[Lacigf] Comunicado de la ITU sobre WCIT-12

[Julian Casasbuenas G.]

INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION

ITU Refuses Proposals for Open Discussion of Plans to Regulate Internet

Geneva, 15 November 2012(ITUC Media Release): The International Trade
Union Confederation (ITUC) today met with Dr Hamadoun Toure, Head of the
UN’s International Telecommunication Union, to take internet regulation
proposals off the agenda of the World Conference on International
Telecommunication (WCIT-12) due to take place in Dubai in December. ITUC
General Secretary Sharan Burrow said that the internet had always been
managed by a multi-stakeholder approach, but that the proposed changes
would radically undermine this model and seriously alter internet
governance.

“This is not a process that the UN should stamp as having legitimacy when
governments and in particular telecoms ministries are simply negotiating on
their own interests, in a forum without proper civil society engagement. We
strongly oppose plans which would increase costs, reduce the spread of the
internet and increase net censorship at the expense of human rights.

“We put a proposal to the ITU today to take the damaging proposals off the
table at Dubai, and join a broad, open and multi-stakeholder process that
would bring together all the government, civil society and business
interests to look at the future of the internet. Regrettably, the ITU
rejected this.”

“The danger for the upcoming World Conference on International
Telecommunications (WCIT-12) is that certain governments will attempt to
undermine the multi-stakeholder approach behind closed doors and without
full transparency.

“Certain proposed changes cause a great deal of alarm to the global labour
movement - in particular, introduction of a pricing regime; requirements
that the internet only be used in a ‘rational’ way - these are changes that
ought to be openly debated; not behind closed doors as the ITU plans.

“We can’t afford to have vested interests of some governments and
telecommunications companies take over the internet as we know it.

“An internet totally controlled by government and big business contradicts
the very essence of what the internet represents - open and free access for
all.

“These are hugely important issues, which should be dealt with in an open,
transparent and inclusive way,” said Ms Burrow.

Phillip Jennings, the General Secretary of UNI Global Union which
represents workers in the telecoms and internet sectors, called on the ITU
to accept trade unions as full discussion partners, which it had never done
despite repeated requests from UNI.

The meeting with Dr Toure came a week after Equal Times launched ‘Stop the
net grab’, a global online campaign to press for an open consultation on
internet regulation
http://www.equaltimes.org/news/stop-the-net-grab-ituc-launches-global-campaign-against-internet-crackdown.
The ITUC and Greenpeace signaled their concerns in a joint letter to
UN Secretary General Ban K-moon last Friday.

ENDS


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Julian Casasbuenas G.
Director Colnodo
Diagonal 40A (Antigua Av. 39) No. 14-75, Bogota, Colombia
Tel: 57-1-2324246, Cel. 57-315-3339099 Fax: 57-1-3380264
Twitter @jcasasbuenas
www.colnodo.apc.org - Uso Estratégico de Internet para el Desarrollo
Miembro de la Asociacion para el Progreso de las Comunicaciones -APC-
www.apc.org