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<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Hi Michael,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Thanks for the link. I'm not sure if the
terminus technicus "public good" actually fits to the Internet. Without digging
into a decade-long debate among economists, public goods are usually
characterized by being non-excludible as well as non-rivalrous
(the Wikipedia article you linked rightly points this out). Even if
bandwith continues to grow, it will - technically speaking - never be unlimited.
And as we know, bandwith demand usually grows parallel to bandwith supply. So I
don't see a chance for Internet usage becoming non-rivalrous. And I also believe
that it will always be possible to practically exclude somebody from using the
Internet (contrary to public defense, which is often used as an example for
being a public good). The important issue about applying the term public good to
the Internet is, that public goods - according to mainstream economics - usually
come with market failure and the need for governments to step in. To my
knowledge, that was the case in the very early days of the Internet when outside
of the US government and academia not many - and especially not the telecom
industry - believed in the concept of a package-switched network. But
today, I don't see market failure with regard to Internet supply. Of
course, we are stick lacking Internet supply in developing countries, which is
bad enough. But this is based on the low return on private
investments, not on the two criteria mentioned above. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Michael, Berlin </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV
style="FONT: 10pt arial; BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=gurstein@gmail.com href="mailto:gurstein@gmail.com">michael
gurstein</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=governance@lists.igcaucus.org
href="mailto:governance@lists.igcaucus.org">governance@lists.igcaucus.org</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, December 20, 2012 6:46
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [governance] FW: Towards the
Internet as a Global Public Good: A Seasonal Wish to One and All:</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV class=WordSection1>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><A
href="http://gurstein.wordpress.com/2012/12/20/towards-the-internet-as-a-global-public-good/">http://gurstein.wordpress.com/2012/12/20/towards-the-internet-as-a-global-public-good/</A><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></I></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">With
my very best for the season and looking forward to a just and inclusive new
year.</SPAN></I></B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">M</SPAN><o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<P>
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