At 08:15 PM 8/28/99 -0400, Joe Sims wrote:
>On your question, since any national government can join GAC by simply
>saying so, the GAC is by definition those governments that care enough
>about these issues to participate in it.
Except that's not how it happened. For instance, in
Canada, there was a public process run by the government to
determine the Canadian position on the DNS.
Canada got involved in the GAC when Paul Twomey sent
an invite. The Canadian representatives asked what
it was all about and were told by Paul "just show
up". So they did, and found themseleves voting on
the WIPO report - which did not exist at the time
of the Canadian DNS inquiry.
In this manner, the GAC has run roughshod over national
process, at least in Canada, and in contravention to
Industry Canada's earlier declarations "we have a hands
off policy" (articulated at the July 97 CAIPCON DNS Summit
and stated again by Industry Canada Senior Telecommunications
Analyist Robert Campagnolo in personal communication)
--
"So foul a sky clears not without a storm" - Shakespeare
