E-Hubris - A take on the recent ISOC meeting in Stockholm, by Fergus Cassidy

amp

Below is the E-thos column that appeared in the last sundays Tribune (reproduced here with permission)

GOLDILOCKS must have felt like this. Walking into a strange place and seeing
lovely goodies on display. The excitement constantly tempered by the fear.
The fear of getting caught.

At the Internet Society (Isoc) conference in Stockholm,
there is a constant fear of being buttonholed by a friendly delegate. "Ah
you're from Ireland ­ the hub of ecommerce in Europe." The WHAT?!!! Better
to mutter something intelligible as gaeilge or pretend to misunderstand the
word as "pub". Find the nearest one and ply the questioner with whiskey.
Very, very expensive but preferable to dealing with the issue.

It's a mystery how and when this myth of The Hub started. From a country
steeped in tradition and folklore, it is maybe only natural to create new
myths.

The myth of the Hubris. The Hubris were descended from the Roman musician
Nero. They were the keepers of the flames. When anyone spoke ill of The Hub
they rushed to its defence. The Hubris calmed the people and made sure not
too many were captured by the Net. Those who were caught were constantly
warned of the great dangers that might befall them.

The myth of the Hubris hasn¹t managed to reach too many people outside of
Ireland. They are a bit too busy to be that interested.

In Stockholm, they're busy building whole suburbs where every dwelling has
broadband connection and its own homepage on the local network. School
students have their own official email addresses and the city claims to have
the world's fastest school data network.
The airport and central train station have wireless local area networks and
the city sees itself as the second biggest IT cluster after Silicon Valley.

This is part of the reason why Isoc has held its 11th annual conference

here. Isoc is a global organisation that is the closest thing to being in
charge of the internet. They don't own the Three Bears' house, but they get
to move the furniture around and choose what food is served.

The nearest thing there is to control of the internet lies in the domain
name system which is securely in the hands of the commerce department of the
US government.

The technical standards that make the net run are still largely in the hands
of those who created the protocols and programs running on the net. Isoc
acts as a kind of umbrella, protecting the standards organisations from the
cold winds of political and cultural interference.

The conference centre on the outskirts of Stockholm comfortably accommodates
the needs and whims of hundreds of internet users from around the world.
These are people who take the net seriously. The conference dealt with all
the issues that arise as the world becomes a much more inter-connected place
to live.

What is eerily obvious from the time of arrival is the silence and lack of
the normal conference hustle bustle. The conference was focused around
sessions dealing with a very wide range of subjects. In between these the
main sound that is heard is the tippity-tap of keyboards. There was always
the constant reminder that there is a big world outside and communication
goes on. A different type of conference where people gather not to slap each
other on the back or lock themselves away from reality.

Among these dedicated net people there exists an underlying nervousness
concerning the fate and direction of the internet. Can the rapidly expanding
commercialisation of the internet be accommodated with the public service
dimension? Or will the net find itself going down the same road as every
mass media technology before it? Starting off with an element of public
service fulfilment but increasingly less so as private interests come more
into play.

There is a thoughtful and respectful manner to most of the business that is
done at the conference. In one light moment, European Isoc members decided
to toss a coin to decide on a relatively titular position that was
available.

The hub of ecommerce is not represented on any of the important components
that makes up the broad church that is Isoc.
Doing away with the hubris would be a good start.

(c)Fergus Cassidy 2001 (fergus@cassidy.net)

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Lunacy Abounds! GLminesweeper RO><ORS!
art is everything and of course nothing and possibly also a sausage

[This message has been edited by amp (edited 15-06-2001).]

LegacyUser

As some people may be aware, an ISOC chapter is in the process of formation in Ireland at the moment.