THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume VIII, Issue # 37, February 18, 2006
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
A MAJOR ITEM ON THE UNITED NATIONS AGENDA:
GAINING CONTROL OF THE WORLD'S THE LAST FREE VOICE
By Tom DeWeese
THE UNITED NATIONS & INTERNET CONTROL: THE UNRELENTING ENDEAVOR OF THE UN TO ACQUIRE CONTROL OF THE
INTERNET, THE LAST FREE VOICE IN THE WORLD -- THE OBJECTIVE: CENSORSHIP OF THE CONTENT OF THE INFORMATION
PROVIDED ON THE INTERNET -- REGULATING & RESTRICTING THE FLOW OF IDEAS -- DESTROYING FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
& THE FREE MARKET IN INFORMATION DISSEMINATION
FULL STORY:
The American people simply have no idea what it’s like to live in a totalitarian society. We go where we want; watch movies
and television shows of any kind; start new businesses on a whim; shop in huge supermarkets that carry any item imaginable;
even sit in public places and say anything we want about political leaders.
Today in our modern society, many of us sit at our computer for hours on end sending e-mails, corresponding, web surfing,
researching, subscribing to web sites, gaining information, booking hotels and airline reservations, buying gifts, even creating
personal web sites – or blogs – where any average citizen can vent on the political issues of the day and send it to the world.
Frankly, there is simply no end to what we Americans can do sitting in our own homes behind our trusty computer. The
Internet is fast becoming the most valued root of our free society.
To better understand the vast scope of such American freedom, contrast it with a recent news story out of Beijing, China. The
Associated Press (AP) report details how the Communist government has forced Microsoft Corporation to shut down
the Internet journal of a Chinese blogger who discussed “politically sensitive” issues, including a recent strike at a Beijing
newspaper.
The AP report says:
“Although Beijing has supported Internet use for education and business,
it fiercely polices content. Filters block objectionable foreign Web sites,
and regulations ban perceived subversive or pornographic content and
require service providers to enforce censorship rules.”
In its defense, poor Microsoft admits to being a pawn to whatever gang of thugs is in charge. “When we operate in markets
around the world, we have to ensure that our service complies with global laws as well as local laws and norms,” said Brooke
Richardson, Microsoft spokeswoman.
Of course, the “local norm” in Communist China is to ban anything that criticizes the brutal totalitarian government. The
Communists call literature like the Declaration of Independence “pornographic.” The fact that Microsoft caved so quickly on
this obvious censorship, for fear of losing the Chinese market, speaks volumes about corporate globalism, which pledges no
allegiance to any country or idea other than profit for profit's sake.
Imagine what would have happened, had the Bush administration even remotely suggested any form of censorship of the
Internet. Microsoft would have had their well-paid lawyers, lobbyists, and public relations people on a full frontal assault
against the very idea. They would have done it because they don’t fear the U.S. government and so they can. Not so in
Communist China.
But imagine what could have been accomplished in Communist China, had Microsoft worried less about losing a market and
more about gaining some freedom for an oppressed people. Imagine if Microsoft had reacted to the Communist order by
refusing to comply, shutting down its operation in China, and using its formidable press operation to tell why. China would
have blinked and quite possibly relented.
Why is the China story so important? To fully understand, switch to another recent news story. That story is the unrelenting
endeavor of the United Nations to gain control of the Internet. Things got serious in the UN’s bid last November at an
international confab held in Tunis.
Focus of the meeting was a desire by several UN member nations to wrestle control of the Internet from the U.S.- based
International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a quasi-governmental non-profit organization that
oversees the day-to-day operation of the Internet. ICANN doesn’t control who uses the Internet and it doesn’t censor content.
It’s a free market and ICANN’s mission is to preserve it as such. To make it even better, though today it operates under an
agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce, in November, 2006, ICANN will actually become a fully private corporation,
breaking all of its governmental ties.
The UN argues that the Internet is international in scope and needs much grander oversite. Who better to handle the chore, of
course, than the body that fancies itself an international government? The Internet, as the greatest source of information and
human involvement, is fast becoming the biggest international prize. It offers the UN huge opportunity for creating tax
revenues and controlling commerce. It is also the place to control the flow of ideas. What totalitarian can resist a bid to control
the Internet?
