[gaid-discuss] [governance] IGF and GAID
Parminder
parminder at itforchange.net
Mon Jan 4 01:35:39 EST 2010
Yes, a number of developed countries are moving in the direction of a
rights based approach to Internet connectivity. Pity is, they still push
ICTD models for developing countries that resist any public goods
framework for basic ICT enablements including, but not limited to,
connectivity. Whether this anomaly is just a time-lag between different
government departments dealing respectively with internal social policy
and external development support, or is related to the fact that ICTs as
the means of knowledge flows and controls underlie the principal new
geo-political comparative advantage which is too precious to be
compromised in charity-mindedness, is a moot question - but a very
important one. Parminder
Lehrstuhl Weber wrote:
> Just for your information: Two years ago Switzerland already
> introduced a law gauaranteeing every home fast broadband acces.
> Happy New Year
> Rolf H. Weber
>
> Latif LADID ("The New Internet based on IPv6") schrieb:
>>
>>
>> UK - Ministers consider new law guaranteeing fast broadband for
>> every home
>>
>>
>> All householders would have a legal right to a high speed
>> broadband connection under new plans being considered by the
>> Government.
>>
>> http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/broadband/6920942/Ministers-consider-new-law-guaranteeing-fast-broadband-for-every-home.html
>>
>>
>> Published: 8:00AM GMT 02 Jan 2010
>>
>>
>>
>> *The Government is considering making broadband access a legal right.*
>>
>> The proposals would place high-speed internet access on a par with
>> utilities like water and gas, which are already covered by
>> legislation guaranteeing their supply to every home in the country.
>>
>> The legal broadband obligation has been proposed by council leaders
>> in response to concerns that rural communities are being left behind
>> by the digital revolution, with residents and businesses in much of
>> the countryside forced to endure sluggish internet connections.
>>
>>
>>
>> Local authorities say that the Goverment's existing "commitment" to
>> provide 2 Mbps broadband access to all homes by 2012 is insufficent,
>> and are calling for faster minimum speeds to be enshrined in law.
>>
>> While many city dwellers will soon enjoy super-fast 40 Mbps
>> connections, _around 42 per cent of rural households are still unable
>> to access the internet at 2 Mbps_, because of the distance between
>> homes and telephone exchanges.
>>
>> Keith Mitchell of the Local Government Association (LGA), which has
>> forwarded the proposals to ministers, said that fast internet was now
>> "essential to everyday life" and should be viewed as a necessity
>> rather than a luxury.
>>
>> He said: "From doing business, to banking online, accessing
>> information or just downloading music, high speed broadband would
>> change the lives of people and boost businesses in rural areas across
>> the country."
>>
>> If the proposals are accepted by John Denham, the secretary of state
>> for communities and local government, and ministers at the Department
>> of Innovation and Business, Britain would become one of the first
>> countries in the world to oblige internet service providers to
>> deliver fast broadband. Finland passed a law guaranteeing 1Mps
>> connections in October last year.
>>
>> The plans were shortlisted by the LGA for consideration by ministers
>> after being selected from more than 300 ideas to improve local life
>> drawn up by councils across the country.
>>
>> Christopher Snowling, cabinet member for health and community at Mid
>> Sussex District Council which originally proposed the new law, said
>> that guaranteed broadband speeds would help close the digital divide
>> between rural and urban areas.
>>
>> "People living in rural areas deserve the same quality of internet
>> connection as those living in major towns and cities. _Better
>> broadband internet would encourage commuters to work from home which
>> would cut traffic and CO2 emissions," he said._
>>
>> "Faster internet speeds will allow rural businesses to compete on a
>> more level playing field with businesses in urban areas and make sure
>> school children in rural areas are not disadvantaged by not being
>> able to access information online."
>>
>> The Telegraph has launched a campaign for a better deal for broadband
>> users in rural areas to ensure they do not miss out on vital services
>> and business opportunities.
>>
>> But the Government has been reluctant to make firm commitments to
>> minimum broadband speeds because of the costs of improving networks
>> in rural areas. The cost of installing the fibre optic lines required
>> for super-fast broadband to all homes has been estimated at up to £30
>> billion.
