ITU (was: Re: [governance] Forbes Piece on the Google Campaign)

Thu Dec 6 19:18:24 EST 2012

On Fri, Dec 7, 2012 at 1:14 PM, John Curran <jcurran at istaff.org> wrote:

> On Dec 6, 2012, at 4:27 PM, John Curran <jcurran at istaff.org> wrote:
> > ...
> > Furthermore, the author seems to imply that "these groups" need the ITU
> > to be involved with the Internet, so that they can interact "with all of
> > the communications providers that actually deliver content."  Of course,
> > nothing could be further from reality - the Regional Internet Registries
> > collectively have more than _nineteen thousand_ organizations as members,
> > including nearly every communication provider, hosting company, major
> > content firms, as well as governments, academic institutions, etc.
> > We have very little difficulty having solid discussions on Internet
> > number policy matters with the organizations which are directly affected
> > by the outcomes, and somehow suggesting that the ITU is necessary for
> > these interactions also implies a serious lack of understanding of the
> > actual structure of the Internet ecosystem.
> >
> > The Forbes article's additional premise that the ITU somehow has led the
> > Internet and must be involved in its future just doesn't reflect reality,
> > and is anchored solely in author's strongly held belief sans evidence:
> >
> > "Good grief. If the multilateral organization that has been in charge of
> > global agreements on interconnectivity, interoperability, and
> availability
> > of networks and communications for 147 years has nothing to do with the
> > Internet, who does?"
> >
> > Note - if one were really pressed to make the case for the ITU-led
> success of
> > the Internet, one would have to cite the ITR allowance for "special
> arrangements"
> > [ITR Article 9], as it allowed arrangements made between parties which
> were to
> > be otherwise beyond the scope of the ITRs.  The "special arrangement"
> option
> > might be considered a key enabler for the Internet, but by that logic,
> anything
> > else in telecommunications that was not explicitly forbidden by the ITRs
> at that
> > time must also be considered an ITU-led success, and similarly that
> would mean
> > that every other treaty organization that did not accidentally interfere
> with
> > the success of the Internet gets to claim that that it too is another
> proud
> > parent of "The Internet"...
> >
> > /John
> >
> > Disclaimers:  My views alone.  This post is not meant to slight any other
> > powerful international organizations that apparently 'led' the Internet's
> > success by not accidentally stepping on it; you too may apparently claim
> > parenthood...
>
>
> FYI - To be clear, I am not advocating for or against any particular
> role for the ITU with respect to the Internet (e.g. it seems to be in
> vogue to call for dismantling the ITU, and I do not want my correction
> to the errant assertions in the Forbes article to be viewed as such...)
>

That came across quite clearly...I agree

> There are radio spectrum & satellites orbits issues that will always
> need to be globally coordinated, and that's been a significant role for
> the ITU.  There is also the significant support and outreach that the
> ITU provides to developing economies with respect to telecommunication
> matters.
>

I agree

>
> With respect to  being _the_ organization for governments to make global
> obligations regarding all of the possible technological ways in which
> people communicate with one another, that's a pretty big task once when
> considers the now pervasive nature of the Internet and communications...
> If you were to consider that mission literally, then it could easily
> subsume 90% of the tasks presently in almost other treaty organization
> (intellectual property is about who can _communicate_ what information
> to whom, human rights has a large component in association expression
> of who can _communicate_ with whom, etc.)  About the only area of inter-
> governmental coordination which I would have excluded is climate change
> (but apparently even that is germane to the ITU mission if one scopes
> 'communications' large enough to include the ICT technology industry...)
>
> Governments deal very well with legally-clear entities like people,
> organizations, and jurisdiction, whereas our global communications
> systems have always been very weak in supporting these same concepts,
> instead dealing with things like circuits & calling parties in the
> telecommunications age, and items like servers, IP addresses, and
> domain names in the Internet age.  Understanding what governments
> actually need (and can agree to) with respect to bridging this gap
> is indeed an important topic that must eventually be dealt with;
> whether that occurs at an organization such as the ITU or in forums
> with the opportunity for more equitable multistakeholder participation
> remains to be seen.
>
> FYI,
> /John
>
> Disclaimers:  My views alone. These views are most certainly not
> supported by any particular organization (and may even result in
> me receiving a lump of coal for the holidays from some ;-)
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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