国际电信世界大会召开 互联网规则成焦点

The question of who rules the Internet and how is being debated at a 12-day conference in Dubai.

互联网谁说了算？如何说了算？迪拜举行的一个为期12天的会议正早探讨这些问题。

The World Conference on International Telecommunications, which started Monday, aims to draft a new treaty to underpin international telecommunications regulations. The current rules were put in place in 1988. The conference is sponsored by the International Telecommunication Union, the United Nations agency for information and communication technologies.

本周一开幕的国际电信世界大会(World Conference on International Telecommunications)意在起草加强国际电信规定的新协议。现今规定实施于1988年。这次大会由联合国下属的信息通讯技术机构国际电信联盟(International Telecommunication Union)主办。

The bid to change the rule book has unleashed fears of a grab for centralized control of the Internet by the U.N. The process has also come under criticism for its lack of transparency.

此次欲改变规则手册的努力引发外界担心，联合国有意争抢互联网的集中控制权。另外，改变规则手册也因缺乏程序透明性而受到批评。

Among the most vocal critics are U.S. Internet companies like Google Inc.

其中，批评声音最大的当属谷歌公司(Google Inc.)等美国互联网企业。

Google launched a campaign last month calling for Internet users to lobby their governments to denounce the conference as the wrong forum to decide the future of the Internet.

谷歌上月发起了一项运动，呼吁网民游说本国政府谴责国际电信世界大会，说这不是决定互联网未来的适当场合。

'Only governments have a voice at the ITU,' Google wrote on its Take Action website. 'This includes governments that do not support a free and open Internet.'

谷歌在其名为“Take Action(采取行动)的网站上写道：在国际电信联盟只有政府才有话语权，包括那些不支持自由、开放互联网的国家。

A key battleground at the conference will be a proposal from Russia and several African nations to wrest control of the Internet from Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers, or Icann, an organization that helps oversee the Internet, and other groups that are primarily based in the U.S.

这届大会的“主战场将是对俄罗斯和几个非洲国家提议的争论。这些国家认为，应从互联网名称与编号分配机构(Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers，简称：Icann)等总部位于美国的组织手里夺取对互联网的控制权。Icann是个帮助监管互联网的组织。

The Russian proposal, leaked on a website set up to counter the lack of transparency, calls for countries to 'have equal rights to manage their Internet including in regard to the allotment, assignment and reclamation of Internet numbering, naming addressing and identification resources.'

俄罗斯的提议在一个反对缺乏透明性的网站上泄出。该提议呼吁各国在分配、转让和回收互联网编号、地址命名和识别资源等方面拥有管理国际互联网的平等权利。

Other proposals put forward by India and some countries from Africa and the Middle East include allowing telecom operators to charge Internet content companies -- such as Facebook Inc. and Google's YouTube -- a premium for transmitting data across national borders.

印度和非洲、中东等部分国家也提出了相应建议，如允许电信运营商对社交网络Facebook Inc.和谷歌旗下视频网站YouTube等互联网内容提供商收费，算是对跨国界传输数据的额外收费。

That would help telecom companies fund the high cost of upgrading networks to enable them to carry the surge in data expected from smartphones capable of streaming video, they argue.

这些国家坚称，此举有助于电信公司为高昂的网络升级成本提供资金支持，从而使它们能够承受数据流量的激增。由于智能手机可播放流媒体，预计会出现数据激增现象。

A group of 17 Arab nations, including the United Arab Emirates, is proposing greater control by governments in regulating the Internet and transfer of data. The group is calling for all Internet users to be universally identified, but critics warn of greater monitoring of Internet traffic and censorship in many countries that already block what their citizens can view online.

包括阿拉伯联合酋长国在内的17个阿拉伯国家集体建议，在管理互联网和数据传输方面赋予政府更大的控制权。这些国家呼吁所有互联网用户得到普遍识别，但批评人士警告说，这可能会让已对在线内容实施屏蔽的很多国家拥有更多监控网络流量和进行审查的权利。

'Governments all over the world are seeking to reclaim grip and control that has slipped from them into the hands of empowered individuals,' said Marietje Schaake, a member of the European Parliament.

欧洲议会(European Parliament)成员沙克(Marietje Schaake)说，世界各国都在设法重新获得已从政府手中溜到个人手中的控制权，而个人因互联网而力量大增。

'Some of the proposals made are considered threats to the open Internet, to net neutrality, or to free speech if adopted,' she added.

沙克说，有人认为部分建议如被采纳，将是对开放的互联网、网络中立性或言论自由的威胁。

Despite the political saber-rattling, observers don't expect drastic changes to the way the Internet is run will be agreed on at the Dubai conference. ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Toure has said any changes must be agreed upon by all countries involved.

观察人士认为，尽管存在政治上的威胁，但这届迪拜会议不会对互联网的运行方式做出重大改变。国际电信联盟秘书长托雷(Hamadoun Toure)曾说，任何改变都须得到所有参与国家的同意。

In a last-minute turnaround Monday, the ITU reversed its stance and said it would publish the conference documents.

周一，在大会即将结束的最后一刻出现转向，国际电信联盟突然改变立场，说将发布会议文件。

'The conference documents will be published tomorrow,' said Sarah Parkes, head of public relations for the ITU. 'I can't guarantee it will be every proposal we ever received, but it is what we are now working with.'

国际电信联盟公关部负责人帕克斯(Sarah Parkes)说，周二将发布会议文件，虽不能保证将覆盖我们收到的所有提议，但这是我们现在正在讨论的事项。