers have not been slow to point out, the system being proposed is very similar to one that the government of Red China reluctantly abandoned as too repressive. It was inevitable that, sooner or later, the usual unholy alliance of government totalitarians and big business would attempt to end the democratic free-for-all that is the blogosphere. The United Nations is showing similar interest in moving to eliminate free speech.

via Control freaks want web licences to end bloggers’ anonymity – be very afraid – Telegraph Blogs.

The internet hasn’t been around very long. In fact it celebrated its 40th birthday on September 2.

But in practical terms, the internet only began to hit the mainstream from the early 1990s via the World Wide Web. That means the bulk of the online population have been surfing the web and sending emails for less than a decade. It’s fair to say this wonderful tool is still in its infancy.

When cars were first introduced in the second half of the 18th century, anyone who could afford one was free to drive it as they saw fit. There were some rules (mainly regarding noise) but because cars were so new, the traffic regulations we all abide today simply didn’t apply. It took many years and many terrible accidents for the law to catch up.

In the United States, it was only once vehicle fatalities skyrocketed that legislators decided to step in to implement road rules, safety devices and drivers licenses. The greater good was seen as being more important that the individual’s liberty to do as they pleased.

Today, there are thousands of laws in the USA – and right here in Australia – regarding the act of driving an automobile. And there’s good reason for it. As a community we want to police who can drive, we want to ensure they know how to drive and we want to ensure our own safety on the road by setting standards for behavior and traffic protocols that ensure predictability.

Is it time for an Internet Driver’s License? – The West Australian

Now for the bad news: In an effort to show the world how inclusive, sharing, cooperative, and international America can be, the Obama administration set off on a plan to surrender control and key management of the Internet by the U.S. Department of Commerce and its agents.

The key to the control America has over the Internet is through the management of the Domain Name System (DNS) and the giant servers that service the Internet.

Domain names are managed through an entity named IANA, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority. The IANA, which operates on behalf of the U.S. Department of Commerce, is responsible for the global coordination of the DNS, IP addressing, and other Internet protocol resources.

In short, without an IP Address or other essential Internet protocols, a person or entity would not have access to the Internet.

For years, the international community has been pressuring the United States

to surrender its control and management of the Internet. They want an international body such as the United Nations or even the International Telecommunications Union, (an entity that coordinates international telephone communications), to manage all aspects of the Internet in behalf of all nations.

The argument advanced for those seeking international control of the Internet is that the Internet has become such a powerful, pervasive, and a dependent form of international communications, that it would be dangerous and inequitable for any one nation to control and manage it.

Just this past spring, within months of Obama’s taking office, his administration, through the Department of Commerce, agreed to relinquish some control over IANA and their governance. The Obama administration has agreed to give greater representation to foreign companies and countries on IANA.

This amounts to one small step for internationalism and one giant leap for surrendering America’s control over an invention we have every right and responsibility to control and manage.

It is in America’s economic and national security interests not to relinquish any control. We are responsible for the control, operation, and functionality of one of the modern world’s greatest inventions and most powerful communications network.

What better country to protect the Internet than the United States?

via Newsmax – Obama Surrendering Internet to Foreign Powers.

The President of the United States is said by some to be the most powerful man in the world — but should he have control of the spread of information.

legislation proposed on April 1 is no joke. The proposed bill would grant President Obama the authority to shut down public and private networks — including the restriction of internet traffic — as part of a cybersecurity emergency plan.

The bill was introduced by West Virginia Democratic Sen. John Rockefeller and Sen. Olympia Snowe, a Republican from Maine. The aim of the bill is to unite both public and private network operators to develop regulations for what to do in case of a cyber attack.

For obvious reasons, many are concerned about what such power could mean if the wrong actions were taken. Leslie Harris, president and CEO at the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), said in a NetworkWorld story, “This is pretty sweeping legislation. Seems the President could turn off the Internet completely or tell someone like Verizon to limit or block certain traffic. There is a lot to worry about in this bill.”

While the public sector may be used to more government regulation and involvement, such control will undoubtedly bother corporations. CDT’s Harris added that regulatory rules could force companies to all conform to a similar system, which could hamper security and innovation. For example, if a critical security flaw was found in a mandated system, then the entire network could be susceptible to such a flaw.

Bill Allows Obama Power to Shut Down Internet – Tom’s Hardware