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Question of the Week: Do you believe the United Nations should be given expanded authority to regulate the internet?
Posted by Randy | May 30, 2012

Tomorrow, the House Energy and Commerce Committee will be holding a hearing on international proposals to regulate the Internet.  The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is the specialized agency for information and communication technologies at the United Nations.  In December of 2012, the ITU will hold a conference in Dubai to renegotiate a 1988 treaty known as the International Telecommunication Regulations.  

During the renegotiation process, the jurisdiction and legal authority of the ITU could be expanded, resulting in greater influence over the Internet, specifically in the areas of data privacy and cyber security. Currently a nonprofit organization, ICANN oversees a number of internet related responsibilities, including assigning domains, the stability of the internet and the security of the internet.  

instaPoll: Do you believe the United Nations should be given expanded authority to regulate the internet? 

(  ) Yes, an international organization such as the UN is the best place to regulate the World Wide Web. 

(  ) No, additional international regulation of the Internet would be detrimental.  

( ) Not Sure 

( ) Other (leave your comments below)
Comments
Users are solely responsible for the opinions they post here and their comments do not necessarily reflect the views of Congressman Forbes.
  • Mary Alexander commented on 5/30/2012
    The UN has their hands full with all the countries that are in conflict. While the issue is international each country should regulate the internet in their country.
  • Chris Conway commented on 5/30/2012
    With the UN's track record of inefficiency, wastefulness and obvious hostility towards the United States; I wouldn't entrust operating a landfill to them. While some entities might not agree or like the way ICANN operates their portion of internet responsibilities, it is hardly a reason to hand over any of the responsibilities over to the UN. As the old adage goes, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"
  • Gene Johnson commented on 5/30/2012
    The United Nations should have NO AUTHORITY WHATSOEVER over the United States of America, or the Sovereign State of Virginia, or any communication within or of any State or territory of the United States of America, or the State of Virginia, or any sovereign citizen of any other State thereof.
  • Gene Johnson commented on 5/30/2012
    The UN has no authority within the borders of the United States of America.
  • John Peebles commented on 5/30/2012
    As with any such proposal, who will regulate the regulator? Who will police the police? The world is too full of people will evil intent. What assurance do I have that none will infiltrate the ITU or any other agency? Given the history of the UN I am not sure they are up to the task. Given the history of the US government I am not sure it is up to the task either.
  • Wayne Hipkins commented on 5/30/2012
    The United Nations has become an ineffective organization & should not be given expanded powers for anything.
  • W T commented on 5/30/2012
    The United Nations is rapidly becoming a true world government in which all nations will be subject to its laws, taxes, and military control. Read "The Creature from Jekyl Island" by G. Edward Griffin. He presents a shocking forward view of what life would be like should this process come to completion. He shows the difference between theoretical United Nations, in which everyone would live together in peace and harmony, and real United Nations in which all of us would live under totalitarian rule. And, for the skeptics, he provides documents from the UN itself which show how UN personnel plan to make that happen.
  • Wayland Yoder commented on 5/30/2012
    This issue hasn't been openly argued enough for me to decide what I think of the United Nations regulating the internet. I tend to think that one country can't police any world wide system effectively. I'd like to know in what way the UN policing agency would be controled.
  • David Reichert commented on 5/30/2012
    The United Nations is a political organization. The UN has neither the knowledge base nor balanced view needed to have a beneficial impact on the internet. There are technology based international organizations that would be better suited toward establishing rules and protocols to keep the internet a high functioning valued tool available to the entire world.
  • John Hulett commented on 5/30/2012
    The UN is no friend of the US and should be moved to the Hague to be funded by elitists euro-trash socialists who seem to have run out of everybody else's money.
  • Holt Livesay commented on 5/31/2012
    No. I don't know if the internet is over-regulated or not, but I certainly don't trust the U.N. to regulate anything. We should simply resign from the U.N. or at least pay only our "fair share" of its expenses.
  • James Simmons commented on 5/31/2012
    I think we need to say goodbye to the "not so" United Nations ...
  • Rachel Pack commented on 5/31/2012
    It is bad enough that my own government is trying to get in my business, much less the United Nations for whom I have very little respect.
  • John Hopkins commented on 5/31/2012
    Hell No!!!!!! Europe is on the cusp of utter failure, and you want them to regulate the Internet. If you really are not certain of the answer to this question, then perhaps you need to brush up on the constitution. The only plausible reason to do this survey is to find out how many people are ignorant about America's sovereignty. The "greater good" is just one more good intention on the paved road to hell.
  • Kristen Wack commented on 5/31/2012
