[governance] ITU vs. ICANN

[Sivasubramanian M]

Dear Olivier,

On Wed, Oct 13, 2010 at 6:57 PM, Olivier MJ Crepin-Leblond <ocl at gih.com>wrote:

>
> On 12/10/2010 23:01, Karl Auerbach wrote :
> > It seems to me that if one actually believes that governments are
> > merely expressions of human sovereignty, that authority derives from
> > the consent of the governed, then it would follow that in matters of
> > internet governance that corporate and governmental voices should fall
> > before the weight of the collective opinion of the community of people
> > affected by the internet.
> >
> > Sure, this may be considered unobtainable fantasy by some, but if we
> > don't aim at something worth having, they why should we even bother
> > with the effort?
>
> "authority derives from the consent of the governed"
>
> In your and my country, perhaps. On a planetary scale, that's a
> minority. Hence the big hubbub from some governments feeling they need
> to control this horrible thing called "Internet", which might actually
> get them to, oh sacrilege, have to be accountable to their citizens at
> some point in time. And that's unlikely to be happening anytime soon.
>
> What we are witnessing is a 19th century organization functioning in the
> 20th century, trying to control a 21st century Internet.
> It ain't gonna happen.
>

Inspiring assertion.

We are underrating the methods and means of Governments and mega business
here. The Civil Society and International Organizations make a lot of
'noise' at the Internet Governance Forum, in social and traditional media,
and in mailing lists and conferences. Governments appear to choose not to
take note of the voices; the political agenda, concerted or in bit and
pieces, is making ample progress. If we compile a list of politically
initiated changes during the last 5 years and measure the degree of
openness/freedom of the Internet today in comparison to what it was 5 years
ago, we will find noticeable changes and these are changes are just a
beginning.

Unless the positive forces are first insulated from the influences of
negative forces, and then work in concerted collaboration, negative changes
will continue to be effected everyday, oblivious to the views of the civil
society.  If these negative changes are allowed to happen one after another,
in one country after another, soon it will be a point of nearly irreversible
damage to the free and open Internet.

The core problem is that it is still difficult for Governments and
particular business interests to ACCEPT the Internet as what it is. We need
to do a lot of work on this, perhaps with the help of the rare Nations /
Regions that see a value in preserving the Internet.

Sivasubramanian M


> Kind regards,
>
> Olivier
>
> --
> Olivier MJ Crépin-Leblond, PhD
> http://www.gih.com/ocl.html
>
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