Burke Hansen questions the relevance of the IGF following the internet governance workshop at San Juan. He says nobody attending the meeting seemed sure of what the IGF does. While the workshop was about IGF, Hansen says it seemed to be “about the extent to which the IGF and ICANN serve overlapping or even contradictory purposes.”Hansen concludes:
“Although this topic looked appetizing on the schedule, it’s clear that the IGF has a lot of work to do if it is to be considered anything more than a highly vocal yet castrated version of ICANN. Indeed, the IGF bares an uncanny resemblance to that other impotent, internationalized and highly vocal institution, the UN General Assembly. That’s not to say that it does not have value – it’s just the political equivalent to a visit to the therapist’s office. We all need to get stuff off our chest from time to time.”
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/07/03/igf_icann_critical_internet_resources/
Internet Governance Forum still searching for something to govern by Burke Hansen
Burke Hansen questions the relevance of the IGF following the internet governance workshop at San Juan. He says nobody attending the meeting seemed sure of what the IGF does. While the workshop was about IGF, Hansen says it seemed to be “about the extent to which the IGF and ICANN serve overlapping or even contradictory purposes.” He concludes “it’s clear that the IGF has a lot of work to do if it is to be considered anything more than a highly vocal yet castrated version of ICANN” and compares the IGF, disparagingly, to the UN General Assembly.