    Once again, big government (in whatever form it rears its head) looks to establish sweeping powers over 99% of law abiding citizens in order to thwart criminal activity. It is yet another threat of violation of the God-given Constitutional Rights of Amercan Citizens that are being slowly and methodically stripped away with the consent of our representatives in Congress, including you, Congressman Forbes, Senator Warner and Senator Webb. Either you've been misguidedly convinced of the need for big government by the "national security" lobby or you are not reading the legislation that comes across your desk. Please re-affirm your oath to defend and protect the Constitution of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Your constituents rely on you to represent ALL of us!! I thank you for you for this opportunity to voice my concerns on this critical matter.
  • michael center commented on 5/31/2012
    I don't feel that having the UN regulate our internet policy when they can't regulate the simple order in whichj they were created
  • Tom Redfern commented on 5/31/2012
    Mr. Forbes, please sign on as a co-sponsor of HR 1146 and get us out of the UN.
  • JD Carter commented on 5/31/2012
    Per what the values the internet was founded on it should be free & open, Idk when media comps are gunna learn, they are only hurting legit customers I had to newer dvds I HAVE to rip to watch cuz they wont play on my dvd players, Im not buying a new one I have no money, and I can forsee MANY people just stop renting dvds & buying them due to this, Im a pirate Ill just download them, hence there hurting themselves & legit customers, Im VERY disappointed with questions like this, the politicians need to keep there fingers out of the internet, Ik my way around every censorship bill ever proposed or passed, I wish politicians would get this there only hurting legit customers you CANNOT stop hackers ANYTHING digital can be hacked period but to be honest I dont expect politicians to get this due to things like the drug war, over regulation ONLY MAKES IT WORSE and usually for the people that follow these laws, and usually makes it easier for the people that want it
  • Thomas G commented on 5/31/2012
    I agree with Rachel...its bad enough our own government has repeatedly violated our privacy rights, opening the door to a cascade of abuses coming through the Patriot Act supported by congressman Forbes. While I'm concerned about not allowing attempted to violate the freedoms and privacy rights of Americans. It is surprising that so many here commented before the hearing even began. I would oppose moving away from the present model that has fostered impressive internet growth. However, the fast growing internet and technologlical advances certainly require constant oversight and responsive action. I'm not optimistic the current congress has the capacity to act on this or anything else. Very disturbing is congressman Forbes refusal to stand up in support of legislation to regulate American public and private entities from abuses along the lines of employers pressuring job applicants to provide passwords to social media sites. I have written Mr. Forbes twice on this matter and cannot get a commitment to support endeavors to protect the public. Why? It is obvious that the private sector is totally unable to police themselves in matters like this or abuses would not have already taken place. Surely the congressman realizes that this matter is NOT the kind of thing that the public wants to see buried in committee, or does he?
  • Barbara Smith commented on 5/31/2012
    The US has spent way too much money on an organization that seems to only want to do harm to us. We should not submit to their oversight on anything.
  • Ann Chambers commented on 5/31/2012
    I do not think the United Nations should be regulating the Internet, I think that is really a threat to the soverignty of each country, who should be enforcing their own rules and regulations.
  • Edward Rankin commented on 5/31/2012
    The United Nations should not be given any authority to regulate anything in any sovereign country.
  • Brady Lowder commented on 5/31/2012
    Mr Forbes Sir, this is almost a trick question to me. No of course the UN should not have any internet regulation authority, But it is a much deeper matter than that. The UN should not have any authority at all over anything at all at least not with regards to the United States. The United Nations is nothing more than a commUNist Foreign Government with no defined soil boundaries. Simply reading the UN Charter or the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is more than enough to want the United States to have nothing to do with it and to expel that commUNist foreign government from US soil, The US does not need the UN and should never ever yield any of its authority to the UN. So the answer is NO, but with the caveat that the UN is always subordinate to the United States ... Period!
  • Dan Martyn commented on 5/31/2012
    The UN was a good idea at the end of WWII, but it was never and will never be an effective agency for change for the good - even in the conflicts that it has gotten involved in. It is not and never should be a regulating agency for purpose. They have shown themselves time and again to be anti-American and anti-Christian so while they would let porn proliferate they would attempt to shut down Bible-believing web sites in the interest of either "hate" or "political correctness".
  • Ben Rogerson commented on 5/31/2012
    The U.N. should be defunded and moved to another country. The U.N. is useless and a platform for socialists/communist/statist countries and tyrannts. It is time for the United States to withdraw from the U.N. and cut all funding to it an other countries not friendly to the U.S. or that is not in our national security interest. The U.N. should not be given any authority to regulate anything.
  • Leigh Phelps commented on 6/1/2012
    We're giving more and more power to an organization that does not like the U.S. After this what's next? I'd like to see us get out. In fact I'd like to see the UN out of NY and out of America all together. This administration is giving the appearance that it would rather do away with our military and let the UN handle everything, even within our borders.
  • Todd Kennedy commented on 6/10/2012
    No one should be able to regulate the internet whether it is the UN or the US government. Anyone who wants to censor or alter the internet should not be involved in making laws. Vote them out, ALL of them!
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