By A.M. Rutkowski
It is 12 weeks and counting to WCIT-12 – to a treaty conference, where the nations of the world will assemble in Dubai to consider the continued existence of one of the ultimate anachronisms in international law, the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs). The treaty had its origins in 1850 when government monopoly ministries stitched together the telegraph networks of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The treaty basics have changed little since. Yet paradoxically, most nations plan to participate in the bizarre exercise in Dubai.
The prev
ious WCIT in 1988 should have been the last one. It was an attempt to put an end to the vestigial monopoly cartel that controlled the use of international telecommunication circuits. For the previous 138 years – through a combination of WCIT treaties coupled with technical and tariff specifications – an open market for providing any kind of telecommunication services was restricted to an elite club that was obliged to play by their rules. (See the timeline.)