[governance] what is it that threatens the Internet community or 'who is afraid of the IGF'

[Milton L Mueller]

-----Original Message-----
From: Jeanette Hofmann [mailto:jeanette at wzb.eu] 
>While it is true that discussions on access and 
>discussion on critical internet resourses don't 
>exclude each other, it is also true that public 
>attention is limited. During WSIS, the debate on 
>Internet Governance was so dominant that other 
>controversial issues such as the financing of ICTs 
>never got the attention it deserved. 

This brings up another point: what is really within the purview of
global governance and what is primarily a national issue? I personally
believe that the most salient issues with respect to the financing,
construction and economic sustainability of the physical layer (and
let's remember that the Internet is layer 3 -- networking software --
not layer 1, physical) are played out at the national level, or in
venues dealing with trade in products and services (WTO, market access,
foreign investment, etc.). Here, domestic telecom policy is a critical
factor. No amount of top-down financing by UN agencies can serve as a
substitute for organic domestic economic growth that produces viable
relations among suppliers and consumers of Internet services. 

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