[kictanet] Fwd: [AfrICANN-discuss] The “Internet of Things,” the Internet and Internet Governance

[Eric Osiakwan]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "Anne-Rachel Inné" <annerachel at gmail.com>
> Date: 18 October 2007 00:01:57 GMT+03:00
> To: africann at afrinic.net
> Subject: [AfrICANN-discuss] The “Internet of Things,” the Internet  
> and Internet Governance
> Reply-To: africann at afrinic.net
>
> http://www.circleid.com/posts/ 
> 7101616_the_internet_of_things_governance/
>
> The "Internet of Things," the Internet and Internet Governance
> Oct 16, 2007 5:52 PM PST | Comments: 1
> By Brian Cute
>
> As the second Internet Governance Forum approaches, it is an
> appropriate moment to take stock of how the Internet Governance
> dialogue has evolved since the conclusion of the WSIS Summit in 2005.
> One year after the first IGF in Athens, it is clear that government,
> industry and civil society stakeholders are still grappling over the
> direction and focus of the IGF. For skeptics who view the IGF as
> little more than a talk shop that kicked the Internet Governance "can"
> down the road five years, the evolution of this dialogue is of minor
> consequence. For those who view the IGF as something more, it is clear
> that the IGF dialogue will indeed evolve and, along the way, will
> impact the conceptual approach governments take to the Internet
> itself. There is little doubt that some governments will choose to
> borrow concepts from the IGF when developing law and policy and will
> ultimately apply them to the Internet within their respective
> jurisdictions. Given the global nature of the Internet, this should be
> a fundamental concern.
>
> While this important dialogue about the Internet continues at the IGF
> in Brazil next month, another no less important debate is emerging
> with regard to RFID technology and the so-called "Internet of Things."
> The Internet of Things is a term coined to describe a future
> ubiquitous sensor network that collects commercial and personal data
> in public and private settings created, in part, through the rollout
> of RFID technology. The Internet of Things, according to some, is
> defined by the ability of things or devices to communicate and
> interact with each other. An ITU Internet Report from 2005 forecasts
> that with the implementation of RFID, "[c]onnections will multiply and
> create an entirely new dynamic network of networks—an Internet of
> Things." Questions have arisen about what governance principles should
> apply to the Internet of Things and analytical reference to IGF
> governance concepts will inevitably be made.
>
> Although RFID is not a new technology, supply chain and consumer-based
> implementations remain at a relatively nascent stage. Since RFID
> implementations are occurring primarily in the business supply chain
> and not yet at consumer points-of-sale, one must ask what the
> "Internet of Things" actually is today and what, if any, governance
> principles should be applied. More importantly, before applying
> governance principles, it is necessary to examine the nature of the
> various RFID networks that would constitute the Internet of Things.
> Depending on their architecture, security and modes of
> interconnection, emerging RFID networks between commercial entities
> could be considered "private networks" or "closed user groups,"
> (Private networks utilizing TCP/IP are addressed in RFC 1918 which
> likewise recognizes these distinctions between private and public
> networks). Private networks and closed user groups are generally
> exempt from traditional telecommunications regulations since they do
> not interconnect with the "public telecommunications network" or other
> open, public networks like the Internet. In some contexts, the
> question of whether a private network is subject to a regulatory
> obligation actually turns on the manner in which the private network
> interconnects with the public network. Given these important
> distinctions, it would be premature to apply less than fully conceived
> IGF governance concepts to one constituent network aspect of a yet to
> be realized Internet of Things.
>
> It is important that all stakeholders exercise great care in
> addressing questions of governance, policy and regulation as the
> Internet evolves. Common agreement on terminology and concepts is
> necessary and a sound understanding of the Internet itself by all
> stakeholders cannot be assumed. For example, a great deal of focus in
> the IGF remains on "critical Internet resources" which, to date, has
> meant domain names, root servers and IP address administration. The
> Internet is obviously much more than these three important elements
> and a holistic view of the Internet within the IGF is necessary before
> governance questions can be properly framed. If the IGF dialogue is to
> provide analytical building blocks for application of governance
> principles to new technologies and evolving networks, there is a
> premium on the IGF dialogue getting the conceptual framework right. If
> the IGF becomes nothing more than a Chinese menu for governments to
> select a preferred "governance point-of-view" to apply to the Internet
> of today or tomorrow, then the IGF, like the WSIS before it, will
> become another opportunity missed.
>
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>
> More Under: infrastructure, internet governance, policy regulation
>
> Source Credit: This has been a featured post from Brian Cute,
> President, Eastham Global Strategies, L.L.C.. To learn more, visit
> this participant's full profile page.
>
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Eric M.K Osiakwan
ICT Integrator
Internet Research
www.internetresearch.com.gh
emko at internetresearch.com.gh
42 Ring Road Central, Accra-North
Tel: +233.21.258800 ext 2031
Fax: +233.21.258811
Cell: +233.24.4386792



Eric M.K Osiakwan
Executive Secretary
AfrISPA (www.afrispa.org)
Tel: + 233.21.258800 ext 2031
Fax: + 233.21.258811
Cell: + 233.244.386792
Handle: eosiakwan
Snail Mail: Pmb 208, Accra-North
Office: BusyInternet - 42 Ring Road Central, Accra-North
Blog: http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/eric/
Slang: "Tomorrow Now"




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