Re: _[AfrICANN-discuss]_Fadi_Chehadé:_If_We_Fra gment_The_Internet, _'It_Will_Not_Be_The_Interne =?utf-8?Q?t=5FAs=5FWe=5FKnow=5FIt'=5F?=

[Mukom Akong T.]

Interesting discussion, I replied in another thread, so I am re-posting
this to maintain the thread and discussion.

In the spirit of constructive debate, Pierre, could  you paint for us a
model of how this alternative countrinets (Internet within a country) will
operate and how they will drive economic development? What would make it
faster? cheaper? better? than the status quo?


As to your previous message, see comments inline

 NSA in the U.S. and other intelligence services or espionages (Western
> countries, Chinese, ...) will eventually convince Nations / Sovereign
> State to have their own Internet.
>
>
Actually I don't think so and here's why.  If you are General Keith
Alexander (guy who runs NSA), the first logical deduction you get to make
(if you can't, you shouldn't even have that job) is that - the PRISM
program's success depends on having one large source of data to mine and
gather intelligence from (the whole Internet). While from the perspective
of 'securing e-borders', your suggestion might make sense, from the
perspective of intelligence gathering, it doesn't and the spy agencies
everywhere know that. The big players in this space will be the last to
advocate for contrinets (unless of course their pockets are deep enough
that they can have a self-sustaining one). If countrinets were viable, am
sure France would still have its Minitel [
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minitel] running.



>  Africa will lose nothing, let's not be alarmist,
>
>
Why not ask the African entrepreneurs who have built global companies based
upon the Internet what it would mean to them if a large part of the world
could not access their service because they happen to be in an Internet
block that is not friendly with theirs? Or actually go talk to the aspiring
tech-entrepreneurs all over Africa trying to build Internet startups (I
think there's one such space in Cameroon - Activespaces based in
Buea/Douala).



>  Africa must understand the issues and adapt itself to survive...
>
>
+1 ... and with that understanding, make its own play in its self-interest.


>
> According to their different strategic interests, Nations / Sovereign
> States will interconnect their Internet (p2p, multilateral peering, etc
> ...)
>
>
And so long as those strategic interest are driven by basic economic self
interest (think trade) a boundaryless Internet is a requirement. And if you
sell something, you want their widest market possible for it ergo, you want
the widest boundaryless Internet to go with that ...and the ideal of that
tedious route will be the open Internet we now have.


>
> The wars in Libya, Syria, Egypt, Sudan, CAR, ... reinforce our position with
> regard to the future of Internet architecture.
>
>

Please could you specify  'our' here? Is this the position of the Cameroon
IT regulator (ANTIC) and thus the gov't of Cameroon?  That would be good to
know.

And if we go down this road, will we develop our own protocols? within
countries? and would the costs of interconnecting make global information
easier to access?

>
>
> In addition, political unrest manipulated by the major world powers (eg,
> Ukraine, Thailand, etc ...) are also drawing our attention to the precautions
> for the benefit of our peoples.
>
>
The Internet is a just a tool, and can be wielded every which way by the
person using it. As a farm hand, I cut myself many times with the cutlass
or hoe I was using, I bled and swore, I took precautions but never for a
moment doubted that the open architecture of cutlass and hoe was
instrumental to its affordability to millions of people like me. By all
means, let's deal with precautions, I hardly think the benefits of a walled
countrinet are out way the loss in value of cutting out huge chunks of the
Internet (See Metcalf & Reed's laws on the value of a network)


> Globalization has not only the positive effects ...
>
>

I agree 100% with you here. In fact, I'll recommend the "Globalisation and
its Discontents" by Joseph Stiglitz, former World Bank chief economist and
Nobel laureate. Globalisation - which is well aided by an Open Internet is
a weapon - those that master how to wield it will benefit from it, those
that don't will suffer but they will suffer not because of the
globalisation or the Internet, but because they have failed as persons,
organisations, countries or continents to build the capabilities that
enable them to produce (not just dig from the ground) and sell products and
services to other countries  AND make money.


./shalom


-- 

Mukom Akong T.

http://about.me/perfexcellence |  twitter: @perfexcellent
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“When you work, you are the FLUTE through whose lungs the whispering of the
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