[governance] FW: [OIA] MS & Skype?

[Michael Gurstein]

(further to my earlier post)

Note: today's announcement that MS is in the process of buying skype

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-10/microsoft-said-to-be-negotiating-pu
rchase-of-internet-call-provider-skype.html

Should be seen alongside: 

> In the run up to the (Royal) wedding, facebook decided to delete 50
profiles 
> of British anti cuts protest groups. Seems like they have been 
> coordinating this with the police. Scary precedent.
> 
> Join the protest against it... on facebook
 <...>

Various ICT functionalities have proven their value and global significance
to the point of essentially becoming part of a global "public"
infrastructure on which a variety of other public (and other)
functionalities are built (what would global civil society have looked like
over the last half dozen years in the absence of skype for example).  What
has emerged, I think, alongside this is a global public interest in these
functionalities. 

What has not evolved apace is the global capacity to intervene with these
functionalities to regulate and protect the global public interest/public
goods.

I'm not exactly sure how/where this should be covered in IG discussions but
even from a purely self-interested CS perspective there is an absolute need
to begin to work towards some sort of global institutional/regulatory
framework to ensure the preservation of a public interest in a global
virtual public space and public capacity for very low cost IP enabled
international communications (a la skype).

Mike


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