At the Tunis meeting, the assault on ICANN was fierce, but the Bush administration thought it was able to argue its way out --
for the time being keeping ICANN in control. However, the administration made a fatal error when it agreed to let the UN create
a permanent standing body called the “Internet Governance Forum” (IGF), which intends to keep up a longterm campaign to
finally achieve UN control over the Internet.
And what will happen to the free Internet, once the UN takes control. Go back to the top of this story and simply replace the
words “Communist China” with “the UN.” What corporation will then oppose such censorship?
Moreover, what censorship can we expect? Here’s a good example: Hate talk. We’ve all heard discussions about it. Most of us
shake our heads in agreement that it just shouldn’t be allowed. Even pro-family groups argue that there should be some law,
some control over it.
What is hate talk? Many have been led to think of some racist diatribe from the Ku Klux Klan, or perhaps some neo-Nazi
skinheads engaged in gay bashing. The latest examples of hate talk, we’re told, have been aimed at those of Arab descent. But
most readers may be surprised to learn that such “hate talks” aren’t the most -- er -- hateful, according to numerous UN
members.
Real hate crimes, according to Red China, Red Cuba, Red Vietnam and their ilk, are words spoken against the international
proletariat. In other words, talk against Communist oppression is hate talk.
In addition, attacks on labor unions, radical environmentalism, gun control, sustainable development, and abortion are
considered divisive and hateful. Support of the Christian religion and the Ten Commandments are radical and divisive.
Advocating limited government control over our lives is divisive and counter-productive – hateful. Any pro-Israel utterance
is hateful. Any criticism of Islamic fundamentalism is hateful.
Imagine a United Nations committee assigned to oversee the Internet, a UN committee which is made up of representatives of
Communist China or an Islamic nation like Saudi Arabia. These oppressive nations are doing everything possible to ban
uncontrolled Internet access in their countries. In fact, the only access permitted to the public in China is through Internet
cafes where the computers are registered and inspected by the government.
The UN, or an oppressive nation-state like China, seeking Internet control is particularly interested in gaining access to our
personal records.
China certainly isn’t interested in protecting the Internet security of other nations, or of stopping viruses. China is now
spending billions to build a new department for its military, a department specifically for the purpose of destroying computer
systems of China's enemies, doing so through the use of computer viruses.
What, then, is the real reason the United Nations seeks control of the Internet? Why is it particularly interested in gaining
access to our personal records? What the UN wants is control of the last free voice in the world.
The Internet is the voice of freedom in the United States of America. It’s the tool that has enabled the forces of freedom to
circumvent the stranglehold of the elite media. It has become a way to issue alerts to stop or expose pending legislation. It is
a way to search for documents. Parents have used the Internet effectively to expose globalist school curricula and gain
access to secret evaluation tests used on their children.
The Internet is also the voice of freedom around the world. Third world people, living under oppressive dictatorships, are able
to gain access to information and truth. While many Americans now forget the revolutionary ideals of a freedom spoken by
our Founding Fathers to those living in the darkness of oppression, the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights are
the light of hope. Remember that the students who rallied for freedom in China’s Tianamen Square a decade ago were clutching
the Declaration of Independence in their hands as they were crushed under Communist tanks. The forces of oppression fear
the Internet. That’s why they now seek to control it.
Keep in mind, too, that the title of the Tunis UN Summit, which openly sought Internet control, was the “World Summit on the
Information Society.” Its purpose, besides grabbing control of the Internet, was to set internationally “acceptable boundaries
to freedom of expression.” Acceptable to whom? Control of the Internet by any government force puts it up for grabs by
whatever gang of thugs is in control. Why did the United States even participate in such a sham?
Regardless of whether or not the forces of darkness succeeded in taking control of the Internet at the Tunis Summit, the
agenda is on the table. The IGF will float trial balloons to check the strength and vigilance of the forces of freedom. As soon as
they detect a weakness, they will strike.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
The United Nations & Its Agencies
Tom DeWeese is the Publisher and Editor of The DeWeese Report and President of the American Policy Center, a
grassroots activist think tank headquartered in Warrenton, Virginia. The Center maintains an Internet website at
www.americanpolicy.org.
Copyright 2006 Tom DeWeese
Published with Permission of Tom DeWeese
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