On Sept 30, 2016 our internet will be transferred. Unless you say No.

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control of the internet, data privacy, Globalization, ICANN, ICANN Internet Globalization Agenda, ICANNs Governmental Advisory Committee, internet censorship, Internet Commerce Association ICANN, internet transfer, UN, UNESCO, United Nations, World Wide Web

Missouri Education Watchdog by Cheri Kiesecker

ith so much media attention drawn to other events, you may not know that on Sept. 30, 2016 the United States is set to hand over control of US internet to global authority.  It’s complicated. There are reasons to not privatize the internet, not allow global control; yet there are reasons to remove the US stronghold of the internet after revelations of abuse and US surveillance.   However, because the general public has not sufficiently been informed, because there appear to be back room deals and because the internet is SO important economically, socially, globally, in every sector, we think this transfer of US internet control should not happen quietly and should not happen during an election year when the public is not aware, not fully apprised of its impact. Importantly, there is no guarantee of internet freedom of speech, privacy and security written into this transfer.

The transfer of internet rights is not to be taken lightly

Imagine an internet where you cannot access certain sites, such as news sites or Twitter, Google, or DNCLeaks or Facebook. Imagine instead, an internet that could be censored, like currently is the situation in China or Russia or Iran.  Why would the US transfer the oversight of our internet to countries outside of the US?  Once control is abdicated and the internet authority is transferred out of US borders,  our US Laws, our US Constitution and guaranteed Freedom of sSeech would no longer apply.  Censorship-free Internet access is an American right, but perhaps not for long, especially, critics say,  if the internet will be under UN control.

This push to give away oversight of our internet has been in the works for several years.  In 2014, Robert Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a nonpartisan tech-focused D.C. think tank, wrote that  in transferring internet control, the U.S. was effectively giving up its “bodyguard” role. “While on the surface this may seem like a simple administrative decision that gives more control over this key Internet function to more stakeholders, it could actually have far reaching negative implications for the freedom and security of the Internet,” he wrote.

Fast forward to today, two years later, where the same concerns of  internet censorship, security, and privacy rights remain, yet the transfer of  US internet authority is scheduled to go through at midnight on September 30, 2016, UNLESS  Congress creates and passes a bill to block it[…]

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