[governance] Report on WCIT // Suggested Next Steps

[michael gurstein]

Again, these are potentially empirical questions cast within an ideological
frame... 

Well worth researching, but by parties rather more neutral than for example,
the proponents/beneficiaries of the policy positions implied by your stream
of argument).

FWIW I have had the opportunity to participate in some "expert" discussions
on related matters within the OECD and I've discussed some of the
limitations built into conventional approaches in much of the research being
produced in this area...
http://gurstein.wordpress.com/2011/09/25/measuring-the-unmeasurable-internet
-and-why-it-matters/

M

-----Original Message-----
From: governance-request at lists.igcaucus.org
[mailto:governance-request at lists.igcaucus.org] On Behalf Of Suresh
Ramasubramanian
Sent: Tuesday, April 02, 2013 7:17 AM
To: governance at lists.igcaucus.org; Norbert Bollow
Cc: governance at lists.igcaucus.org
Subject: Re: [governance] Report on WCIT // Suggested Next Steps

On 02-Apr-2013, at 18:57, Norbert Bollow <nb at bollow.ch> wrote:

> Which parts of these observed fears and concerns are real unsolved 
> problems, and which parts are just fruits of rhetorical dramatizations 
> and fears that would go away if the concerned people would simply 
> inform themselves reasonably well?
> 

The additional questions are bound to be - which of these observed fears and
concerns actually have other, entirely different, causes including but not
limited to -

1. A closed / government monopoly economy, including expensive and
controlled internet and telecom access [the control might even exist for
political or censorship reasons in a relatively more open economy]

2. A flight of capital, in particular intellectual capital, to other
countries, due to the lack of an enabling environment for business in the
country itself [such as just how many Indians and Chinese work for Google
and Facebook rather than setting up startups in India and China]

3. Other localized micro / macro economic factors, as well as enabling
factors including education, electricity, a stable and democratic government
..

4. How much of this "belief" is caused and fuelled by the people believing
this opposing "the north" and in particular the USA on ideological or
political grounds, to the extent that any news at all in this area is
interpreted with an ideological slant and selectively skewed to fit
whichever ideology the individual concerned holds to, using the classic
tools that a propagandist has at his or her disposal?   

The perpetrators of this last are not by and large not likely to modify
their behavior by "informing themselves well", though people who they may
influence could certainly benefit from alternate sources of information and
discourse.  I am aware that political and personal beliefs will definitely
influence thoughts and behavior but this goes rather beyond that.  And an
axiom of propaganda is that repeating something patently false often enough,
and unopposed, tends to lend even a blatant canard a veneer of truth.  

I welcome the thoughts of this caucus.

--srs


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