WEBVTT 00:00:00.215 --> 00:00:03.874 The Internet gives us the freedom, to talk with friends, make art, 00:00:03.874 --> 00:00:09.693 start a business or speak out against our governments, all on an unprecedented scale. 00:00:09.709 --> 00:00:10.453 This isn't a coincidence. 00:00:10.453 --> 00:00:13.553 The Internet’s design came out of open inclusive discussions 00:00:13.553 --> 00:00:16.717 by a global community of scientists and engineers, 00:00:16.717 --> 00:00:19.869 so there was no pressure from above to lock it down. 00:00:19.869 --> 00:00:23.202 But now an obscure UN body controlled by governments is making a play, 00:00:23.202 --> 00:00:27.808 to become the new place where the Internet’s future gets decided. 00:00:27.808 --> 00:00:31.578 It's called the International Telecommunication Union (or ITU). 00:00:31.578 --> 00:00:34.480 And in December the worlds governments will meet, to decide whether to, 00:00:34.480 --> 00:00:38.520 expand its mandate to making important decisions about the net. 00:00:38.520 --> 00:00:42.770 This poses a threat to freedom of expression on-line everywhere. 00:00:42.770 --> 00:00:44.826 Here's why. First the basics. 00:00:44.826 --> 00:00:48.160 Nobody owns the Internet. 00:00:48.160 --> 00:00:50.713 It's a collection of independent networks around the world. Anybody can build one. 00:00:50.713 --> 00:00:56.357 The common standards, on which the Internet was build, grew out of open on-line discussions, 00:00:56.357 --> 00:01:00.311 not on the priorities of a particular government or company. 00:01:00.311 --> 00:01:02.901 But now let's meet the ITU! 00:01:02.901 --> 00:01:08.314 First the ITU is old. Really old. Not CD’s old, not rotary phone old, 00:01:08.314 --> 00:01:11.890 telegraph old as in Morse code. 00:01:11.890 --> 00:01:15.943 When founded in 1865 it was called the International Telegraph Union. 00:01:15.943 --> 00:01:20.583 Unlike the Internet the ITU was not build on open discussion among scientists and engineers. 00:01:20.583 --> 00:01:23.499 Instead only governments have a vote at the ITU. 00:01:23.499 --> 00:01:26.727 And these votes take place behind closed doors. 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, 00:01:31.116 --> 00:01:34.668 an old school, top down, government centric organisation 00:01:34.668 --> 00:01:37.763 replacing, the open bottom up governance, 00:01:37.763 --> 00:01:40.172 that made the Internet so world changing. 00:01:40.172 --> 00:01:42.459 And that's just the beginning of our problems. 00:01:42.459 --> 00:01:45.120 The ITU is not transparent. 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. 00:01:52.602 --> 00:01:58.412 They get to make decisions about our Internet, without us even knowing... what they're discussing, 00:01:58.412 --> 00:02:00.660 and then tell us, once the decision is made. 00:02:00.660 --> 00:02:04.414 What kinds of decisions will be considered at the ITU meeting this December? 00:02:04.414 --> 00:02:07.031 Well here's some actual proposals, that have leaked: 00:02:07.031 --> 00:02:10.604 cutting of Internet access for a number of broadly defined reasons; 00:02:10.604 --> 00:02:13.566 violating international human rights norms; 00:02:13.566 --> 00:02:19.939 giving governments more power to monitor Internet traffic and impose regulations on how traffic is sent; 00:02:19.939 --> 00:02:21.937 defining Spam so broadly that they could justify blocking anything 00:02:21.937 --> 00:02:27.155 from photos of cute cats to human rights campaigns. 00:02:27.155 --> 00:02:30.647 And new rules, to charge on-line content providers, to reach users. 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. 00:02:36.197 --> 00:02:40.553 But the really scary part: the countries pushing hardest for ITU control, 00:02:40.553 --> 00:02:43.917 are the same countries that aggressively censor the Internet. 00:02:43.917 --> 00:02:48.628 In Russia making a YouTube video against the government can get you two years in jail. 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 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. 00:03:03.396 --> 00:03:06.376 Now the ITU isn't all bad. 00:03:06.376 --> 00:03:11.121 They help the developing world establish telecommunication networks and expand high speed broadband connections. 00:03:11.121 --> 00:03:14.274 And existing Internet governance isn't perfect. 00:03:14.274 --> 00:03:17.962 The United States has out-sized influence and authority when it comes to this. 00:03:17.962 --> 00:03:21.148 But, we need to fix these problems, in a way that preserves 00:03:21.148 --> 00:03:24.223 the openness, pragmatism and bottom-up governance, 00:03:24.223 --> 00:03:26.356 that made the Internet so great. 00:03:26.356 --> 00:03:31.430 This December our governments meet, to make their final decisions about the Internet’s future. 00:03:31.430 --> 00:03:34.479 It's up to us Internet users, in every country of the world, 00:03:34.479 --> 00:03:37.589 to tell them: to stand for the open Internet. 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. 00:03:42.927 --> 00:03:45.000 Help us share this video 00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:46.981 and visit this site, to speak out 00:03:46.981 --> 00:03:48.625 and contact your government right now! 00:03:48.625 --> 00:03:51.848 Let's use the Internet’s global reach to save it! 00:03:51.848 --> 00:04:07.400 Tell your leaders to oppose handing over key decisions about the Internet to the ITU.