Concerns spread as U.N. poises for Internet regulation

By: Eliza Krigman
April 4, 2012 
Politico
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0412/74844.html \l ixzz1rAgTGIXc http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0412/74844.html#ixzz1rAgTGIXc

Faced with the prospect of United Nations regulation of the Internet, the United States has yet to appoint a leader for an upcoming battle with other countries over Web management.
Less than a year from a historic treaty negotiation that will redefine international agreements on Internet management, the U.S. has yet to name someone to head up the American delegation. The absence of an American point person in a process that will pit the United States, and other nations, against countries that would like to give the U.N. greater authority has started to worry lawmakers.
“It’s a mistake, and I think it’s a bad mistake,” Rep. Greg Walden, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, said in a recent interview. “I’m pretty concerned that they haven’t designated a lead person yet.”
The Oregon Republican and other officials are worried about efforts by Russia, China, India and Brazil, among other countries, to give the U.N. new and unprecedented powers over the Web. The fear is that the treaty might end up giving governments more of a say about Web content and infrastructure.
Top tech officials, such as Republican FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell and NTIA Chief Larry Strickling, have been sounding the alarm on the issue for months. But now lawmakers are starting to air concerns as well.
“For nearly a decade, the United Nations quietly has been angling to become the epicenter of Internet governance, but now those efforts appear to be intensifying,” said Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R-Calif.) “It’s absolutely imperative for the United States to oppose this naked power grab led by Russia and China.”
Bono Mack introduced a resolution a year ago that called on the administration to fight against letting the U.N. and other international governmental organizations exercise control over the Internet. Reps. Jim Langevin (D-R.I.) and Mike McCaul (R-Texas) introduced a similar resolution last week.
Bono Mack will do her part to ensure that “the delegation is not led by someone who will ‘give away the store,’” a spokesman for the lawmaker wrote in an email. She is looking for “strong, unwavering leadership,” the spokesman wrote.

It’s up to the White House and the State Department to appoint a delegation leader, who will assume the role of an ambassador for purposes of the negotiation process.
“There is a lot of planning and interaction that needs to go into this,” Walden said. “These other countries would love to get involved in taking over the Internet, or monitoring it, or putting new rules and restrictions on it.”
But Ambassador Philip Verveer, the State Department official managing the recruitment process, says the concerns about choosing a leader are not warranted.
“We anticipate that the appointment will be made about mid-June, which is roughly six months before the conference,” Verveer said Monday in an interview. “That is the traditional time frame of this appointment.”
The U.S. has identified a candidate, Verveer said, and it simply takes time for the individual to clear the vetting process.
Still, despite the cries from a few lawmakers and a handful of people in the tech community, the looming threat to the Web is going largely unnoticed in the U.S.
The fight pits countries that favor a bottom-up management approach to Internet governance — the current model — against those who prefer a top-down governance structure. Currently, the Web is managed by a group of nongovernmental bodies.
The United States has about eight months to prepare for negotiations on the treaty in which the threat of U.N. regulation of the Internet could be realized. This December, member countries of the International Telecommunication Union — a branch of the U.N. — will meet in Dubai to negotiate the terms of a new set of rules called the International Telecommunication Regulations.
The agreement that may emerge would replace one reached in 1988 that set the basic parameters for interconnection of international telephone networks.