1 00:00:00,215 --> 00:00:03,874 The Internet gives us the freedom, to talk with friends, make art, 2 00:00:03,874 --> 00:00:09,693 start a business or speak out against our governments, all on an unprecedented scale. 3 00:00:09,709 --> 00:00:10,453 This isn't a coincidence. 4 00:00:10,453 --> 00:00:13,553 The Internet’s design came out of open inclusive discussions 5 00:00:13,553 --> 00:00:16,717 by a global community of scientists and engineers, 6 00:00:16,717 --> 00:00:19,869 so there was no pressure from above to lock it down. 7 00:00:19,869 --> 00:00:23,202 But now an obscure UN body controlled by governments is making a play, 8 00:00:23,202 --> 00:00:27,808 to become the new place where the Internet’s future gets decided. 9 00:00:27,808 --> 00:00:31,578 It's called the International Telecommunication Union (or ITU). 10 00:00:31,578 --> 00:00:34,480 And in December the worlds governments will meet, to decide whether to, 11 00:00:34,480 --> 00:00:38,520 expand its mandate to making important decisions about the net. 12 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:42,770 This poses a threat to freedom of expression on-line everywhere. 13 00:00:42,770 --> 00:00:44,826 Here's why. First the basics. 14 00:00:44,826 --> 00:00:48,160 Nobody owns the Internet. 15 00:00:48,160 --> 00:00:50,713 It's a collection of independent networks around the world. Anybody can build one. 16 00:00:50,713 --> 00:00:56,357 The common standards, on which the Internet was build, grew out of open on-line discussions, 17 00:00:56,357 --> 00:01:00,311 not on the priorities of a particular government or company. 18 00:01:00,311 --> 00:01:02,901 But now let's meet the ITU! 19 00:01:02,901 --> 00:01:08,314 First the ITU is old. Really old. Not CD’s old, not rotary phone old, 20 00:01:08,314 --> 00:01:11,890 telegraph old as in Morse code. 21 00:01:11,890 --> 00:01:15,943 When founded in 1865 it was called the International Telegraph Union. 22 00:01:15,943 --> 00:01:20,583 Unlike the Internet the ITU was not build on open discussion among scientists and engineers. 23 00:01:20,583 --> 00:01:23,499 Instead only governments have a vote at the ITU. 24 00:01:23,499 --> 00:01:26,727 And these votes take place behind closed doors. 25 00:01:26,727 --> 00:01:31,116 If governments succeed, in giving the ITU more power to make decisions about the Internet we get, 26 00:01:31,116 --> 00:01:34,668 an old school, top down, government centric organisation 27 00:01:34,668 --> 00:01:37,763 replacing, the open bottom up governance, 28 00:01:37,763 --> 00:01:40,172 that made the Internet so world changing. 29 00:01:40,172 --> 00:01:42,459 And that's just the beginning of our problems. 30 00:01:42,459 --> 00:01:45,120 The ITU is not transparent. 31 00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:52,602 The ITU's draft proposals aren't public, and it's one country - 1 vote model gives governments all the power. 32 00:01:52,602 --> 00:01:58,412 They get to make decisions about our Internet, without us even knowing... what they're discussing, 33 00:01:58,412 --> 00:02:00,660 and then tell us, once the decision is made. 34 00:02:00,660 --> 00:02:04,414 What kinds of decisions will be considered at the ITU meeting this December? 35 00:02:04,414 --> 00:02:07,031 Well here's some actual proposals, that have leaked: 36 00:02:07,031 --> 00:02:10,604 cutting of Internet access for a number of broadly defined reasons; 37 00:02:10,604 --> 00:02:13,566 violating international human rights norms; 38 00:02:13,566 --> 00:02:19,939 giving governments more power to monitor Internet traffic and impose regulations on how traffic is sent; 39 00:02:19,939 --> 00:02:21,937 defining Spam so broadly that they could justify blocking anything 40 00:02:21,937 --> 00:02:27,155 from photos of cute cats to human rights campaigns. 41 00:02:27,155 --> 00:02:30,647 And new rules, to charge on-line content providers, to reach users. 42 00:02:30,647 --> 00:02:36,197 Which means, less content going to the developing world and blocking sites that don't pay up. 43 00:02:36,197 --> 00:02:40,553 But the really scary part: the countries pushing hardest for ITU control, 44 00:02:40,553 --> 00:02:43,917 are the same countries that aggressively censor the Internet. 45 00:02:43,917 --> 00:02:48,628 In Russia making a YouTube video against the government can get you two years in jail. 46 00:02:48,628 --> 00:02:55,718 In China you can't even get to most social media websites, except the ones controlled by the government and monitored by their censors and informants 47 00:02:55,718 --> 00:03:03,396 And Iran is trying to build its own national Internet and email network, to keep the entire population under its control. 48 00:03:03,396 --> 00:03:06,376 Now the ITU isn't all bad. 49 00:03:06,376 --> 00:03:11,121 They help the developing world establish telecommunication networks and expand high speed broadband connections. 50 00:03:11,121 --> 00:03:14,274 And existing Internet governance isn't perfect. 51 00:03:14,274 --> 00:03:17,962 The United States has out-sized influence and authority when it comes to this. 52 00:03:17,962 --> 00:03:21,148 But, we need to fix these problems, in a way that preserves 53 00:03:21,148 --> 00:03:24,223 the openness, pragmatism and bottom-up governance, 54 00:03:24,223 --> 00:03:26,356 that made the Internet so great. 55 00:03:26,356 --> 00:03:31,430 This December our governments meet, to make their final decisions about the Internet’s future. 56 00:03:31,430 --> 00:03:34,479 It's up to us Internet users, in every country of the world, 57 00:03:34,479 --> 00:03:37,589 to tell them: to stand for the open Internet. 58 00:03:37,589 --> 00:03:42,927 If everyone, who sees this video, speaks out and contacts their government, we've got a chance of winning. 59 00:03:42,927 --> 00:03:45,000 Help us share this video 60 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:46,981 and visit this site, to speak out 61 00:03:46,981 --> 00:03:48,625 and contact your government right now! 62 00:03:48,625 --> 00:03:51,848 Let's use the Internet’s global reach to save it! 63 00:03:51,848 --> 00:04:07,400 Tell your leaders to oppose handing over key decisions about the Internet to the ITU.