richardm, I tend to read a certain nuance into Kofi's statements. I hope I'm not being biased or cynical in my interpretations of the meanings behind his words.
One mistaken notion is that the United Nations wants to "take over," police or otherwise control the Internet. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The United Nations wants only to ensure the Internet's global reach, and that effort is at the heart of this summit.
When Kofi says, "Nothing could be further from the truth," I think he means, "Folks, that's too near the truth for your ears right now, let me discourage you from thinking about it."
There are also legitimate concerns about the use of the Internet to incite terrorism or help terrorists, disseminate pornography, facilitate illegal activities or glorify Nazism and other hateful ideologies. But censoring cyberspace, compromising its technical underpinnings or submitting it to stringent governmental oversight would mean turning our backs on one of today's greatest instruments of progress. To defend the Internet is to defend freedom itself.
You need the UN or the terrorists win. The UN wants to DEFEND the Internet! Who you gonna call?
Governance of matters related to the Internet ... has been managed in an informal but effective collaboration among private businesses, civil society and the academic and technical communities. But developing countries find it difficult to follow all these processes and feel left out of Internet governance structures.
Everything is being handled fine except for the poor, stupid and slow countries who are terrified they won't get to participate in the kickbacks the controlling authorities will be due.
The need for change is a reflection of the future,...
So far... Kofi is saying - Whoa whoa whoa, take over the internet? No way. The US is doing a great job - but there are terrorists and somebody should be defending the internet. Let's give the US a hand for a job well done. OK, and now let's get on with the serious business of change, specifically - changing attitudes for the necessary UN takeover of the internet. Today, we'll softpeddle it as merely, "The need for change".
... when Internet growth will be most dramatic in developing countries. What we are seeing is the beginning of a dialogue between two different cultures: the nongovernmental Internet community, with its traditions of informal, bottom-up decision making, and the more formal, structured world of governments and intergovernmental organizations.
Wow, business and governments talking. Here is where the real money's at.
The Internet has become so important for almost every country's economy and administration that it would be naive to expect governments not to take an interest,
They're coming...
But governments alone cannot set the rules. They must learn to work with non-state stakeholders.
Work with Me... Me and Kojo.
At the summit two years ago in Geneva, discussions on Internet governance reached a stalemate. So the U.N. member states asked me to establish a group to examine the issue further. This Working Group on Internet Governance presented its findings in a report that reflects the views of its members, but not of the United Nations. It proposed creation of a "new space for dialogue" -- a forum that would bring all stakeholders together to share information and best practices and discuss difficult issues, but that would not have decision-making power.
That's right, I'll make all the decisions because, as I've just pointed out, I'm only doing this out of niceness and concern for the world.
The group also offered several options for oversight arrangements, with varying degrees of government involvement and relationship to the United Nations. None says that the United Nations should take over from the technical bodies now running the Internet;
We'll spring that on you later.
Everyone acknowledges the need for more international participation in discussions of Internet governance. The disagreement is over how to achieve it.
But we're not above just paying off the loudest bitchers if it means becoming masters at the tollgates of the information highway.
So let's set aside fears of U.N. "designs" on the Internet.
It's going to happen whether you're afraid or not.
