[alac] pointer to interview with Houlin Zhao
Declan McCullagh's interview with Houlin Zhao (Director ITU) http://news.com.com/The+U.N.+thinks+about+tomorrows+cyberspace/2008-1028_3-5643972.html?tag=st.prev " Does that mean an inevitable conflict with ICANN? Zhao: I don't think so. Whether we have a conflict with ICANN depends on (many things). I do not consider ICANN an enemy. We are founding members of ICANN's Protocol Supporting Organization. I myself signed that paper on behalf of the ITU. We tried to support ICANN as far as we could, but on the other hand you see that ICANN's mandate seems to be a little bit unclear...The U.N. working group on Internet governance provides us with a very good opportunity to look at this issue." <snip> "What changes in Internet governance structures might be necessary? Zhao: First we have to understand what the problem is today. Then we can perhaps understand what will happen. One of the most important changes was the early stages, when the Internet started, when ICANN started in 1998. The purpose was to exclude governments (but that didn't work). People realize today that the governments worldwide have to play a role. People say the Internet flourished because of the absence of government control. I do not agree with this view. I argue that in any country, if the government opposed Internet service, how do you get Internet service? If there are any Internet governance structure changes in the future, I think government rules will be more important and more respected." further discussion on Slashdot, with some insightful stuff from our at-large constituency http://slashdot.org/articles/05/03/29/1626210.shtml?tid=95 |