[governance] Conflicts in Internet Governance

[Roland Perry]

In message 
<A0615421071EDD4A9F851117D67D538A82398DB3 at EXCH01.KDBSystems.local>, at 
15:58:23 on Sun, 14 Apr 2013, Kerry Brown <kerry at kdbsystems.com> writes
>> The Internet is a collection of routers, cables and peering agreements.
>
>This is the heart of many debates on Internet governance. If you ask a technologist "What is the Internet?" the above is often their answer. If
>you ask an Internet user you will probably get a very different answer. It will often be their ISP, the web, Google, Facebook, or something
>similar. The technology aspect of how the Internet works is rarely considered by them. Many government officials have a poor understanding of
>the issues and are often in the unsophisticated Internet user category and react accordingly. This causes a lot of problems because when people
>talk about Internet governance they rarely have the same definition of the Internet. This guarantees there will be conflicts.

All of this is true. My day-job is trying to bridge that divide, reduce 
the conflicts etc.

>Managing those conflicts is what the multi-stakeholder model is all about.

And briefing the stakeholders is what I'm all about.

>Governments have a hard time grasping this concept as they are used to being in charge and don't understand they are merely one party at the
>table.

(Although most governments do notice there are others at the table).

But here, on the IGC list, what I'm attempting to do (for the sake of 
avoiding any misunderstanding) is discovering what the various 
correspondents understand to be "the Internet", upon which they wish "no 
government interference".

I asked a question of Avri, perhaps you could answer it also.

Then we'll all get on a lot better, rather than talking past one another 
all the time.

ps If anyone knows what the US House of Representative's draftsman means 
by "the Internet", that would very helpful too.
-- 
Roland Perry

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