Re: [atlarge-discuss] Latin America and Africa

[Jeff Williams <jwkckid1@ix.netcom.com>]

Judyth and all stakeholders or other interested parties,

espresso@e-scape.net wrote:

> Hello, Judith et al.
>
> At 10:55 -0400 2002/08/12, Judith Oppenheimer wrote:
> <snip>
>
> >> Am I reading this aright?  you're saying you want this
> >> organization to concentrate on the ICANN side of things --
> >> governance in terms of the authority over the TLD system,
> >> registrars, etc. -- on the assumption that this will keep
> >> liberty and language unconstrained for Internet users?
> >
> >Change the word ICANN to "internet governance" and yes, internet governance
> >can constrain liberty and language on the net (as it does now via its focus
> >on intellectual property interests), or it can facilitate it (or at least
> >step back to merely technical and administrative management so it doesn't
> >get in the way.)
> >
>
> You're right, of course: in the absence of means to provide more positive contributions, simply preventing others with specific agendas from hijacking the Internet by technical means would be an important contribution.

  Very much agreed here as well.  This seems to be what ICANN'ites are
all about...  We need to become a strong voice and movement to prevent
such from occurring.  More importantly we need to become a force
that can advocate and support change without capture.

>
>
> >We can't feed starving children, we can't fight oppressive fundamentalist
> >governments - but we can work to keep the net an open platform for those
> >who focus on those efforts organizationally and individually, to have free
> >reign online.  And that means pulling global internet governance back to
> >its rightful place of technical and administrative management (versus being
> >a tool for oppressive governments, greedy commercial interests, entities
> >such as WIPO, etc.)
> >
> [snip]
>
> Agreed ... though I am still of the opinion that a purely technical/administrative goal is unlikely to receive sufficient support from a worldwide "at large" public to generate a worldwide democracy.

  A world wide democracy, as a goal for this group at this stage is far
to lofty,
IMHO as well...

>
>
> I think an organization with that goal would do better to focus its attention on recruiting activists from the existing technical communities already involved in the open source, anti-DMCA, etc. issues who could more easily comprehend why DNS management is sociopolitically sensitive and contribute the expertise needed for that type of governance.

  Yes, this is doable and very useful as a goal for this group.

>
>
> It would make little sense to ask me (and still less the average Internet user) to vote on who is best qualified to make decisions about the technical side of things -- all we could do is try to guess who amongst the candidates presenting themselves is both competent and trustworthy, especially on the basis of CVs we can barely comprehend and a short statement which may or may not accurately represent what the individual would do if elected. It would be democratic in a sense, but unfortunately even less so in practice than the average "meatspace" election.

  Good point here.  CV's are only part of what one should make election
decisions
on.  Experience is with the potential candidate and what they wish/can
contribute is far more important.  Indeed though, technical knowledge
base in also very important for some potentially electable positions and
in advisory capacities...

>
>
> Gosh, I wish I had some answers instead of so many questions! in the absence of certainty, I can only hang in and see what the majority of the group really wants to do.
>
> Regards,
>
> Judyth
>
> ##########################################################
> Judyth Mermelstein     "cogito ergo lego ergo cogito..."
> Montreal, QC           <espresso@e-scape.net>
> ##########################################################
> "History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once
> they have exhausted all other alternatives." (Abba Eban)
> ##########################################################
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> To unsubscribe, e-mail: atlarge-discuss-unsubscribe@lists.fitug.de
> For additional commands, e-mail: atlarge-discuss-help@lists.fitug.de

Regards,
--
Jeffrey A. Williams
Spokesman for INEGroup - (Over 127k members/stakeholders strong!)
CEO/DIR. Internet Network Eng/SR. Java/CORBA Development Eng.
Information Network Eng. Group. INEG. INC.
E-Mail jwkckid1@ix.netcom.com
Contact Number: 214-244-4827 or 972-244-3801
Address: 5 East Kirkwood Blvd. Grapevine Texas 75208

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: atlarge-discuss-unsubscribe@lists.fitug.de
For additional commands, e-mail: atlarge-discuss-help@lists.fitug.de