Computer Firms Warn ITU Against Heavy Hand on Cybersecurity

Computer companies are warning against efforts at the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference (PP-14) in Busan, South Korea, to expand ITU's role in cybersecurity, privacy and technical coordination, saying ITU lacks both a "rapid" and "steady" commitment "of expertise and resources."

In a blog post Sunday (Oct. 26), the Information Technology Industry Council (ITIC), said that while the conference was an opportunity to discuss cyber-related issues, it was concerned about some proposals "floating around the conference."

ITIC, whose members include Microsoft, Apple, Google, Dell, IBM, Samsung, Motorola, Qualcomm and a host of others, said the following proposals should definitely not come out of the conference: binding treaties on international security or cybersecurity; any actions, like technical mandates—that reduce the flexibility of response to cybersecurity challenges; cybersecurity standardization including partnering with other standards development organizations, which works against "natural specialization" of self-organizing stakeholder groups.

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John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.