FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell penned a warning about the potential for greater U.N. control over the Internet in a Wall Street Journal op-ed on Tuesday.

The United Nations is set to discuss Internet governance in Geneva on Feb. 27, which could lead to increased regulation of the Internet by the International Telecommunications Union. The ITU was established in the mid-1800s (it was originally called the International Telegraph Union) to regulate and facilitate international communication and became a U.N. agency established in 1947. McDowell holds that this would be a dangerous step toward censorship and cautions that it could inhibit Web innovation. Further, he claims that countries like Russia and China are looking to establish such Internet governance by the end of the year — and the effects would be disastrous:

To read this Slate report in full, see:
www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2012/02/22/fcc_commissioner_robert_mcdowell_on_u_n_internet_control_.html