<h1 class="article-header"><span id="ctl00_ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_LeftColumnPlaceHolder_Article_HeadingLabel">Australia backs UN telco treaty changes</span></h1>
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<a href="http://www.itnews.com.au/News/304210,australia-backs-un-telco-treaty-changes.aspx">http://www.itnews.com.au/News/304210,australia-backs-un-telco-treaty-changes.aspx</a><br><br>By <a id="ctl00_ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_LeftColumnPlaceHolder_Article_AuthorsRepeater_ctl01_AuthorHyperLink" href="http://www.itnews.com.au/Author/522026,james-hutchinson.aspx">James Hutchinson</a> on
<span id="ctl00_ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_LeftColumnPlaceHolder_Article_DateTimeLiteral">Jun 8, 2012 1:38 PM (1 day 13 hours ago)</span>
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Filed under <a id="ctl00_ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_LeftColumnPlaceHolder_Article_SiteCategoryHyperLink" href="http://www.itnews.com.au/Category/35,telcoisp.aspx">Telco/ISP</a>
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</div><h2 class="article-intro-text">Global governments consider internet regulation.</h2>
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<p>
The Federal Government has issued public support for a contentious plan
to revise the international treaty underpinning global
telecommunications regulation.</p>
<p>
The International Telecommunications Regulations (ITR) treaty, governed
by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and last revised in
1988, will introduce provisions specific to potential regulation of the
internet for the first time in a revision expected to be voted on in
December this year.</p>
<p>
The revisions would require global governments acceding to the treaty to undertake the proposals.</p>
<p>
Though no documents relating to the proposals have been officially released by the ITU, <a href="http://www.internetgovernance.org/2012/05/17/public-interest-groups-demand-a-role-in-telecom-treaty-negotiations/" target="_blank">claims of closed-door negotiations</a>
between countries on the revised treaty have led to a concerted effort
by the US chapter of the Internet Society, along with founder and
ordained "father of the internet" Vint Cerf, to rally against the
treaty.</p>
<p>
They claimed the revised treaty would allow the United Nations, which
oversees the ITU, and individual governments to more carefully regulate
the internet.</p>
<p>
A spokesman for the Department of Broadband told <em>iTnews</em> this week that the Federal Government "supports updating the [regulations]".</p>
<p>
"In doing so, the Government aims to ensure that the revisions do not
undermine the useful purpose the ITRs have had since their adoption,"
they said.</p>
<p>
The composition of Australia's delegation to the conference – to be
held in Dubai in December – is yet to be determined. However, it is
believed any local delegation is likely to be led by key Department of
Broadband personnel.</p>
<p>
<strong>Internet control?</strong></p>
<p>
Concerns around the treaty have grown in recent months, particularly as
the ITU working group charged with drafting the proposed regulations
prepares to finalise a revised treaty in Geneva at the end of the month.</p>
<p>
But ITU secretary-general, Dr Hamadoun Touré, blasted claims over
attempts to control internet governance as "frankly ridiculous" in a <a href="http://www.itu.int/en/osg/speeches/Pages/2012-06-06-2.aspx" target="_blank">speech to agency staff</a> this week.</p>
<p>
"We are not going to send in the blue helmets of the UN peacekeepers to
police IxPs! And we are certainly not ready to make a grab for global
domination," he said.</p>
<p>
"I always compare this to roads, and cars and trucks. It is not because
you own the roads that you own the traffic. And you may not be able to
make the traffic flow smoothly. You need to know the height, and weight
and breadth and be involved in designing some of the features so the
bridges don't collapse ... we need to find a way to have a meaningful
debate about this, without one taking over the other.</p>
<p>
"So the real issue on the table here is not at all about who 'runs' the
Internet ... the issue instead is on how best to cooperate to ensure
the free flow of information, the continued development of broadband,
continued investment, and continuing innovation."</p>
<p>
Documents leaked from the working group (<a href="http://files.wcitleaks.org/public/ETNO%20C109.pdf" target="_blank">pdf</a>) claimed
the new regulations would aim to support a "new IP interconnection
ecosystem", including measures dictating global governments to closely
negotiate terms on facilities and quality of service mechanisms.</p>
<p>
Key provisions are also being negotiated between countries on revisions
to portions of the treaty that dictate financial settlement on
termination of internet traffic between countries, a measure APNIC chief
scientist Geoff Huston said was "unenforceable" if based on existing
telecommunications provisions.</p>
<p>
<strong>Political drive</strong></p>
<p>
Touré said the ITU was not a "politically oriented organisation" and
that a decision to re-negotiate terms was driven by its membership,
rather than the secretariat.</p>
<p>
However, sources close to stakeholders claimed the renegotiations were
highly politically charged and focused around a desire by some –
particularly those in Asia and some in Europe – to wrest control over
internet systems away from the US and minimise the potential effect
US-based legislation such as SOPA and PIPA could have on worldwide
networks.</p>
<p>
Though the ITU has continued to enshrine access to the internet as a
basic human right, some have claimed the revised treaty could lead to
the restructuring of ICANN – the global domain name registration body –
away from US control, and cement government-level regulation and control
over the internet.</p>
<p>
Specifically, leaked documents show countries debating over a treaty
proposal that would allow member states to "suspend the international
telecommunication service" in that country at their will, provided it
notifies other members.</p>
<p>
Cerf, chief internet evangelist at Google, said a successful renegotiation of the treaty would <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/25/opinion/keep-the-internet-open.html?_r=1" target="_blank">create "significant barriers to civil society participation"</a>, allowing governments to more easily regulate access to the internet at a country level.</p>
<p>
"Such proposals raise the prospect of policies that enable government
controls but greatly diminish the 'permissionless innovation' that
underlies extraordinary Internet-based economic growth to say nothing of
trampling human rights," he said.</p>
<p>
In Australia, some have suggested the treaty could more easily allow
the Federal Government to implement data retention and internet
filtering mechanisms.</p>
<p>
<strong>Net fundamentals</strong></p>
<p>
Major equipment vendors are also thought to oppose the treaty but none besides Google, through Cerf, have come out against it.</p>
<p>
A source told <em>iTnews</em> that organisations opposed the treaty "on
the basis that they'll leave things in or allow governments to do
things that will threaten the fundamental, underlying design of the
internet".</p>
<p>
APNIC's Huston argued that the treaty would not necessarily change
plans for greater regulation that weren't already planned by
governments, but warned the polarity of the debate surrounding the
treaty could <span>lead to future issues for interconnection between countries.</span></p>
<p>
"Almost everything we do, we never quite get it right all over the world; we always seem to stuff it up," Huston said.</p>
<p>
"Weirdly, almost by accident, the internet got it right – one
technology across the world, coherent. The concern that I have is that
we have just a disparity of opinion when the ITRs come up that we end
fragmenting ourselves ... we end up with less than one internet; we end
up with many private networks, national networks and we're back to a far
worse world.</p>
<p>
"It's not that the ITRs will destroy the internet in terms of
regulatory impost ... [the US] aren't going to sign anything too
repressive, [but] on the other hand other governments might want a
different world. If that's the case, the world's networks will break
apart."</p>
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