NationStates Jolt Archive

As everything else is being trotted out...


Taking the UN Virtual
A resolution to increase democratic freedoms.
Category: The Furtherment of Democracy
Strength: Significant

NOTING WITH REGRET the cost of travel and lodging, and the unbalanced burden this places on the smaller, less economically stalwart members of the UN;

EXPECTING that if the thousands of member nations do not have to physically send representatives to UN HQ, that there will be a drop in pollution caused by transportation (especially air travel), which will help nations fulfil their environmental obligations as set out in previous resolutions;

NOTING WITH REGRET an increase in acts of violence between UN members, particularly during strong, emotional debate;

FULLY AWARE of the question of funding a UN building and all its requirements (staff, rent, utilities);

HAVING EXAMINED the availability of global communications technology and it's relative inexpensive nature as opposed to the above costs;

NOTING the nature of the UN to make unfunded mandates which member nations then implement at their own cost;

Therefore, the UN hereby

SUPPORTS those nations which give economic assistance to industries which deal in Information Technology, and make such technology available to the greater public, particularly to the less economically gifted members of the United Nations;

AUTHORIZES that the nature of the UN be altered from only a "face-to-face" venture, to include meetings within cyberspace, on UN protected websites and within UN chat rooms;

PROCLAIMS that through the usage of webcams and equivalent technology, all delegates from all "virtually attending" member nations may have an equal presence within the UN for purposes of quorum and all other facets requiring attendance;

DECLARES ACCORDINGLY that through the use of real-time security identification technologies available to the UN, each member's “virtual presence” will be confirmed and verified to the limits of the technology available;

REQUESTS that the UN shall transcribe and archive all proceedings on these chat rooms and make them available to the public;

FURTHER REQUESTS that all transcriptions be made fully searchable by the most modern means available;

RECOMMENDS the employment of state-of-the-art electronic security systems by the UN to prevent the successful use of viruses, hacking, and other malicious computer programs and activities against the virtual UN and its voting and debating systems.

FURTHER RECOMMENDS that the UN shall allow any and all media outlets from all member states to observe and record proceedings in the UN - "live", virtual, and those involving both aspects - which are not closed for security reasons, the better to make the proceedings of the UN available to a greater proportion of its constituent public;

NOTES this does not remove the presence of face-to-face meetings at the UN, but rather seeks to increase the scope of "valid" meetings and "valid" presences at UN gatherings and the amount of information freely available to the citizens of all member states.

I love it. We stopped the frying panning a wile back anyway….

Lady Desdemona of Merwell,
Senior UN representative,
The Black New World,
Delegate to The Order of The Valiant States

But how will the Strangers' Bar work? Sure, I haven't been there a while, but still.

But how will the Strangers' Bar work? Sure, I haven't been there a while, but still.

It doesn't preclude face to face meetings. It just suggests that meetings can take place in other ways.

I think it is a very good idea :}

Thank you.

Thank you.

I met my husband on line, and we talked for around two years before we actually met. If I can do that with my personal life then I can certainly do it for national and international government :}

A few questions: Who will fund this endeavor? What security measures will be taken to ensure that virtual face-to-face meetings that might be of a sensitive nature will be safe from prying eyes? Or will sensitive meetings not be allowed over the virtual UN? If the latter's the case, I don't really see the point of having a virtual UN at all...

A few questions: Who will fund this endeavor? What security measures will be taken to ensure that virtual face-to-face meetings that might be of a sensitive nature will be safe from prying eyes? Or will sensitive meetings not be allowed over the virtual UN? If the latter's the case, I don't really see the point of having a virtual UN at all...



