[Future of the Internet workshop] OECD Discussion Forum -- Some initial thoughts on OECD discussion

[Future of the Internet workshop] OECD Discussion Forum -- Some initial thoughts on OECD discussion, Bill St. Arnaud.

1. The Internet is now a critical infrastructure and a global platform for communication and commerce. What should be the role of governments in its development and management?

In my opinion as much as possible governments should maintain a minimum role with regards to governance and management of the Internet. Where government's role is critical is enforcing existing laws with respect to illegal activities on the Internet such as child pornography, etc

The Internet technology is rapidly changing and I suspect many issues related to DNS governance will be displaced by technology change such as new search engine technology, new string based XML/URI routing, etc. Already the many emotionally charged issues related to DNS have become secondary as many users start to use search engines like Google as a replacement for typing in DNS names.

The same applies to spam. The Canadian spam legislation is an excellent example of reinforcing existing legislation that is clearly in the purview of government responsibility and allowing the market to come up with technical solutions and guidelines for most spam issues.

Government policy does not move at Internet speeds and the danger is that they will implement the wrong solutions long after the problem has been outdated by technology. If in doubt about government's role, the best solution is not to do anything.

2. The Internet is challenging existing business models. How can we ensure there is sufficient investment to meet the network capacity demands of new applications and of an expanding base of users?

There is no question that Internet is challenging the business models of carriers. But we should not confuse the challenges of the business models and investment for the carriers as problem of investment in the Internet economy as a whole.

The internet is a classic case of creative destruction. While the business case for the carriers may be disappearing a host of new business and investment opportunities is being created with far greater economic wealth creation.

Our biggest concern is that governments will be distracted by the complaints of the old industry such as carriers and penalize the new economy industries of the Internet

3. Innovation is taking place at the edges of the network. How do we ensure that this continues and how can it be enhanced?

I think government funded research is critical for continued innovation at the edge. The GENI program is a great example of the type of initiative that needs to supported to insure innovation at the edge

4. The Internet is perceived as not being secure, nor does it protect privacy. What steps should be taken to improve security and privacy and by whom?

Security is truly a question of perception. In many ways the Internet is far more secure than most other network technologies. People are not aware that most other telecommunication networks are far less secure than the Internet. The reason why nobody talks about security on these networks is that they achieve security through obscurity.

The worst kind of security is a false sense of security. With all the publicity and press about security on the Internet, very few people think it is secure. This is a good thing. This means that users at the edge will take on the responsibility themselves in regards to security and privacy. Depending on the carrier or a third party for security and privacy is stupid and bound to come back and bite you.

Continued innovation at the edge I am confident will provide the necessary security and privacy.