Case, Magaziner sound off on Web governance

[Josef Dietl <jdietl@w3.org>]

Man beachte den letzten Absatz: Das DNS Whitepaper der
Clinton-Administration kommt diese Woche. Ich hab' von dem Thema zu wenig
Ahnung, um selbst eine AG zu initiieren.

Josef

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>Date: Mon, 01 Jun 1998 14:57:36 -0400
>Organization: W3C - World Wide Web Consortium
>X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.04 [en] (WinNT; I)
>Subject: Case, Magaziner sound off on Web governance
>
>Case, Magaziner sound off on Web
>governance
>
>
>June 1, 1998
>
>
>ZDNet News via NewsEdge
>Corporation : CAMBRIDGE, Mass.
>-- Although their roles in
>cyberspace are vastly different,
>America Online Inc. CEO Steve
>Case and presidential adviser Ira
>Magaziner have similar ideas about
>the potential impact of the Web on
>politics and the economy. 
>
>Both warned against government
>regulation of Internet commerce
>and services in separate addresses
>here Friday during the concluding
>session of Harvard University's
>Conference on Internet and
>Society. 
>
>They also painted a picture of a
>future in which the Web will usher
>the disenfranchised back into
>politics and greatly expand
>economic opportunities. 
>
>"People today feel distanced from
>democracy, and the media mostly
>cares about the political horse
>race," Case said. While the Internet
>won't wholly cure the
>disillusionment of those on
>society's periphery, "it may be able
>to make the political process more
>user-friendly and exciting, and it
>can help people educate
>themselves about how
>government works," the AOL
>(AOL) chief said. 
>
>'The Internet may be able to make
>the political process more
>user-friendly and exciting.' 
>
>-- AOL Chairman Steve Case 
>
>Noting that during the 1960
>Presidential debates, the first to be
>televised, pundits watching the
>contests on TV said John F.
>Kennedy won, while those listening
>on the radio judged Richard Nixon
>the winner, Case said he
>sometimes wonders, "Who would
>have won on the Net?" 
>
>Technology companies should try
>to ensure that certain segments of
>society don't become
>"over-connected" at the expense
>of other, less wealthy ones, he
>added. 
>
>"This isn't simply philanthropy,"
>Case said. Engaging in projects
>such as donating equipment to
>hook up inner-city schools to the
>Internet should become "a central
>part of corporate strategy,"
>because ultimately the medium will
>only thrive if the majority of
>consumers know how to use it
>and are comfortable with it, he
>added. 
>
>Case supports personal privacy 
>
>The AOL chief also made reference
>to his company's brushes with
>controversies over user privacy,
>saying AOL has learned the hard
>way that users' personal
>information must be protected at
>all costs. 
>
>Online services and other Internet
>companies are "the holders of the
>public trust," and they must try to
>solve privacy questions to avoid
>government intervention in the
>medium, he said. 
>
>Case closed his address with a call
>for the creation of a private-sector
>" Internet alliance" among Internet
>companies and Netizens that
>would function as a "forum for
>dialogue on issues such as privacy,
>hacking, spam, e-commerce
>taxes, the domain-name system
>and encryption." 
>
>Magaziner, the senior adviser to
>President Clinton on technology
>issues, detailed the impact that the
>Internet is having on the U.S.
>economy, pointing out that over
>the past three years, information
>technology jobs have made up a
>third of all new jobs created. Over
>the last year, inflation would have
>been more than a point higher had
>it not been for the explosive
>growth in the IT sector, he said. 
>
>More powerful than Industrial
>Revolution 
>
>"What's most exciting is that the
>factors that have made this
>possible are just beginning,"
>Magaziner said. 
>
>The Clinton administration is
>predicting that there will be a billion
>people connected to the Internet
>worldwide by 2005, and that by
>2002 more than $300 billion will
>be spent in e-commerce, he said. 
>
>"Taken together, we think that the
>Internet will have an impact on the
>global economy that is similar to
>the impact of the Industrial
>Revolution, " he said. 
>
>World governments' involvement
>in the developing medium should
>be limited to small-scale, specific
>goals such as the creation of a
>uniform commercial code
>governing online contracts,
>Magaziner said. 
>
>'White paper' coming 
>
>To advance this view, the
>administration is preparing to
>release next week its "white
>paper" on phasing out U.S.
>government involvement in
>running the Internet domain-name
>system, he said. 
>
>The paper will refine earlier
>proposals for turning over
>management of the system to the
>private sector and for stimulating
>competition in the domain name
>registration space, and will provide
>details on ways to administer the
>system in a fair, global manner,
>Magaziner said. 
>
><<ZDNet News -- 05-29-98>>
>
-- 
Josef Dietl
W3C/INRIA
BP 93
F-06902 Sophia-Antipolis Cedex
France