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Breaking the US Control over the Internet Prabir Purkayastha

THE NSA skeletons keep tumbling out of the cupboard. Not only were the Brazilian and e!ican "residents# $ %ilma &oussef#s and 'elipe (alder)n#s $ emails and phones hacked* NSA had targeted the 'rench "resident 'rancois Hollande and the +erman (hancellor Angela erkel as well. None of these leaders threatened the security of the ,S or were linked to -terrorists.. %er Spiegel reported that in e!ico* -/n the space of a single year* according to the internal documents* this operation produced 012 classified reports that allowed ,S politicians to conduct successful talks on political issues and to plan international in3estments.4 /n other words* help on international negotiations and in3estment decisions for ,S companies. As we also know* NSA has also broken into the secure ser3ers of Brazilian %epartment of ines and "etrobas* the Brazilian national oil company. "resident %ilma* in her tough ,N speech* termed this break5in as nothing but -industrial espionage.. Along with breaking into the emails of senior political and other go3ernment figures* NSA has also been conducting massi3e ea3esdropping operations on the citizens of countries such as 'rance* +ermany and Spain. "resident Hollande and (hancellor erkel might ha3e forgi3en the NSA for conducting such intrusi3e sur3eillance on its citizens* e!cept for the disclosure that their personal phones were tapped as well. /t is also now known that the ,S Embassy in +ermany was central to bugging of erkel#s phone in cooperation with +(H6#s 7,8#s e9ui3alent of the NSA: listening station in entworth Hill. The ,S has responded by claiming that it is the 'rench and Spanish intelligence agencies that collected this data of its citizens and shared it with the NSA. As the thie3es fall out* now blaming each other* Snowden#s ser3ices to the world in e!posing the global sur3eillance state of the ,S and its allies cannot be understated. APOLOGETIC RESPONSE /n all this global anger on the ,S sur3eillance* /ndia#s response has been almost apologetic. E3en the information that its prime minister* its mission in ;ashington and its ,N diplomats were targets of spying has produced only a muted reaction. Neither has the information that 1.0 billion %N&s 7%ialled Number &ecords: were collected by NSA from the /ndian network in the month of arch alone produced any response. This puts /ndia among the fi3e highest targeted countries and is a much higher number than for 'rance and Spain causing a huge uproar there. This number of records cannot be collected without the acti3e participation of some of the telecom operators in the /ndian network. The 9uestion is which ones or which one< /n Brazil $ according to = +lobo>s reports $ one of the leading American telecom companies helped the NSA to break into the Brazilian and the larger South American network. ;ith two American companies offering data ser3ices in /ndia and one ,8 company owning one of the ma?or pri3ate telecom operators* all of whom are known to be in partnership with NSA and +(H6* this is a 3ery important 9uestion. "articularly* as the current ministers and senior officials of the go3ernment of /ndia belie3e that the pri3ate telecom companies are our first line of defence in cyber security. Has the go3ernment of /ndia thought that they could already be playing offence for NSA and +(H6 and would therefore be really poor defenders of /ndian cyber security< NSA#s tapping into the global telecom network has been greatly helped by the dominance of the ,S /nternet companies* such as +oogle* 'acebook* Twitter* icrosoft* @ahoo* Amazon* etc. This has allowed the NSA gathering of global citizens# data on an unprecedented le3el. /t is the ability to take all data transmission of the

