United Nations wants a big piece of the Internet (and my comments on what I heard Dave )

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

I wish I heard what Declan seemed to hear aand report but what I and others 
I talked to heard was endless statements on the need to change the charging 
for international. Internet connections to developing countries; endless 
calls for additional resources so that delegates from developing counties 
to attend international meetings; complaints about the domination of 
English on the net (wish I could see that in Japan and Korea when I try to 
find information)  etc.

The tone of the meeting seemed to be that international governance was 
needed and the under current was that ITU would do it. The time would have 
better been spent  either examining that assumption or understanding how it 
could be done. Not just "kabuki" theater 3 minute interventions that 
consumes most of the time with little really said.

There were of course some good points raised but they were swamped with the 
repetitive 3 minute non informative comments (reminds me of a faculty 
meeting).

More this weekend.

Dave

Delivered-To: dfarber+ () ux13 sp cs cmu edu
Date: Fri, 26 Mar 2004 07:18:36 -0500
From: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>

http://news.com.com/2100-1028-5179694.html

United Nations ponders Net's future
March 26, 2004
By Declan McCullagh


UNITED NATIONS--The United Nations wants a big piece of the Internet.
At a summit here this week, delegates from around the world gathered to 
take a preliminary step toward U.N. involvement in some of the areas that 
are bedeviling Internet users and governments alike, including spam, 
network security, privacy and the regulation of the technical underpinnings 
that control the sprawling global network.

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan set the tone in a speech Thursday, 
criticizing the current system through which Internet standards are set and 
domain names are handled, a process currently dominated by the United 
States, Canada, Europe and Japan. Such structures "must be made
ccessible and responsive to the needs of all the world's people," Annan said.

On Friday, the summit will hear recommendations from five different U.N. 
working groups on topics including everything from domain names to root 
server operation to free speech and intellectual property to privacy.

Although the U.N. process is still in its early stages, the result could 
dramatically reshape the way the Internet is run and put an end to some of 
the informal, collaborative processes that exist today.
he master "root servers" that serve up addresses for country codes and all 
other top-level domains, for instance, are operated in part by volunteers 
instead of through a U.N.-style apparatus.

Dozens of delegates from developing nations echoed Annan's remarks 
throughout the rest of the day, arguing that their governments do not have 
a voice in the way the Internet is operated and that more money and 
investment from richer nations is the only way to end the so-called digital 
divide. Khalid Saeed, the secretary of Pakistan's Ministry of Information 
Technology, said his country must "play an active role in all layers" of 
organizations that control the operation of the modern Internet.

[...]
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