WTO an even worse possibility as Inet regulator

[hallam at w3.org]

>  a very credible white paper is circulating for the WTO to establish an 
>internet CZAR to regualate the Internet and level the playing field world 
>wide. 

>   personally, the Feds and the FCC are bad enough --now they want to 
>have a **global** bureaucracy play god  -???


Depends on what the role of the Czar is. If it is to stop sillyness like 
border disputes and keep national governments out of the loop then it
could be a good thing. If they want to regulate it is a bad thing.

WTO is mainly known for the GATT which they brokered. This is basically
an agreement amongst national governments to be "hands off" in their
tariff regulations. 

There is the potential for governments to regulate the Internet. It is
in everyone's interest to keep hands off but if one starts to regulate
then it is in others interests to regulate. The general soulution to
prisoners dilema games is to form some type of alliance. It is not
possible to form alliances in classical prisoners dilemas since they
are restricted to a single dilema at a time. Givernments are involved
with multiple dilemas and hence have multiple agreements. The main reason to
keeo a treaty is that the credibility of government depends on keeping 
treaties. Thus a treaty can solve a prisoners dilema problem since 
the gain from breaking one treaty is more than offset by the potential loss
through other sides abrogating other treaties.


I suspect that the role of an Internet Czar would be mainly ensuring that 
fat Internet pipes arrived throughout the third world. George Sorros has
been very active in this area, he paid for much of the infrastructure
development into Eastern Europe. If we could persuade Bill Gates that his 
mission in life was to cable Africa to the Internet somehow we might have the
whole planet online before 2000.

I would not be too worried about WTO banning crypto or attempting looney
tune ideas like insisting on OSI protocols. The UN generally does some very 
worthwhile work in allocating radio frequencies and such like and has done so 
for many years without problems. They allocate areas of the clarke belt for 
satelites and do all sorts of mundane tasks.


One of the odd things about power is that the larger the scale the more mundane 
the decisions. At the local level councillors decide to build or close schools 
and hospitals. At the global level negotiations are held on the size of holes in 
fishing nets and the exact specifications of ball bearings.

If people want to see the Federal government weakened in power the only way to 
do so is to make it ceed power both upwards and downwards. A national speed 
limit may be a bad idea (I personally think what was wrong was 55mph) but 
national standard roadsigns is a good idea. International standard roadsigns are 
a better idea still. 


		Phill.