<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p></o:p>Do you trust foreign governments more than the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region>? That is the question before us. President Obama seems to be siding with the former when deciding <a href="http://newsmax.com/Headline/obama-internet-iana-united/2010/01/31/id/348514?s=al&amp;promo_code=967E-1">who should control the Internet</a>.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">The Internet is an American invention, one which a large percentage of the world enjoys. But because the entire world uses it - even if it finds the Internet a critical part of their way of life - does not mean we should cede control of it to an unpredictable and fickle council of (sometimes) America-hating bureaucrats.<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">We know how badly Obama wants the rest of the world's governments to like him, what with all the bowing and consistent bad-mouthing of the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> whenever he travels abroad. Another way to achieve his goal is by sharing control of the systems that manage the Internet, currently done by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, an American entity, to foreign countries and government.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">What could go wrong with an organization that counts <st1:country-region w:st="on">Russia</st1:country-region> and <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">China</st1:country-region></st1:place>, not known for their kindness towards dissidents and freedom of speech, having influence over - if not control of - the world's most powerful tool for communication?</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><a href="http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=1670">Cyber attacks that blocked Internet access </a>to and from <st1:country-region w:st="on">Georgia</st1:country-region> in 2008 were coordinated with the armed takeover of a Georgian province by <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Russia</st1:place></st1:country-region>. Greater control of Internet management means easier times manipulating the systems that determine who gets the information they need. Attacks like the one on <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Georgia</st1:place></st1:country-region> would be more likely with international control, not less.<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">What happens when thuggish regimes like <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region>, along with nations that it can influence or control, want to block access to certain sites, or from certain countries, or forbid certain users? <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region> and their ilk already censor information from their citizens. With control of the managing systems of the Internet, that censorship would be far reaching. Any group they or another powerful nation could potentially reek havoc on information sharing. God help <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Israel</st1:place></st1:country-region> if the radical Muslim nations have influence on Internet policy. <st1:country-region w:st="on">Syria</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Iran</st1:country-region>, and others want <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Israel</st1:place></st1:country-region> wiped off the map &ndash; they certainly wouldn&rsquo;t have a problem blocking Internet access.<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">We all know this is part of Obama's dream of global governance, along with such items as climate change and the <st1:street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">World Court</st1:address></st1:street>. But voluntarily surrendering some or all of our control over Internet management is not in our nation&rsquo;s best interest. And isn&rsquo;t a president&rsquo;s job to protect the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region> and do what&rsquo;s best for us, its citizens?<o:p></o:p></p>
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