[governance] reality check on economics

[Milton L Mueller]

Michael,
When I read your statement below, all I can get from it is that you are reserving the right to call something a "monopoly" irrespective of the economic definition, based on criteria that you have just made up, which I translate as follows: a monopoly is something that has no economic power necessarily but which nevertheless makes me feel vaguely threatened in some way. 

Did I get it right?

> -----Original Message-----
> From: governance-request at lists.igcaucus.org [mailto:governance-
> request at lists.igcaucus.org] On Behalf Of michael gurstein
> Sent: Sunday, May 20, 2012 3:18 PM
> To: governance at lists.igcaucus.org
> Subject: RE: [governance] reality check on economics
> 
> BTW, I think that this discussion on "monopoly" while interesting and
> useful is based on a significant red herring plopped on the IGC cutting
> board by Milton.
> 
> The original note and the subsequent discussion by Parminder and others
> around the ITfC declaration was not by my reading about "monopoly" in
> the narrow economic sense but rather around the uncontrolled and so far
> uncontrollable power (economic, political, technical, communicative,
> informational etc.) that monopolies or near monopolies in the Internet
> space are being entrusted with given the overall significance, value and
> power that the Internet has acquired and is continuing to acquire in the
> daily lives of people, groups, communities, countries etc.etc. in every
> corner of the world.
> 
> I think that it is very difficult to dispute this ITfC (and other's)
> position and the need for some form of democratic, transparent and
> accountable  framework to ensure that this power is not used in an
> irresponsible, repressive, quixotic, destructive, completely self-
> interested way either by corporations or by governments or by rogue
> elements of civil society for that matter.
> 
> If for no other reason than that the Internet is so significant and its
> continued effective functioning is becoming so central as an electronic
> infrastructure for the well-being and future of mankind some globally
> legitimate means needs to be found to "govern" it in the interests of
> all. Whether that is through a mechanism such as CIRP (which I don't
> personally see as being feasible) or some other yet to be determined
> vehicle (as I've mentioned before I'm increasingly attracted to the norm
> based OGP framework) is a matter of negotiation and evolution.  That
> such a mechanism is absolutely and unarguably necessary and sooner
> rather later seems to me to be self-evident except to those whose
> ideological, self-interested or commercial blinkers are so strong as to
> make them blind to reality.
> 
> And moreover I would have thought that those who have a genuine rather
> than just a rhetorical interest in managing the egregious behaviour of
> Internet rogue states would be the most interested in a framework of
> norms and their operationalization as a way of putting globally
> actionable boundaries around those outcomes.
> 
> M
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: governance-request at lists.igcaucus.org [mailto:governance-
> request at lists.igcaucus.org] On Behalf Of Avri Doria
> Sent: Sunday, May 20, 2012 7:52 AM
> To: IGC
> Subject: Re: [governance] reality check on economics
> 
> On 20 May 2012, at 10:11, Guru गुरु wrote:
> 
> > On 20/05/12 18:54, Avri Doria wrote:
> >> On 19 May 2012, at 23:39, Guru गुरु wrote:
> >>
> >>> I think you have begun a useful thread of thought - the need for
> >>> global regulation of business.
> >> I did not go that far.
> >>
> >> I was looking for what could be done at a global level to help avoid
> >> local monopolies in information services.
> >
> > What is the difference between "what could be done at a global level
> > to help avoid local monopolies in information services" and "global
> > regulation".
> >
> >> I also spoke of global work to help produce local regulatory reform.
> >> I do not not advocate global regulation of business.
> >
> 
> 
> Good question.  I think this is where we need to be creative in figuring
> out how to do things.  E.g  a global regulatory function, e.g ICANN use
> of contracts, might be tried.  I don't think that is has worked as well
> as hoped*, but I think it is a thought in the right direction.  ICANN
> does not regulate, but oversees a regulatory function that sometimes
> sort of works.
> 
> In thinking about a regulatory function that is assisted but not
> overseen by global multistakeholder work, I think of a situation where
> the stakeholders can come to rough consensus on guidelines for local,
> for some definition of local, regulatory functions.  In turn, having
> come to these guidelines on a voluntary and multistakeholder basis, all
> parties pressure each other at the local level to live up to the rough
> consensus re-shared to the local context using their own methods: from
> governments making laws and regulations, to companies giving and
> withdrawing their investment, technologists shaping protocols to allow
> for the guidelines to be met (management frameworks etc) and civil
> society either supporting by buying or going to the streets with Occupy,
> boycotts and other civil actions and sometimes even voting**.
> 
> avri
> 
> 
> * Before you ask: 1) contracts seem to need to be rooted in national
> law, leaving us with the unfortunate situation of ICANN being anchored
> in a single country, 2) compliance enforcement is horrid (then again
> compliance enforcement is a problem in every regulatory system I have
> ever looked at) both of these could be fixed if ICANN had the will to do
> so.
> 
> ** When that mechanism works properly and isn't just another form of
> propaganda reaction.
> 

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