Re: [ga] United Nations wants a big piece of the Internet... ICANN's death rattle?...
I was at the UN gathering and I would not say that either of the
points in the subject was true.
It was not clear to me that the UN, as a body, wants the internet
government job or headache, nor is it clear that there is any sort of
feeling, that ICANN should be dismantled, restructured, or retained. My
own sense is that the music is just starting for a dance of glaciers -
slow, irressistable, unpredicatable, and woe to the non-glacier who gets
stuck in the middle.
(As I write this I realize that tonight I'm sitting on an island [Long
Island, NY] formed by the residue left over after the last southward march
of continental glaciers.)
The most interesting single thing, at least to my eyes, from the meeting
was the fact that there occurred a meeting, on physical site of the United
*Nations* in which nations, corporations, organizations, and even
individuals discussed issues, face to face, on peer terms. (I only say
that the *discussion* was on a peer basis; clearly the decisionmaking
itself will be by national entities.)
The meeting clearly (to me) has, like an earthquake, liquified the
internet governance landscape. There is an opportunity now to affect
change before the situation once again solidifies. The commercial
interests are well prepared to make their points; I am less assured that
non-commercial interests are as ready, or have the resources, to engage
fully and effectively. And I get the impression that during this new
phase that complaints will be less effective than well formed specific
plans of solution.
During the meeting there was a rhinoceros of an undiscussed issue standing
in the corner - Globalization.
--karl--