telecommunications network and collate it with the data gathered from the /nternet giants that gi3e NSA its unprecedented ability to spy on the world. ore than A2B of the world#s data and 3oice transmission is either to or passes through the ,S* gi3ing NSA unri3alled access. As is now amply clear* data held by the ,S companies are sub?ect to ,S laws and offer no protection e!cept for ,S citizens. (yber security is not limited to sur3eillance alone. As the attack on /ran centrifuges in Busher showed* it can result in physical damages to plant and e9uipment. Such attacks can take down a country>s grid* water and sewage systems* cause flooding by opening dam gates and e3en set in motion a Bhopal or 'ukushima like disaster. =ne of the most significant aspect of the Snowden disclosures which has not attracted ade9uate attention are the cyber attack targets that =bama has authorised 55 "residential "olicy %irecti3e 02. Such a directi3e implies that foreign networks ha3e been penetrated and their security systems already compromisedC 3ital infrastructure of other countries ha3e been pre5 targeted and waits only a command to trigger a cyber attack. The ,S has blocked all attempts to initiate a cyber war treaty arguing that such a treaty is not enforceable while going ahead with its cyber war preparations. This radically increases the risk of triggering an arms race in cyber space and fracturing the /nternet. INTERNET IN RASTRUCTURE AN! ECOS"STE# ,S control o3er the /nternet is e!ercised in a 3ariety of ways $ through control of the infrastructure on which the /nternet operates* through the dominance of ,S companies o3er the /nternet ser3ices and its ecosystem* as well as through a control of go3ernance* o3ersight and standard setting institutions. All of this combine to ensure the hegemony of the ,S o3er the /nternet. 'or the /nternet to work seamlessly* domain names* and numerical web addresses and network identifiers need to be uni9ue. The management of this critical /nternet resource is e!ercised by /nternet (orporation for Assigned Names and Numbers 7/(ANN: a (alifornia5based non5profit company* under contract from the ,S department of commerce. The legal basis of the entire /nternet naming and numbering system is deri3ed from this single contract. The ,S department of commerce has drawn up what it concei3es is the policy that should e!ists for the /nternet and has a 3eto on any decision of /(ANN. 'urther* as part of this agreement* the most lucrati3e and common top5le3el domains $ .com* .net.* .org $ are with ,S entities* also ensuring ,S legal ?urisdiction o3er all such domains. The ,S department of commerce and /(ANN also control the root ser3ers and the root zone file that comprise the essential part of the addressing system on the /nternet. =f the DE top le3el root name ser3ers* D2 are based out of the ,S* with two in Europe and one in Fapan and none in the de3eloping countries. The root zone file is at the ape! of a hierarchical domain name system $ thereby the ,S go3ernment has complete control o3er this essential part of the /nternet architecture. The technical institutions $ the /nternet Engineering Task 'orce 7/ET': and the /nternet Architecture Board 7/AB:* the /S=(* ;E( $ that set the technical standards and protocols for the /nternet are all dominated by ,S go3ernmental institutions and ,S corporations. The weakening of encryption standards by the NSA is a case in point. 'or e!ample* recently* under pressure from the ,S media companies* ;E( has accepted to discuss introducing %& in HT GH standards* showing again the influence of the ,S in setting standards that help their companies. GLOBAL INTERNET GO$ERNANCE The current internet go3ernance paradigm deri3es from the contract that the ,S has with the ,S department of commerce. All further mechanisms of go3ernance are deri3ed from 3oluntary contracts between /(ANN* 3arious other parties and between themsel3es. This is what the ,S called as -bottom5up go3ernance. in its ;hite "aper in DIIA* embodying what still remains its 3ision of /nternet go3ernance.

There are two problems with contract based /nternet go3ernance. =ne is it has led to essentially pri3atisation and corporatisation of the /nternetC all the entities entering into such contracts are pri3ate companies. This is 3ery much the way the ,S saw the /nternet was to de3elopJ it was to be de3eloped primarily by pri3ate capital 7read ,S capital: and without any other regulatory o3ersight* e!cept of course the ,S department of commerce. The other is that contracts do not and cannot incorporate -human rights. or -so3ereign rights. $ the rights of either indi3iduals or of nations. Any attempt to raise any such issues was seen by the ,S and its spokespersons as a threat to the freedom of e!pression on the /nternet and a conspiracy of countries ranging from (hina to Saudi Arabia. How can infrastructure needed by e3ery country $ for communications and commerce $ operate under a contract from one particular go3ernment< The ;orld Summit on the /nformation Society 7;S/S: 022H had raised this issue and identified the need for enhancing other go3ernments> role in /nternet go3ernance $ Enhanced (ooperation $ as can be seen from the Articles 1A and 1I in the Tunis Agenda. The ;S/S had identified the need for a more participatory structure for other go3ernments* but no such structure has yet materialised. /t is ob3ious that such a body would re9uire a global treaty e!plicitly setting up such a structure and gi3ing it specific ?urisdiction and powers. The /nternet +o3ernance 'orum that was set up after Tunis is a body which can only discuss 3arious issues but take no binding measures. Brazil initiated a process within /BSA for a different form of /nternet go3ernance. /t de3eloped into a %eclaration in Tshwane* South Africa in =ctober 02DD for a multilateral* democratic and transparent /nternet. /t focussed on the -urgent need to operationalise the process of KEnhanced (ooperation# mandated by the Tunis Agenda. of ;S/S and setting up a multilateral body under the ,N for /nternet go3ernance. At the 11th meeting of the ,N +eneral Assembly on =ctober 01* 02DD* /ndia proposed the setting up of a new ,N based body to act as a nodal go3ernance agency of the /nternet. Howe3er* none of these efforts were pursued 3ery seriously by either /BSA or the three countries indi3idually. "ost NSA re3elations* things ha3e changed radically. Brazil has already raised this issue and plans holding a ma?or international conference in April* 02DL. A number of organisations connected to /nternet go3ernance $ such as /(ANN* /ET'* /AB* the ;E(* /S=( and the fi3e regional /nternet address registries $ met in ,ruguay on =ctober M* 02DE and issued a statement distancing themsel3es from the ,S go3ernment and its actions and calling for an -en3ironment in which all stakeholders* including all go3ernments* participate on an e9ual footing.4 ;hile this is indeed welcome* the issue still remains that unless such a globalisation of /nternet go3ernance takes place under a treaty based framework* the rights of people or of countries cannot be protected. Alternati3ely* /nternational Telecom ,nion remains the only other international body that can take up these issues.

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