SUPPORTS those nations which give economic assistance to industries which deal in Information Technology, and make such technology available to the greater public, particularly to the less economically gifted members of the United Nations;

and


DECLARES ACCORDINGLY that through the use of real-time security identification technologies available to the UN, each member's “virtual presence” will be confirmed and verified to the limits of the technology available;

and


RECOMMENDS the employment of state-of-the-art electronic security systems by the UN to prevent the successful use of viruses, hacking, and other malicious computer programs and activities against the virtual UN and its voting and debating systems.

and


NOTING WITH REGRET the cost of travel and lodging, and the unbalanced burden this places on the smaller, less economically stalwart members of the UN;

EXPECTING that if the thousands of member nations do not have to physically send representatives to UN HQ, that there will be a drop in pollution caused by transportation (especially air travel), which will help nations fulfil their environmental obligations as set out in previous resolutions;


I love it when the answers are in the document itself.

Heh, she's so snotty isn't she? Yikes. :rolleyes:

No, they're not actually in the document, Vastiva, which is why I will ask again: Where does the funding come from for this program?

Your document only says that funding will be used, not that there is funding.

Your entire proposal is a bunch of pretty language, not actually divulging anything of great substance.

What type of technologies are going to be used... you say they're being used, but you aren't detailing what exactly is special about the technology being used to secure the communication.

In the long haul, it would be cheaper to fly in UN Delegates rather than employ vast masses of technology that is neither available or capable of protecting some of the sensitive natures the UN delves in.

1. With technology being what it is, to mandate the use of any particular technology would immediately relegate the UN nations to using outdated equipment. If you can come up with a way of stating what technology is to be used, taking into account the fluid nature of technology, please suggest it and we shall edit it in the next version.

2. Funding is in the "SUPPORTS" Clause - as in, to support native industries. This is an internal action, which creates another medium of contact. It is not a "the UN provides" construct. All the UN provides is the methods within its walls, which would be supported by the same budget that pays for water and heat in the UN building.


Finally, Tuesday, it is not our intent to "make you look" like anything. It is our intent to point out your questions are already answered in the proposal itself.

Eh, I still don't think this proposal is worthy of the UN's consideration. Saying that its budge will be taken out of the same as "water and heat" suggests that the organization has billions of dollars to waste away on this project. Since the UN is mandating that this technology be in place, it's only logical to assume it would need to fund it as well, or else not all countries could participate and as such it would isolate nations.

Nevertheless, you've answered my questions, and unfortunately, I will voice my opinion to my UN Delegate friends to not support this proposal.

Very well, how would you fix?

Very well, how would you fix?

I say this from experience, with my resolution: "Freedom of Press." Many nations complained, after the fact, that their was no way to fund what the proposal itself sought to do. It was "colorful language," IIRC one poster saying, and as such, I view this proposal as that, too.

My main problem lies in the funding. Even if this entire idea is funded by individual nations, the language still seeks out to make it a mandate that all UN nations would be bound at some point, possibly, to participate in a virtual UN. That begs the question: What about countries that don't have an Information Technology (IT) sector? What about countries that don't have any up-to-date modern computer technology but might be, at some point, needing to us the virtual UN as a means to communicate with the body? What happens to them?

That was my primary reason why I asked about funding, because I understand that most countries - like my own - could completely fund this internally.

Perhaps, something along the line that the UN would sponsor funding, on a volunteer basis from its members, to support countries underdeveloped to use this technology if needed?

I mean, let's face it, I'm sure there's even members of the UN who use no computer technology in their countries whatsoever for whatever reason; to me, anyway, part of this proposal would limit them from using it at all, which is a no-no, IMHO.

I only bring this up because I faced the same criticisms when my proposal made it into queue. I didn't take into account that countries might not have the right technology or means to carry out the proposed resolution.

It made it into the vote anyway, but, I still wish I would've heeded some advice and fixed it before it made the final draft... then again, there's always repeals. ;)

Yea... noting how this is near the end of quorum and -may- hit vote I was wondering. This is going to be secure how now? I see two options.

1. This is based off the technology of RL. In this instance this is a horrible idea. It would be completely undefendable and the UN would get hacked repeatedly. "State of the art" security just means "Hasn't been patched for bugs yet" technology. This kind of software would require millions of lines of code. You'd have buffer overflows, stolen passwords, backdoor spying, and god knows what.

2. This is based on some RP technology and the whole virtual UN is protected by Black ICE or something. In this case go for it.