October 06, 2005

"wresting control" of internet...

...a week after geneva and a month and change before wsis-tunis and suddenly this is news? (link at bottom). gotta love the inflammatory headlines. someone with anti-UN, globalization willies trying to stir up the patriots? please.

first off, for those on both sides of the argument, let's remember that pretty much everyone's in agreement that we'd rather not suffer any gov't running or ginning up policy for the internet. it's been (kinda) in private sector hands for a bit now, and, despite it's, um, "limitations," ICANN has driven more or less business-oriented policy while u.s. gov't (e.g. DOC) oversight has been just that - pretty much hands off (i know, i know - the gov't could step in at a moment's notice, seize the root servers and be in immediate al haig-like command, but hey, like that won't be the case regardless of what happens at the UN?).

ok, so it's probably not been terribly helpful that u.s. law- and policy-makers have occasionally chest-thumped a unilateral tattoo about never ceding control. indeed, no doubt such rhetorical theatrics at least in part prompted the EU, Brazil, UK, various so-called authoritarian baddies, etc. to to mount this multilateralization initiative. in short, this is as much - no, more - about politics than practicalities. except...

...why on earth would anyone propose something as frightful as an "Inter-Governmental Council for global public policy and oversight of Internet governance?" eek. even if i weren't worried about such a creature undoing business-driven policy, the name alone would spook me...

whatever, seems a lot of blather for what i imagine will be little near term change... later.

Europe Lobbies To Wrest Control of Internet From U.S. - Yahoo! News

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