After the battle over SOPA in the US House of Representatives, “internet governance” is a term that carries with it heavy weight and emotion among online activists and casual users alike.

But later this month, a UN diplomatic process will begin that some countries — notably China and Russia — hope will result in stiff internet restrictions, according to an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal, written by Robert M. McDowell, a commissioner of the US Federal Communications Commission.

McDowell points out that the new system would "upend the Internet's flourishing regime" which protects the web from economic and technical regulation. Countries like Brazil and India, are "particularly intrigued" by the proposals, McDowell writes; he warns that opting out of the current governance regime, established in 1988, could result in a "balkanized" internet.  

Traditionally, the internet has thrived and evolve as a space for free expression and the sharing of ideas, especially where it is free from government regulation and censorship. The current initiative would expand international governance of into areas currently unregulated. 

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, one of the proposed treaty's most enthusiastic backers, has stated the need to establish “international control over the internet."

China is getting serious in its push for internet users to tie online identities to their real names, potentially making it easier for the government to track and censor internet users.

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Regulators have announced that by mid-March all users of the wildly popular social media site Sina Weibo must be registered with their real names.

Weibo, something of a Chinese version of Twitter, has become the go-to platform for people with rumors and opinions. The website fairly often outpaces China's news media on stories of corruption and other topics deemed "sensitive."

On Wednesday, the as-yet unconfirmed tale of a corruption-fighting cop possibly seeking asylum in the United States unfolded on Weibo, while newspapers and other media in China remained silent on the sticky topic.

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Amidst a continuing clampdown on criticism leading up to its change in power at the top, China's central government is now eyeing Weibo and onlines sites as targets. Facebook and Twitter are already blocked in China, the government's response to fears over social media stoking social unrest.

Now it has a Weibo problem and the risks of shutting of that service and ticking off more than 300 million users are potentially too great. Instead, regulators want users to register under their verified real names, which could cast a chill on free expression in a country where police have arrested and detained people over Twitter posts.

A Beijing-based internet regulator told the state-run Global Times newspaper that, in fact, the change was being welcomed by internet users.

"The real-name system is welcomed by service providers and has won support from the majority of web users. For the government, the move will promote social, economic and cultural development," the official reportedly said.

"For service providers, the real-name system will help build their credibility, and eliminate the spread of rumors and false information."

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In Beijing, official government vehicles tend towards the ubiquitous black Audi A6 — the classic Chinese bureaucrat car — or perhaps BMWs and Mercedes, all with tinted windows and aggressive personal drivers forcing through way through the gridlock.

The Canadian ambassador to China has turned heads with his official car for a different reason, according to The Globe and Mail newspaper. 

When David Mulroney posted photos of his silver Toyota Camry hybrid on the Canadian embassy's official Weibo microblog (the Chinese equivalent of Twitter), "the reaction from the Chinese Internet was something close to shock. Especially when he explained that even cabinet ministers in Canada only have a budget of $32,400 for their official car," the Globe said.

According to the Globe, one Weibo user commented (using Mulroney's Chinese name, Ma Dawei): “Ambassador Ma, a Chinese mid-level cadre wouldn’t lay an eye on your car!”

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Mulroney explained on Weibo that in Canada, only minister or deputy minister-level officials have government-subsidized vehicles.

"I provided the information because we get a lot of questions about how we operate at the embassy, what rules govern our work, and how much money we spend. This information is all readily available to Canadians who ask," he told Global Times, a state-run newspaper.