Mon
8 Dec 2003
4:36 pm
NYT: Nations Chafe at U.S. Influence Over the Internet
Posted by shimon under computers , kind of writing/quotes & factoids , society/politics1 Comment
During the conference, an expected 5,000 representatives from intragovernmental, business and nonprofit organizations, will try to create an action plan for the next phase of the Internet.
Excuse my skepticism, but yeah, right. 5000 people none of us have heard of making an action plan for the internet? That's getting together a bunch of politicians to plan the next step for a cultural force that they have very little control over. I guess they are in denial about that part, though.
An interesting statistic though:
Because the Internet first took root in the United States, it may be understandable that American interests have tended to prevail. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for example, still has more Internet addresses than all of China, according to Lee McKnight, an associate professor at Syracuse University and an M.I.T. research affiliate.
Of course, lots of IP addresses doesn't mean lots of internet usage. But China is a country, whereas MIT is only "a series of individual faculty entrepreneurs held together by a common grievance over parking."
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