Re: [ICANN-EU] ... and other candidates

["Jeanette Hofmann" <jeanette@medea.wz-berlin.de>]

Hi,



> I have to admit that EU and US governemnts, though annyoing sometimes,
> actually are my least worry.


After a short night's sleep it occurred to me this morning that we might 
have become victim of a misunderstanding:

I didn't mean to say that users should become an active part of 
technology development or standard setting. This, indeed, would be 
absurd. BUT: those of you who are familiar with IETF talk may recall 
the very common phrase: "let the market decide" - meaning, we 
develop standards, but it's the commercial world that decide upon its 
success. 
This model, which, frankly, never convinced me, doesn't work 
anymore on the planet Internet. There are other parties too, among 
them lawyers, goverments and so on, that wish to participate. Private 
users always had a strong impact on the development of the Net - 
simply by using certain services and by denying others.  The most 
famous example is the WEB. 
Now, if we accept that there has been a major shift of power with 
regard to the administration of names and numbers, why shouldn't we 
consider to strengthen the influence of users while everybody is 
sorting out his or her new role in cyberspace?

just my 2 cents, je