Iran, Cuba dictate Internet rules.

• Author: Swartz, Nikki
• Position: Up front: news, trends & analysis

Earlier this year, Cuba arrested 75 so-called dissidents--a group that included 26 independent journalists--and sentenced them to 28 years in prison for "crimes" that included possessing a tape recorder, having an unauthorized copying machine, or publishing articles in the foreign media. More recently, Iran arrested a Canadian photojournalist for taking pictures of a political demonstration at a Tehran prison; she later died in her cell from head trauma sustained after allegedly being beaten into a coma by Iranian police.

Now, these repressive regimes are playing a key role in drafting new United Nations-backed rules on the worldwide use of the Internet that could be passed at the World Summit on the Information Society, scheduled for December in Geneva and organized by the U.N. Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International Telecommunication Union. Their proposed rules, if adopted, would not only allow but also encourage widespread Web censorship as well as increased state control of TV and radio.

According to the Miami Herald, some of the most disturbing suggestions for regulating the Internet are being proposed by Cuba and include:

* adding to the summit's Declaration of Principles paragraph calling for universal and affordable access to the Internet the words, "in conformity with domestic legislation of each country"--language that would advocate state control of the medium

* changing the document's paragraph about Internet domain names and other oversight...