Global Telecom Treaty without Net Control Signed by Eighty Nine Nations

A controversial new global treaty on telecom regulations was signed on 14 December 2012 by 89 International Telecommunication Union member states out of a possible 144 Countries regardless of US objections to prospective regulation of the Internet.

Over 150 nations met in Dubai, under the support of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to update a set of telecom rules of 1988, before the Internet and mobile phones transformed communications. But they failed to draw a conclusion which will lead to a new fight over cyberspace.

Fifty-five countries did not sign the treaty that enters effect in January 2015. A US-led bloc advocated a tolerant approach to the Internet, while Russia, China and much of Africa and the Middle East wanted greater governmental oversight of cyberspace.

The treaty that is the first update to the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs) agreed in 1988, stimulated controversy as Internet operators, activists and countries led by the United States objected to reference to the Internet deemed to be paving the way for government control.

The United States on 13 December 2012 opposed the treaty saying that the proposed text opened the door to government regulation of the Internet.

As per the treaty, the non-binding resolution on the Internet recognises, among other things, that all governments should have an equal role and responsibility for international Internet governance and for ensuring the stability, security and continuity of the existing Internet and its future development and of the future Internet.

As in a previous version, the International Telecom Regulations spell out guidelines on technical issues such as how carriers charge each other for incoming international phone calls, as well as taxation and accounting.
Countries that sign the treaty are supposed to be guided by its principles, although these have no force of law.

US lawmakers had voted unanimously to oppose any efforts to give the United Nations new authority to regulate the Internet, and a variety of Internet activists and US firms, led by Google, also warned against new regulations.

Google had asserted that governments taking part in the meeting in Dubai proved that they wanted increased censorship, and it supported countries rejecting the treaty.