[governance] MM blog post on what is really threatening Internet Freedom

McTim dogwallah at gmail.com
Tue Apr 30 15:32:54 EDT 2013


Not that I agree with all of the post of course, but this hits home in
terms of our latest discussion:

http://www.internetgovernance.org/2013/04/23/wtf-wtpf-the-continuing-battle-over-internet-governance-principles/

"The threats to Internet freedom posed by states are more serious than
those posed by private actors.

Get over the stuff about ‘Googledom’ and ‘Facebookistan.’ It’s a cute
metaphor but there is really no comparison between sovereigns and
these businesses. States have the power to tax and expropriate, they
have a monopoly on the use of force, they generate armed conflicts
that result in war; they fund and deploy weapons. You do not choose to
use their services. However much you might think you are locked in to
Google, there is still a huge qualitative difference between your
ability to use or not use its services and the choice you have with
respect to states. This doesn’t mean that the private sector is
perfect nor that there is no need for states to ever order or regulate
what private actors do, but it helps to keep your priorities
straight."



-- 
Cheers,

McTim
"A name indicates what we seek. An address indicates where it is. A
route indicates how we get there."  Jon Postel

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