More lawmakers back U.S. control of Internet

Found on Reuters on Saturday, 22 October 2005
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Three lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives called on Friday for the Internet's core infrastructure to remain under U.S. control, echoing similar language introduced in the Senate earlier this week.

"Turning the Internet over to countries with problematic human-rights records, muted free-speech laws, and questionable taxation practices will prevent the Internet from remaining the thriving medium it has become today," said California Republican Rep. John Doolittle in a statement.

U.S. lawmakers have backed the Bush administration's stance, arguing that a U.N. group would stifle innovation with excessive bureaucracy and enable repressive regimes to curtail free expression online.

"The United States is uniquely positioned in the world to protect the fundamental principles of free press and free speech, upon which the Internet has thrived," Goodlatte said in a statement.

I can only point it out again: an international addressing system won't affect censorship. Various countries do that already. It's just about who has the power. Hearing that "the United States is uniquely positioned in the world to protect the fundamental principles of free press and free speech" makes me sick; it's a slap in the face of those nations who also value free speech. Just because the US is big, doesn't mean it always the first and best choice.