>>
>> But last June Gordon Brown conceded that more must be done to help
>> rural businesses cut off from the benefits of the web, acknowledging
>> that "a fast internet connection is now seen by most of the public as
>> an essential service, as indispensable as electricity, gas and water".
>>
>> A Government spokesman said: "The Government remains absolutely
>> committed to improving the lives of people in both urban and rural
>> communities. We will carefully consider the full shortlist of
>> proposals when it is received from the LGA.
>>
>> _"We don't want rural Britain to miss out on the social and economic
>> benefits of quality broadband_, which is why the Universal Service
>> Commitment of 2Mbps set out in the Digital Britain White Paper aims
>> to provide good quality broadband to all parts of the UK.
>>
>> "We believe this commitment achieves the best possible balance
>> between faster services and affordability. Our plans foresee a fast
>> roll-out of 2Mbps by 2012, after which our efforts and resources will
>> focus on enabling Next Generation Access to most of the UK by 2017,
>> providing much higher speeds of 40Mbps or more."
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* discuss-bounces at mx.un-gaid.org
>> [mailto:discuss-bounces at mx.un-gaid.org] *On Behalf Of *Latif LADID
>> ("The New Internet based on IPv6")
>> *Sent:* 03 January 2010 08:40
>> *To:* 'Ronda Hauben'; governance at lists.cpsr.org; 'GAID Discussion'
>> *Cc:* 'Parminder'; email at hakik.org
>> *Subject:* Re: [gaid-discuss] [governance] IGF and GAID
>>
>>
>>
>> Internet has become a utility like water and electricity. If some
>> commercial freaks decide on who gets water and electricity then their
>> government should be fired for obvious corruption or plain incompetence.
>>
>>
>>
>> Cheers
>>
>> Latif
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* discuss-bounces at mx.un-gaid.org
>> [mailto:discuss-bounces at mx.un-gaid.org] *On Behalf Of *Ronda Hauben
>> *Sent:* 02 January 2010 22:23
>> *To:* governance at lists.cpsr.org; GAID Discussion
>> *Cc:* Parminder; email at hakik.org
>> *Subject:* Re: [gaid-discuss] [governance] IGF and GAID
>>
>>
>>
>> Does anyone know what are the actual plans for the future of GAID?
>>
>>
>> It is good to see there is some discussion of it on these lists, but
>> I am wondering what is the actual plan for it, if there is one being
>> planned or in the process of being implemented?
>>
>> I have proposed that those interested in integrating Internet
>> development in the development process have much to learn from
>> studying and discussing the actual development process that built the
>> Internet.
>>
>> When I returned home from the WSIS meeting in Tunis in 2005, I had
>> some discussion with someone who described the struggle in his
>> country in Africa, over how to spread the Internet.
>>
>> The experience he described was about how commercial entities wanted
>> to limit how the Internet was used. Meanwhile there some in
>> government who recognized that there was a need to spread the
>> Internet at a low cost, especially in the education sector. He
>> described the government idea of wiring a government building and
>> then using that to offer low cost or free Internet education to the
>> school systems nearby. Instead those interested in commercial
>> development claimed the wiring of the government building should only
>> serve the government site. The struggle between these two visions of
>> Internet development was not unique to that country, as I had
>> experienced a similar struggle in the US.
>>
>> It seemed reviewing both the vision guiding early networking
>> development and the history of how the Internet was developed and
>> spread in its early phases, would be of value in general, and in
>> particular to the developing world.
>>
>> Unfortunately, those drafting the millennium development goals didn't
>> find a way to build in this kind of focus into the goals themselves.
>>
>>
>>
>> Happy New Year to all.
