<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<html>
<head>
<meta content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"
http-equiv="Content-Type">
<title></title>
</head>
<body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#333333">
<font face="sans-serif">What Mike is pointing to is the real IG
issue that we should be very concerned about. <br>
<br>
The news of Facebook censoring anti-cut protests in UK is rather
scary. Our digital Tahrir squares are private spaces, where the
private owners (and their friendly interests) dont have to send in
armies to remove people whose protests they dont sympathise with.
parminder <br>
</font><br>
On Tuesday 10 May 2011 08:19 PM, Michael Gurstein wrote:
<blockquote cite="mid:5E4D1324A2AA47AE9A49F853188F2C91@userPC"
type="cite">
<pre wrap="">(further to my earlier post)
Note: today's announcement that MS is in the process of buying skype
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-10/microsoft-said-to-be-negotiating-pu">http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-10/microsoft-said-to-be-negotiating-pu</a>
rchase-of-internet-call-provider-skype.html
Should be seen alongside:
</pre>
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre wrap="">In the run up to the (Royal) wedding, facebook decided to delete 50
</pre>
</blockquote>
<pre wrap="">profiles
</pre>
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre wrap="">of British anti cuts protest groups. Seems like they have been
coordinating this with the police. Scary precedent.
Join the protest against it... on facebook
</pre>
</blockquote>
<pre wrap=""> <...>
Various ICT functionalities have proven their value and global significance
to the point of essentially becoming part of a global "public"
infrastructure on which a variety of other public (and other)
functionalities are built (what would global civil society have looked like
over the last half dozen years in the absence of skype for example). What
has emerged, I think, alongside this is a global public interest in these
functionalities.
What has not evolved apace is the global capacity to intervene with these
functionalities to regulate and protect the global public interest/public
goods.
I'm not exactly sure how/where this should be covered in IG discussions but
even from a purely self-interested CS perspective there is an absolute need
to begin to work towards some sort of global institutional/regulatory
framework to ensure the preservation of a public interest in a global
virtual public space and public capacity for very low cost IP enabled
international communications (a la skype).
Mike
____________________________________________________________
You received this message as a subscriber on the list:
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:governance@lists.cpsr.org">governance@lists.cpsr.org</a>
To be removed from the list, visit:
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.igcaucus.org/unsubscribing">http://www.igcaucus.org/unsubscribing</a>
For all other list information and functions, see:
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://lists.cpsr.org/lists/info/governance">http://lists.cpsr.org/lists/info/governance</a>
To edit your profile and to find the IGC's charter, see:
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.igcaucus.org/">http://www.igcaucus.org/</a>
Translate this email: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://translate.google.com/translate_t">http://translate.google.com/translate_t</a>
</pre>
</blockquote>
<br>
<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;
charset=ISO-8859-1">
<title></title>
<style type="text/css">p { color: rgb(0, 0, 0); }a:link { }</style>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><font color="#666666"><font
face="FlamaBook"><font size="2"><span lang="en-US"><span
style="font-weight: normal;"></span></span></font></font></font>
<style type="text/css">p { color: rgb(0, 0, 0); }a:link { }</style>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><font color="#666666"><font
face="FlamaBook"><font size="2"><span lang="en-US"><span
style="font-weight: normal;">Parminder Jeet Singh</span></span></font></font></font><font
color="#666666"><font face="FlamaBook"><span lang="en-US"><br>
</span></font></font><font color="#666666"><font
face="FlamaBook"><font size="2"><span lang="en-US">Executive
Director<br>
IT for Change <br>
NGO in Special Consultative Status with the United
Nations ECOSOC</span></font></font></font><font
face="Times New Roman, serif"><span lang="en-US"><br>
</span></font><font color="#666666"><font face="FlamaBook"><font
size="2"><span lang="en-US"><a
href="http://www.ITforChange.net/">www.ITforChange.net</a><br>
Tel:+91-80-2665 4134, 2653 6890. Fax:+91-80-4146 1055<br>
<img alt=""
src="cid:part1.07050604.07080101@itforchange.net"
height="90" width="132"><br>
</span></font></font></font></p>
<p><br>
</p>
</div>
</body>
</html>