[Chapter-delegates] FW: WSIS began as "how to bridge digital divide" has transformed into the "who should control the Internet" debate

[Trina Semorile]

It should be noted that "who controls the internet" determines, defines
controls and perpetuates the digital divide, which will NOT be address or
resolved or "bridged" until such time as control issues are addressed.

Control maintains currently extant privilege, power, economics, etc.,
while ensuring that the have nots are contained (if they get restive,
toss 'em a few crumbs to prevent a revolution...) and the system
maintained as it is.

The two issues are inextricably interrelated and and require first the
acknowledgement of this before anything else can occur.

"One of the regrettable, if diverting, effects of extreme inequality is
its tendency to weaken the capacity for impartial judgment.  It pads the
lives of its beneficiaries with a soft down of consideration, while
relieving them of the vulgar necessity of justifying their pretensions,
and secures that, if they fall, they fall on cushions."
--R. H. Tawney (1938)

"We're becoming an oligarchic society, with an extreme concentration of
wealth.  This concentration of wealth is protected through a political
process that's making it difficult for anyone but the monied class to
have a voice."  --Edward Wolff (1999)

[And remember, this oligarchy is now international, not just national and
directly affects the internet--including privatization, access and
consolidation, as well as governance.  The monied class and political
process are foundational to preventing equality or distribution of
power.]

"You cannot change the world if you refuse to recognize the forces that
shape it."  --Sheryl Huggins, Journalist

Trina

On Tue, 15 Nov 2005, Rosa Delgado  wrote:

> Fyi,
>
> Rosa
>
> ***************************
>
> Internet showdown in Tunis
> -------------------------
> The United Nations' World Summit on the Information Society began with a
> high-minded purpose: to bridge the technological gap between richer and
> poorer nations. But now the WSIS event, which begins Nov. 16 in Tunisia,
> has transformed into a week-long debate about who should control key
> portions of the Internet.
>
> Delegates from nations like Iran, China, and Cuba have been clear in
> what they want: less control by the U.S. government. Instead, they've
> suggested creation of some sort of cyberbureaucracy---perhaps under the
> U.N. International Telecommunication Union.
>
> Those arguments have met with a cold shoulder in Washington. The Bush
> administration said in no uncertain terms in June that it intended to
> relinquish the United States' unique influence over domain names and the
> Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) that
> position. But that doesn't advocate relinquishing total control or
> creation of a U.N. bureaucracy.
>
> http://news.com.com/Internet+showdown+in+Tunis/2008-1012_3-5945200.html
>
>
> The U.N. thinks about tomorrow's cyberspace
> -------------------------------------------
>
> Mr. H Zhao of the ITU said "Countering spam is just one of many elements
> of protecting the Internet that include availability during emergencies
> and supporting public safety and law enforcement officials," Zhao wrote
> in December. Also, he wrote, the ITU "would take care of other work,
> such as work on Internet exchange points, Internet interconnection
> charging regimes, and methods to provide authenticated directories that
> meet national privacy regimes."
>
> http://news.com.com/The+U.N.+thinks+about+tomorrows+cyberspace/2008-1028
> _3-5643972.html?tag=nl