On December 3, World Conference on International Telecommunications has started in Dubai. As the conference that only invites governments to its discussions starts, many experts, including ISOC and Google, fear that its outcome can have an overwhelming impact on the Internet.
WCIT has gathered ITU members from 193 countries to discuss proposed changes to the new telecommunication treaty. The previous version of the treaty was adopted in 1988, while the proposed changes will inevitably address the Internet and its community.
"Only governments have a voice at the ITU. This includes governments that do not support a free and open Internet. Engineers, companies, and people that build and use the web have no vote", says Vint Cerf, chief Internet evangelist at Google. Google itself notes that "the ITU is the wrong place to make decisions about the future of the Internet".
ISOC experts say that not only they have "a strong hope that the results of the WCIT will enable the continuing growth and innovation of international telecommunications", but also "significant concerns that its outcome could undermine the innovation of networks around the world".
While Fadi Chehade, ICANN CEO, spoke at the opening, the discussions at conference still include only government members, with no way for the public to view proposals of the member countries – until recently, when all the conference documents have appeared at WCITLeaks.org.
WCIT will continue on to December 14.
