[governance]http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/27/net-us-un-internet-idUSBRE8AQ06320121127

[John Curran]

On Nov 30, 2012, at 12:26 PM, michael gurstein <gurstein at gmail.com> wrote:

> That challenge is to find a way that we all globally, can allow the Internet to fulfill the possibilities for all of us that it presents (and in ways that are meaningful to all of us in our global diversity) -- and that means finding a way to reconcile sometimes extremely divergent interests and perspectives concerning for example, what issues are important/necessary to resolve and where they can be resolved and who/how should be involved in resolving them.

Agreed.

The challenge is that the Internet is truly a global system, and we lack good mechanisms
for development of true agreement on public policy issues when applied to a global scope.
There are some feedback loops which operate reasonable well in the context of a single 
country. (For example, the response of consumers, and civil society on their behalf, to 
"bad" decisions by businesses with respect to privacy results in lots of attention, and
sometimes even results changes to the errant business practices.)

In an ideal world, there would be a way to encourage productive discussion of the various
public policy principles that should be applicable to Internet communications on a global
scope, and such discussions would multistakeholder in nature, open in participation, and 
transparent in the processes used to reach outcomes (there is a little bit of a challenge in 
accomplishing such, since making the final determinations of what is appropriate public 
policy is one of areas that has been considered the realm of governments, and yet we are
collectively unsure if that model continues to work in our new highly connected world)
  
If we could produce clear statements of public policy principles, and the statements were 
made known to existing Internet governance institutions, then they would quite likely be 
considered in development of the various technical standards and policies that we need 
to keep the Internet running.  Likewise, if folks working on such standards and policies 
took significant measures to keep governments and civil society aware of the ongoing 
developments, it would help in avoiding conflicts between Internet practices and the 
globally accepted principles in any given public policy area.

/John

p.s.  Disclaimers apply.  My views alone.  Use of this email may trigger visions and/or
produce delusions, paranoia, and schizophrenia-like symptoms.  Use sparingly and 
seek appropriate medical treatment as needed.


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