ITU Approves Deep Packet Inspection 152
dsinc sends this quote from Techdirt about the International Telecommunications Union's ongoing conference in Dubai that will have an effect on the internet everywhere:
"One of the concerns is that decisions taken there may make the Internet less a medium that can be used to enhance personal freedom than a tool for state surveillance and oppression. The new Y.2770 standard is entitled 'Requirements for deep packet inspection in Next Generation Networks', and seeks to define an international standard for deep packet inspection (DPI). As the Center for Democracy & Technology points out, it is thoroughgoing in its desire to specify technologies that can be used to spy on people. One of the big issues surrounding WCIT and the ITU has been the lack of transparency — or even understanding what real transparency might be. So it will comes as no surprise that the new DPI standard was negotiated behind closed doors, with no drafts being made available."
Over My Cold Dead Body (Score:2, Insightful)
Over My Cold Dead Body will the ITU introspect anything of mine.
The ITU, previously known as the CCITT is a body known for promulgating overcomplex incomprehensible standards that no one in their right mind uses.
Now, without sanction, these blowhards are trying to capture regulation and management of the WORKING internet.
Both Corporations and country blocks have found it far too easy to pack/suborn these institutions and then claim control of really important issues like exergy (Climat Change).
As a Swiss, the best thing the US could do for Democracy is to de-fund and send home this den of Dictators, like many things it started off well intentioned but has become a turd.
MFG, omb
Re:End-to-end encryption (Score:4, Insightful)
You terrorist you.
DPI != spying (Score:4, Insightful)
You do not have to do deep packet inspection to spy on traffic. In fact, you have to spy on traffic to do deep packet inspection. The vast majority of information gleaned about people has absolutely nothing to do with traffic filtering. Things like redirecting DNS queries, logging x-forwared-for headers, persistent HTTP connections, are vastly more popular for garnishing user information. It is easier, and much less expensive, to drop information gathering warez on a large number of machines than implementing DPI. DPI is best used to protect networks from stupid people. Yes it is used to filter access. Only a really stupid network engineer would use it for spying.
Re:fucking politicians... (Score:5, Insightful)
Then their little good-ol-boys club should be shuttered in place of an organization with some fucking public oversight, that CAN be policed against this bullshit!
A room of wrinkled old penises whacking off to violating the public trust should never be accepted. Ever!
Re:can you say hell no (Score:5, Insightful)
Handing the Internet's control to the UN eh? (Score:5, Insightful)
I think ITU's action shows the true colour of the United Nation. I think it is simply too dangerous to pass on the control of the Internet to the United Nation.
Re:fucking politicians... (Score:5, Insightful)
Except this is not politicians making these deals. It's unelected bureaucrats, effectively outside the control of the politicians because a senior bureaucrat can do a lot more damage to a politician's career than the other way around.
You don't vote for these people, so they don't care about your opinion.
The treaty they come up with will need to be ratified by each country's politicians, but it'll either go through unannounced and unremarked, or there'll be a convincing 'If you've done nothing wrong you've got nothing to fear' campaign to lull the moron majority into complacence.
I hate to sound defeatist on this, but we are going to have to start building darknets if we want truly free communication in the future.