[Chapter-delegates] How do we incorporate China and other countries that are different?

[Dave Burstein]

Kathy and folk, with respect

Using the name Internet Society of CHina is tasteless, but there are much
more important issues in this discussion.

China has twice as many Internet users as the U.S. and the gap is growing
at 5-8M users per year. Africa is about to pass 315M Internet users, the
entire population of the United States. (Cisco data.) Cheap smartphones are
bringing two *billion* more people to the Internet. We all think that's a
great thing.

*I do not believe Internet governance (or ISOC) can be effective with the
majority of world Internet users excluded.* As Ambassador Phil Verveer said
to me the night of the ITU WCIT vote, "We must build bridges."

*It's time for a Nixon Goes to China move for the Internet. *Kathy, Vint or
whoever is leading us should be finding a way to work with all nations. Bob
Kahn, an Internet Society founder, might be one natural link. He spoke at
that conference in China, as did several other Internet Society supporters.

I'm not blind to how many people starved in the 1950's in China, what
happened at Tiananmen Square, or the speech limitations in China today. I'm
also not blind to what America did in Vietnam or the $billions being spent
to buy the U.S. elections.

I'm sure we all can make lawyer-like arguments here. But it's missing the
key issue. We need to solve the North-South divide about the Internet.

In Dubai at the WCIT a few hours before that vote, I asked Larry Strickling
why the U.S. was fighting so hard over what seemed to me some very minor
issues, at most of symbolic value. He looked at me and asked, "Dave, do you
want Russia or China to be running the Internet?" We both went back to work.

Later, I realized I should have said, "Of course I want Russia and China to
have a meaningful role. If we continue to exclude them, ultimately the
Internet will split."

I did not know at that time that no Chinese were on the Board of ICANN
because that would not be acceptable to the U.S.

The Internet Society should be leading the way. Excluding China - and so
many others - I believe will fail.

--------------

Which doesn't say anything about whether this is the right way to handle
who is a civil society group. That's a side issue. The big question is
whether the ICANN board and the decision makers of all important groups
here see more than one side of the North South divide.

Dave Burstein.








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