[governance] Are Techies from Venus and Non-techies from Mars :)

[michael gurstein]

In the course of some private discussions with techie colleagues concerning
my comments on RFC 6852  it fairly quickly became clear that we were using
the terminology around "competition"and "collaboration" in quite
different--in fact, diametrically opposite, ways.  

For me "competition" evokes market based relationships and in fact, in most
policy discourses "competition" is generally used as a code word for the
pursuit of private interests and "free markets" a la the Washington
Consensus actively promoting the opening up of telecom markets globally (as
Milton quite correctly, if disparagingly, understood in his reply to my
original comments).  Similarly for me "collaboration" refers to the joint
puruit of common goals (as for example, social collaboration in support of
the public interest, or p2p relationships, social solidarity and so on) and
in a policy context would be appropriate to interpose as a balance to a
position supporting "competition".

For my tech colleagues the understanding, at least according to two
non-communicating tech folks was that "competition" is seen as being the
means by which to "limit the power of otherwise overly powerful corporations
and cartels". While on the other hand "collaboration" needs to be controlled
"otherwise it will lead to the formation of harmful cartels".  (While these
latter uses of the terms are clearly correct they would never have occurred
to me, at least, as being primary definitions that might be used in a
document such as RFC 6852.)

(As an aside, I'm wondering whether at least some of the disputes that have
been recurrent themes of the IGC discussions might not have similar origins
in rather profound domain centric mutual misunderstandings as to the use of
quite common terms.)

M


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