Hello friends,
even though you may have heard of this before also but i would like to remind you all
to join at 'at large members' of ICANN.org.
the last date is 31st july only 5 days so hurry. currently only ~300 indians are
registered.
the complete news article is pasted below
hurry friends, if you find server DB busy try before afternoon.
vinay
*****************
Appeal for Indians to become voters on de facto Internet Govt
NEWS TODAY EXCLUSIVE
By Samar Halarnkar
Indians must register as voters to the de facto Internet
government�or be prepared to have no say in the Net's future.
A group of prominent scientists and professionals have said only 215
Indians are registered as voters to the Internet Corporation for
Assigned Names and Numbers, the organisation that controls
domain names on the Net.
Read the transcript of Thursday's ITGO chat with Minister for
Information Technology Pramod Mahajan, who says that IT is not a
passion but a mission.
Read former Finance Minister P Chidambaram's exclusive new
column, POLITICALLY CORRECT.
The ICANN will hold elections to its first governing board this
October. And it is this board that will represent a de facto internet
government, experts say.
Although the scope of the board's authority remains unclear�it will,
among other things, determine the allocation of new top-level domain
names and set a range of technical standards. So the elections
could decide the future of the Net.
Anyone over the age of 16 with a valid email address can register to
vote at the ICANN web site (www.icann.org). Yet so far, the vast
majority of registered voters are from the West�North America and
Germany in particular.
Updated voter statistics are available at
http://members.icann.org/pubstats.html. The deadline for voter
registration is July 31, 2000. Indian experts say unless something is
done soon, the future of the internet will repeat its history, and will
largely represent western interests.
�We believe that this would be deeply unfortunate for the developing
world as a whole, and in particular for India, which has such a wealth
of IT talent,� said a release from a group of prominent Indians trying
to raise awareness of the elections. �Many in this country feel that
the internet represents a chance for India to become a global
economic superpower. For that vision to come true, however, we
must begin by ensuring that India has a voice in the emerging global
Internet government.�
They point out that the large number of German voters is largely due
to a publicity campaign run in that country.
You can email the group at [EMAIL PROTECTED], or join an
online discussion on the issue by sending an email to
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
The group includes: Vijay Chandru, Professor, Computer Science
and Automation, Indian Institute of Science; Siddharth Dube, Author
(Words Like Freedom) and Development Expert Ashok
Jhunjhunwala, Professor and Head, Electrical Engineering
Department, IIT Madras; Akash Kapur, Oxford Programme in
Comparative Media Law and Policy, Journalist; Arun Mehta,
President of the Society for Telecom Empowerment Sevanti Ninan,
Author and Columnist for The Hindu; S. Sadagopan, Director, Indian
Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore
For more information:
1. Join an online discussion by sending a message to
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
2. Send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
3. www.icann.org: The official ICANN site is a good place to begin for
background on the election schedule and regulations.
4. www.icannwatch.org: ICANNwatch is a good source of information
and publicdiscussion on the (often controversial) steps being taken
by ICANN.
5. www.cdt.org: The Center for Democracy and Technology has been
a vocal critic of ICANN's proposals. Note, in particular, its "Letter to
Esther Dyson" (Dyson is the Chairperson of ICANN).
6. www.msnbc.com/news/428654.asp: A brief but informative article
that ran recently on MSNBC.
7. For those with access to either the print or internet version of The
Economist, the June 10, 2000 issue contains an informative article
on ICANN and internet governance in general. "
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Vinay Singh
e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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