[governance] RE: [bestbits] Rousseff & Chehade: Brazil will host world event on Internet governance in 2014

[Milton L Mueller]

On Thursday 17 October 2013 05:49 PM, Carlos A. Afonso wrote:
> Hi, this will not be true at all. The main topic of the meeting will
> probably be something like the forms and ways to achieve
> pluriparticipative international Internet governance, including, as the
> Presidenta said, "an international framework of civil rights for the
> Internet".
>
> The "phone list" of the Internet is just a relatively small part of this
> huge challenge. If the Icann people think otherwise, they will be in for
> a surprise very soon. :)

Yes, Carlos, but....if the community cannot come together on agreed mechanisms and institutions for global governance of the so-called "phone list" (really bad metaphor, by the way) how is it able to take on larger problems? 

In other words, if we can't do ICANN right, why should anyone think we can do anything else?

I have always viewed ICANN as a test case of our capabilities for global governance, not as intrinsically interesting in itself.

Therefore, I do not agree with more ambitious agendas - or at least, the more ambitious issues might be discussed, but only if we are able to develop and apply a workable solution to the more immediate and simpler problem (ICANN).