>>
>>
>>
>> with best wishes
>>
>>
>>
>> Ronda
>>
>> On Sat, Jan 2, 2010 at 3:49 PM, Hakikur Rahman <email at hakik.org
>> <mailto:email at hakik.org>> wrote:
>>
>> Dear Parminder,
>>
>> I agree with you cent percent, but wish I could have knew those
>> strange reasons that you have mentioned. Not only UNDP, but seems
>> majority of development partners are no more interested in ICTD. For
>> many years, it has become stalled somewhere, when the field was
>> really going to launch in many lagging nations. Hope GAID, as it has
>> been expected could come up with something in this aspect.
>>
>> Best regards,
>> Hakikur
>>
>> At 06:48 02-01-2010, Parminder wrote:
>>
>> Jean-Louis FULLSACK wrote:
>>
>> Dear Parminder
>>
>> As usually your message clearifies the debate ; therefore all my
>> thanks.
>>
>> > concrete suggestion for IGF reform, which may be taken up when
>> the resolution/
>> > discussion on IGF continuation finally comes up at the UN general
>> > assembly or at the CSTD (there is a confusion at this stage how
>> the
>> > process will go forward).
>>
>> Isn't there another confusing situation with GAID as far as IG is
>> dealing with Developing Countriers issues are concerned ?
>> If this is the opinion of a majority among us, our relation with
>> -and/or position on- GAID should be laid down accordingly.
>>
>> Dear Jean-Louis,
>>
>> Development has never been a serious political issue at WSIS, and
>> has been even less so post-WSIS. It is for this reason that the
>> levels of interest of major actors and therefore the trajectories
>> of the IGF and GAID have been very different. (It is a different
>> manner that the subject of development is treated as a red
>> herring with such regularity, and often deviousness, in the IGF
>> that it would make a very interesting study/ story.)
>>
>> IG is very political because it concerns the governance, and thus
>> the possibilities of shaping, of the Internet. Development in
>> post-WSIS structures has been seen in largely in the normal
>> 'charity view' of development, plus as new possibilities of
>> political alliances for transnational businesses to expand their
>> markets in developing countries. The fact is that, at present, no
>> major actor of any significant power has really much interest in
>> ICTD at the global level. (UNDP for some strange reasons has
>> mostly withdrawn from this area.)
>>
>> So while IGF seems to be headed towards even keener political
>> contests, GAID, post-Sarbuland, may be headed towards getting
>> folded up into a regular UN department, doing mundane work (thats
>> what I fear). The way GAID was run as a new age network had many
>> huge problems - and we kept pointed them out at all GAID meetings
>> - but it will be a mistake to forgo its open new-age network
>> structure for a bureaucratic UN department. What we need instead
>> is a set of more focussed and clearer objectives and work plans,
>> and a better network structure focussed on public interest
>> actors, chiefly those involved with development issues.
>>
>> Parminder
>>
>> You received this message as a subscriber on the list:
>> governance at lists.cpsr.org <mailto:governance at lists.cpsr.org>
>> To be removed from the list, send any message to:
>> governance-unsubscribe at lists.cpsr.org
>> <mailto:governance-unsubscribe at lists.cpsr.org>
>>
>> For all list information and functions, see:
>> http://lists.cpsr.org/lists/info/governance
>>
>> <snip>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Netizens: On the History and Impact of Usenet and the Internet
>>
>> http://www.columbia.edu/~hauben/netbook
>> <http://www.columbia.edu/%7Ehauben/netbook>
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> ______________________________________________________
>> Mailing list for GAID members
>> Replies go to the sender by default. To respond to the
>> list, please address to discuss at un-gaid.org
>> http://mx.un-gaid.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>> http://www.un-gaid.org
>>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> ______________________________________________________
> Mailing list for GAID members
> Replies go to the sender by default. To respond to the
> list, please address to discuss at un-gaid.org
> http://mx.un-gaid.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss
> http://www.un-gaid.org
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.igcaucus.org/pipermail/governance/attachments/20100104/2a0b285b/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
____________________________________________________________
You received this message as a subscriber on the list:
governance at lists.cpsr.org
To be removed from the list, send any message to:
governance-unsubscribe at lists.cpsr.org
For all list information and functions, see:
http://lists.cpsr.org/lists/info/governance
More information about the Governance
mailing list