II, Michael S!
> > The potential consequential damages are pretty
> > dramatic...
>
> This is precisely the sort of danger that the entire Internet will
> be running if ICANN (read "CORE and ISOC") controls the root.
>
> The best thing that can happen is that they implement their threat
> to black hole NSI. That will force the U.S. Government to see that
> the root must be maintained as a government service, beyond the
> reach of discriminatory special interests.
>
This is precisely the sort of proof that the entire Net has to be
conceived as self-governing. Certainly the best thing that can
happen is that NSI is RBLd, to make it clear that daddy (or
mommy ;-)) will not maintain the root _for us_ without making it
even more frustrating to deal with special interests.
We wanted free enterprise; we got free enterprise. Now if we want
an accountable government to make seriously wise decisions, we
have to do it ourselves and cut the sandbox chat.
Now I accept, getting there might well involve a coordinating board.
(In view of numerous modern political shenanigans, I would however
stipulate as a condition of holding office that *all ones rather than
going into immediate debt to the tune of $K/ day, why don't we
float an independent currency (e-ducats) on the basis of our real
stock in trade, the traffic in knowledge?
That is, the Net is the middlemanager, and rather than selling it out
to USG or anybody else it only needs to claim the niche that has
grown around it. The old concept of communication was that
everybody did it for themselves: A 'talked to' B and that was all
there was to it. What this continuing furore over pornography and
censorship and spam and civil liberties and so on reveals is that A
and B both much prefer to talk *through* C, to protect their
sensibilities - or, conversely, to disguise their intentions.
This is a service the Net, in all its manifestions and degrees of
reliability and consistency, is exquisitely positioned to provide.
Our client states out there who want their 'information' pure can
pay for the privilege; it does take a rather special breed of character
to be able to cope with the continual bombardment of unsolicited
sensory stimulation, and to take this responsibility on their behalf.
Naturally, there will be a sliding scale of services: the ordinary
Jo_6pak will hardly be able to afford the 100% insulation which
some governments and corporations (who can afford the lawyers to
comprehend the kind of contract that would be involved) would
likely demand. No, for say $10/mo of access/protection, most folks
will settle for a very simple contract, that even I could implement:
no hardcore, no blatant comeons, no INSTANT$$$ on one side,
and on the other, all the gen on guppies and their discontents
that's out there. Heck, I could probably manage a caseload of 20 or
30 clients even if I did it all longhand (which of course is hardly
necessary, but the image is one worth inculcating, like slaving
over a hot console).
And ol Jo_6p, who might come through with about 10 cents a day,
figuring to cope with the flood of mis/information on hys own? Hy's
our secret weapon, dont you see? Because, due to this app-
renticeship, this voluntary surfeit of info-exposure, *hy's going to
become just the kind of netizen who can take this same
responsibility on others' behalf. Hy'll *know what its worth to have
this kind of judgement beng exercised by somebody else instead
of DIY. All the II (Independent Internet) has to do is make it worth
Jo_6p's while to stick it out and win hys discriminating spurs
(aspirations/ apsaras/ aspersions, depending on context) rather
than diving under the umbrella of some dirt-spaced/ two-faced
employer or empire as soon as hy can afford it.
I may be wrong, but something tells me II is (am?) about ready to
go (that is *be) public. Oh, you want to know what tells me such
things? I'm happy to oblige -- and that'll be an e-ducat for you, too,
same as anybody. But (for free!) isnt it clear that 'Each one teach
one' is now a paying proposition?
II,
kerry
