I concur with Milton. I bought this book by mistake on my Kindle and it is a waste of my money. To me, it is a well-tried tactic of writing an opposite, sensationalist view, and it is bound to sell books. That's all. For this level of flawed arguments, I am actually quite amused by the level of attention he got. <br>
<br><div><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Apr 14, 2011 at 9:53 PM, Milton L Mueller <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:mueller@syr.edu">mueller@syr.edu</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">
Fouad<br>
I've reviewed Morozov's flawed arguments in detail here.<br>
<a href="http://blog.internetgovernance.org/blog/_archives/2011/1/13/4726219.html" target="_blank">http://blog.internetgovernance.org/blog/_archives/2011/1/13/4726219.html</a><br>
<br>
all I have time to say for now.<br>
<div><div></div><div class="h5"><br>
> -----Original Message-----<br>
> From: Fouad Bajwa [mailto:<a href="mailto:fouadbajwa@gmail.com">fouadbajwa@gmail.com</a>]<br>
> Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2011 9:33 AM<br>
> To: <a href="mailto:governance@lists.cpsr.org">governance@lists.cpsr.org</a>; Carlos A. Afonso<br>
> Cc: Milton L Mueller; <a href="mailto:cstd@igf-online.net">cstd@igf-online.net</a><br>
> Subject: Re: [governance] IGF relevance?<br>
><br>
> Hi Milton, you give a mixed opinion. By the way this would be of<br>
> interest to you:<br>
><br>
> The Net Delusion: How Not to Liberate the World<br>
> by Evgeny Morozov<br>
> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Net-Delusion-How-Liberate-" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/Net-Delusion-How-Liberate-</a><br>
> World/dp/1846143535/ref=pd_sxp_f_pt<br>
><br>
> Synopsis: "Does free information mean free people?<br>
> At the start of the twenty-first century we were promised that the<br>
> internet would liberate the world. We could come together as never<br>
> before, and from Iran's 'twitter revolution' to Facebook 'activism',<br>
> technological innovation would spread democracy to oppressed peoples<br>
> everywhere.<br>
><br>
> We couldn't have been more wrong. In The Net Delusion Evgeny Morozov<br>
> destroys this myth, arguing that 'internet freedom' is an illusion,<br>
> and that technology has failed to help protect people's rights. Not<br>
> only that -- in many cases the internet is actually helping<br>
> authoritarian regimes.<br>
><br>
> From China to Russia to Iran, oppressive governments are using<br>
> cyberspace to stifle dissent: planting clandestine propaganda,<br>
> employing sophisticated digital censorship and using online<br>
> surveillance. We are all being manipulated in more subtle ways too --<br>
> becoming pacified by the net, instead of truly engaging.<br>
><br>
> This book is a wake-up call. It shows us how our misplaced faith in<br>
> cyber-utopia means the West risks missing the real challenges. Morozov<br>
> argues that we must look at other ways of promoting democracy abroad,<br>
> and forces us -- policymakers and citizens alike -- to recognize that<br>
> all our freedoms are at stake."<br>
><br>
> I actually bought the book and going through it I must agree to the<br>
> fact, network neutral for whom? For us, the developing world or for<br>
> the developed world and why? Maybe that is the primary question that<br>
> hasn't been answered at all. The debate cannot stop and the clarity<br>
> has to be sought!<br>
><br>
> -- Fouad<br>
><br>
> On Thu, Apr 14, 2011 at 5:25 AM, Carlos A. Afonso <<a href="mailto:ca@cafonso.ca">ca@cafonso.ca</a>> wrote:<br>
> > Milton, your argument is killed by your second phrase: "This is an issue<br>
> > that is being and will be handled by national regulatory authorities."<br>
> > Yes, like crime, privacy rights and so on -- aren't so many gov<br>
> > decisions on these and other issues done by simple ministerial decrees,<br>
> > directed at specific or all sectors, which are not really different from<br>
> > regulatory determinations?<br>
> ><br>
> > The point is not discarding wksps because the thematic field is one<br>
> > regulated by the State. Is to get us (at least non-govs) a space to<br>
> > exchange ideas and develop proposals on how precisely to confront those<br>
> > mechanisms and decisions from above.<br>
> ><br>
> > My point is that wksps are generally too academic, too<br>
> > one-speaks-everyone-else-listens-(or-not), and little is left in terms<br>
> > of what many of us defend for the IGF itself -- at least a consensus<br>
> > around proposals for action organized in a document. For me this is the<br>
> > main problem which makes most of them useless (like a stream of<br>
> > first-world phds presenting generalist views on "development and ICTs"<br>
> > etc etc), not because some of the themes relate to State's regulatory<br>
> > mechanisms or because the theme is already well discussed.<br>
> ><br>
> > frt rgds<br>
> ><br>
> > --c.a.<br>
> ><br>
> > On 04/14/2011 12:04 AM, Milton L Mueller wrote:<br>
> >><br>
> >> I am going to raise some eyebrows and question the decision to do a<br>
> >> Network neutrality workshop. This is an issue that is being and will<br>
> >> be handled by national regulatory authorities. The positions of the<br>
> >> various actors and interest groups are well known and well-aired.<br>
> >> Nothing the IGF says or does will have much impact on what happens in<br>
> >> this space. The US Congress will probably negate the current FCC<br>
> >> rules and the US will have to either pass new legislation or find<br>
> >> some other way to pursue those policy goals; the IGF does not enter<br>
> >> into the equation. The same can be said for Europe: the EU and<br>
> >> national regulatory authorities are actively debating this, and it is<br>
> >> the opinions of the nra's, DG INFO, DG MARKT and its competition law<br>
> >> that matter, not IGF.<br>
> >><br>
> >> On the other hand, there are developments in IP addressing that cry<br>
> >> out for a global forum to work out a new policy. For some background,<br>
> >> see this recent IGP blog article:<br>
> >><br>
> <a href="http://blog.internetgovernance.org/blog/_archives/2011/3/25/4778257.html" target="_blank">http://blog.internetgovernance.org/blog/_archives/2011/3/25/4778257.html</a><br>
> >><br>
> >><br>
> > In facing a controversial issue that seemed to require global policy but<br>
> > go beyond the mandate of ARIN, the head of ARIN recently asked on a<br>
> > public list, sincerely, which venue could be used to discuss the issue?<br>
> >><br>
> >> It is abundantly clear that on a few key internet governance issues,<br>
> >> ranging from Wikileaks to IP addressing there are inadequate<br>
> >> globalized institutions.<br>
> >><br>
> >> One reason IGF is losing relevance, is that IGF's leadership seems to<br>
> >> be utterly blind when it comes to distinguishing between issues where<br>
> >> it can be entrepreneurial and fill gaps in the current institutional<br>
> >> environment, and issues where it has no real capacity to contribute<br>
> >> anything. It seems that IGF always falls prey to the disease of UN<br>
> >> organizations, which is to create opportunities for politicians and<br>
> >> others who enjoy publicity to intone pleasing platitudes on gigantic<br>
> >> problems which it has no capacity to solve, while completely avoiding<br>
> >> the hard work of solving smaller, less glamorous problems it can<br>
> >> actually do something about.<br>
> >><br>
> >> --MM<br>
> >><br>
> >><br>
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