WASHINGTON - Secret negotiations involving dozens of countries preparing for a U.N. telecommunications summit could lead to changes in a global treaty that would diminish the Internet's role in economic growth and restrict the free flow of information.
The U.S. delegation to the World Conference on International Telecommunications to be held in Dubai this December is vowing to block any proposals from Russia and other countries that they believe threaten the Internet's current governing structure or give tacit approval to online censorship.
But those assurances have failed to ease fears that bureaucratic tinkering with the treaty could damage the world's most powerful engine for exchanging information, creating jobs and even launching revolutions, say legal experts and civil liberties advocates who have been tracking the discussions.
