Re: <nettime> Arun Mehta: Unpacking Internet Governance

[Morlock Elloi <morlockelloi@yahoo.com>]

This is perhaps the most naive part of the otherwise very naive article:

> Foremost among them, is the whole discussion of domain names, and who
> should control them. Internet traffic is routed using IP addresses,
> similar to phone numbers on the telecom network. People came up with the
> clever idea of allowing people to use groups of alphanumerical
> characters instead of these large numbers, with computers automatically
> making the conversion. Such a big deal should not be made about who uses
> which name to represent a specific IP address, and frankly, most of us
> don't care. We just use google to find whichever company or individual
> we are looking for.

There is a deep discrepancy between reality and perception here. Using
regulated dictionary approach (DNS  ICANN) enables, at least, each participant
to control the name and associate it with marketing/advertizing strategy
(commercial, ideological, social, whatever.)

Search engines, on the other hand, are private entities that can (and always
will) do anything that maximizes their gain (sometimes in the short and
sometimes in the long run.) For instance, it is perfectly possible for Google,
Inc. to dissapear India as such and direct all queries to Pakistan or whatever.
(maybe because Pakistan bought Google, via indirect or direct means.)

The point is that you want your dictionary (and both DNS and search engines are
dictionaries, with different latencies) ran under published rules.

This rampant ignorance of alleged activists is the most scary phenomenon
lately.



end
(of original message)

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