Paul M Kane.AC, .IO, .SH, TM Domain Registry

Director, European Operations

Serving the Community in the 21st Century.

Policy Development

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Informal Round Table – Athens, 1st nov 2006

Introduction

• Who is “in charge” of the Internet? – You are!

• What do users want? – Ask them!

• Why have different frameworks? Because we are all different and “one-size does not fit all”.

• How? Consultations, physical and virtual

• When and where? Global, participation encouraged

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Informal Round Table – Athens, 1st nov 2006

Who is “in charge” of the Internet?

• Internet empowers “Users” control who determine:> Technical standards;> Policy development;> Demand for new services;> Redundancy of old services – walk with their feet.

• One size does not fit all> Need to respect cultural, linguistic and operational diversity> Different levels of understanding and willingness to

participate in open process.> Different interpretations of right to “Freedom of Speech”

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Informal Round Table – Athens, 1st nov 2006

What do “users” want? – Ask them!

• Who are the “Users”> All of us, every citizen in whichever walk of life; be that

person employed/unemployed, child/adult – every person is an important individual.

• Freedom of expression> Every person contributes to society> Users want Services to improve their quality of life> Use their skills to determine their future.> Collectively, like minded users drive new services,

make policy changes, and change the world!

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Informal Round Table – Athens, 1st nov 2006

Why have different frameworks?

• Success depends on having the “right” framework!

> We are all different - respect for cultural, linguistic and operational diversity is essential.

> Liberal market driven frameworks, have greater economic success, but such thinking is not universal

> Prescriptive frameworks take time to change, whereas user demands are dynamic, change fast and frequently

> Enforcement of the “wrong” framework results in unhappy users, who frequently circumvent the blockage.

• Make it “right” by encouraging users to be involved!

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Informal Round Table – Athens, 1st nov 2006

How? Consultations, physical and virtual

• Physical meetings important, virtual meetings easier for faster response.

> Websites, Email, Blogs, on-line votes all used by Internet Community to ensure their services meet the requirements of their users (low barrier, low cost, easy accessibility, efficient time management)

> Physical meetings used for votes, consensus building and discussion. (high barrier, greater cost, harder accessibility, time commitment)

Inclusive and informed debate essential !!

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Informal Round Table – Athens, 1st nov 2006

When and Where?

• Technical Best Practice/Standards:> IETF – www.IETF.org (3 meets/year schedule until 2010

– very active mailing lists)> W3C – www.W3.org (Excellent workshops – Schedule 2011)

• Service/Application Best Practice Forums:> Open Source http://www.opensource.org/> MySpace, YouTube, Google, Mozilla, Friends Reunited.

• Registry Best Practice:> COM, NET, ORG, etc – www.ICANN.org> 2 letter Registries – individual Registries and Regional

Organisations like CENTR www.CENTR.org coordinate meetings/mailing lists for informed debate.

> IP Address Registries - www.nro.org/

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Informal Round Table – Athens, 1st nov 2006

All “users” are equal……..

• The technology of the Internet is not important• Dialogue is vital• Informed debate essential

Let’s discuss and learn from each other.

Thank you