ICANN IS OURS BITCHES

Thats right. Uh huh.

From WaPo: Deal Reached on Managing the Internet

TUNIS, Tunisia -- A U.N. technology summit opened Wednesday after an 11th-hour agreement that leaves the United States with ultimate oversight of the main computers that direct the Internet's flow of information, commerce and dissent.
...

Although Pakistan and other countries sought a takeover of that system by an international body such as the United Nations, negotiators ultimately agreed, as time ran out, to a create an open-ended international forum for raising important Internet issues. The forum, however, would have no binding authority.

The onus now lies with the developing world to bring in not just opinions, but investment to expand the Internet to their benefit, said U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce Michael D. Gallagher.

David Gross, the U.S. State Department's top official on Internet policy, told reporters that despite the U.S. hand in ICANN, Internet governance was not the provenance of one specific country.

"The term ... is quite broad. It is very inclusive," he said, trying to dismiss claims that the U.S. is holding onto its position as the arbiter of the Internet.

What we need to see now is the US backing off of any appearance of control over ICANN, and ICANN itself taking measures to distance itself from US policy.

The bloggers on hand at the convention don't seem to know what to make of this news. In general they seem disappointed with the EU's handling of the situation, which began well but fizzled quickly. For instance:

It is a far cry from the inter-governmental oversight body that was proposed by the European Union in September. That proposal, which shocked the US as much as it pleased Brazil, China and Iran, pushed the previously unnoticed issue of internet governance on to the world stage and turned the topic into the main focus of the WSIS.

Just as surprising as the EU's proposal, however, has been its failure to push that model in Tunis this week. In fiery opening statements, China and the US laid down their same, strong positions, but when it came to the EU to speak, delegation head David Hendon said only that it had "looked carefully at all positions, including our own" and deferred to the chair of the committee over which direction the meeting would take.

In any case, this is happy news. And to celebrate the happiness, here's an article on the $100 laptops developed by MIT to help quash the digital divide across the world, which is really the main focus of WSIS. According to the BBC, "worldwide only 14% of the population is online, compared to 62% in the US."



WaPo: MIT Is Crafting Cheap -- But Invaluable -- Laptops

Yes, thats a hand crank.

*** UPDATE *** - This post has been linked by Slate, which officially counts as the biggest media coverage I have thus far recieved. Let that influence your opinion on Slate accordingly. It quotes a dumb comment I made, probably while high, so I am a bit too embarassed to let this occupy a new post. However, I'd like to say that I appreciate the word 'maven', though I admit having to look it up to make sure it didn't have any feminine connotations.