Economy
One of the most controversial aspects of the draft law on Telecommunications, Information Technology and Postal Services is the likelihood of government control over Internet access through a single interconnection node. Digital-communication specialist, Fernando Núñez Noda, confirms that it is technically feasible for government to do so.

He explains that a single access node serves as a hub for the information highway and substantially lowers Internet-access costs.

Internet retailers, instead of connecting to an access node abroad, would be able to do so in Venezuela.

Another positive aspect is increased connection speed. According to Núñez Noda, most Latin American countries with substantial Internet activity use a single access node or IPX.

He adds: "From a technical and strategic standpoint, having an IPX makes sense. The problem lies in political use of this valuable tool."

"With regards to Venezuela, where it is known that government progressively leans toward greater power over the information society, this situation is a cause for concern because single nodes are also used to control Internet traffic."

Government defends the bill
Even if the existence of the draft law on Telecommunications-originally intended to be part of the decrees enacted under the Enabling Law but later forwarded to the National Assembly-has been denied by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, the Minister of Telecommunications and Information Technology, Socorro Hernández, referred to it as "one of the draft laws" and even defended part of the contents revealed by El Universal.

This bill establishes that "Government shall develop a single interconnection node or Internet access node for Internet service providers to manage traffic originating from and intended for the geographical space of the Republic..."

In an interview with CNB, Hernández wondered "Why do our communications have to go through Miami? Why do they need to be directed from there? …Why do we not carry out our communications from here?  … Our communications are unnecessarily channeled through that node."

In reply, Núñez Noda voices his concern: "What worries me the most is that, in light of the government's attitude toward private business, it seems highly unlikely that a single node may be used to lower the costs of small-sized service providers. It seems to me that this move may be aimed at establishing some sort of control over Internet traffic."

Exercising control
To the question as to how government could control the Internet through an access node, Núñez metaphorically explains: "Picture water being distributed to a city through a single pipeline and then being diverted to pumping stations for specific zones and, from there, being channeled to even smaller stations for different neighborhoods. Whoever controls that main pipeline may shut it down at any time and leave everybody without access to water. That is precisely what whoever controls that single Internet access node may do; everyone using the Web is required to pass through that node."

He adds that "in the event of an emergency or a situation that government may believe to pose a danger against national security, it may disable the Internet".

Could government also restrict Internet content? "Technically speaking, it could," answers Núñez Noda and adds that "filtering software allows websites to be blocked at will." Therefore, the government could "make a list of websites that it may deem improper or inconvenient."

Nevertheless, international standards enacted by authorities controlling access nodes and IPX servers establish that the parties who administrate those nodes, whether publicly or privately, may not filter their content.

rtheis@eluniversal.com

Translated by Félix Rojas

Reyes Theis