Leaked WCIT-12 proposals aim at redefining Internet as system of government-controlled networks

Leaked WCIT-12 proposals aim at redefining Internet as system of government-controlled networksA leaked document related to the ongoing World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT-12) in Dubai has revealed that the new proposals which have been tabled at the conference chiefly aim at redefining the Internet as a system of networks which are government-controlled and state-supervised.

With the WCIT-12 event - hosted by the U. N.'s International Telecommunications Union (ITU) - is essentially witnessing a confrontation among the member countries about the proposals of revision of the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITR), an international treaty which legally binds the 178 countries that have signed it.

According to the leaked document, the proposal that the Internet should be redefined as a system of government-controlled, state-supervised networks has been submitted by a member-state bloc comprising countries like Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Egypt, Sudan, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The secretly-summarized leaked proposal - posted on the WCITLeaks website, which is anonymously leaking the yet-to-be-publicly-disclosed proposals put forth at the conference - specially defines the Internet as an "international conglomeration of interconnected telecommunication networks."

In addition, the proposal explicitly emphasizes that "Internet governance shall be effected through the development and application by governments." Furthermore, as per the proposal, the member states should be given the "sovereign right to establish and implement public policy, including international policy, on matters of Internet governance."