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BY EVAN THOMAS
ANCHOR NATHAN BYRNE
The U.N. could soon consider additional fees for Internet use, according to documents obtained
by U.N. watchdog group Wcitleaks.
A draft proposal by the European Telecommunications Network Operators Association, or ETNO, advocates
a “sending party pays” method for big names on the Internet. It would levy fees
on high-traffic websites that serve users outside the U.S. Companies like Google and
Netflix could have to pay up.
But the ETNO says it’s not looking for mandatory fees — this is more about fair compensation
for loading down networks. Forbes reports.
“ETNO … stopped short of calling for an actual tax, saying instead that it wants telecommunications
network operators to consider making deals with content providers.”
And The Register points out providers and network operators aren’t necessarily being
forced to pay anything.
“…the documents linked to only permit companies operating networks to negotiate
with content providers for a contribution to the cost of carriage, with nothing mandated
and no governments involved at all.”
But serving traffic in developing countries could very well become prohibitively expensive.
CNET quotes Cisco’s VP of global technology policy.
“Developing countries ‘could effectively be cut off from the Internet,’ says [Robert]
Pepper, a former policy chief at the U.S. Federal Communications Commission. It ‘could
have a host of very negative unintended consequences.’"
News of ETNO’s proposal comes amid recent worries that the U.N. International Telecommunications
Union could take greater regulatory control of the Internet. Free Internet advocates are
calling for greater transparency in the whole process, from regulation to taxation.
Computerworld has a quote from Googler Vint Cerf at a congressional hearing on the ITU’s
plans.
“A lack of transparency to non-governmental groups results in ‘insufficient accountability,"’Cerf
said. ‘It is important for parties to fully understand a process that affects all Internet
users,’ he said.”
Especially when the stakes are so high, says Techdirt.
“…whatever happens here is happening behind the scenes, in backrooms, without public scrutiny.
And, if we're talking about regulating the internet that the public uses so much, that
seems like a pretty big problem.”
ETNO’s fees proposals are slated to go before the ITU this December.