Slide 1:Accessibility 1998
Internet information policies, structures and technologies |
Slide 2:Policy issues
- The Internet has opportunities which have policy implications
- The Internet has unresolved issues of governance
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Slide 3:What we will cover
- What is the internet and the world wide web?
- Ownership: Who runs the networks?
- What they can be used for
- How you keep up to date about the issues
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Slide 4:The Internet is growing exponentially
- Technological changes have followed Moore’s Law
- Use has expanded beyond all expectations
- The social and economic implications are basically unexplored
- The number of .com domains is increasing
- As are the number of country-level domains
- It has become a major economic marketplace
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Slide 5:What is the internet?
- The Internet is a set of networks that are connected by a common
protocol TCP/IP
- Packets of information are transmitted by a system of addresses
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Slide 6:Characteristics of TCP/IP
- Connectionless. Signal transport paths aren't required to be
continuously available.
- Adaptive Routing Diversity. Transport paths and other network
characteristics are not fixed but learned and capable of being altered at
any time.
- Arbitrary Host Support. Any of up to 4 billion connected host
computers can arbitrarily communicate with any others.
- Arbitrary Service Support. Any service - up to nearly 64 thousand -
can be concurrently supported and delivered between or among any connected
computer hosts.
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Slide 7:The World Wide Web
- a higher order meta-abstraction - all accessible information resources
distributed across the Internet or Intranets have a unique identification
that can be referenced from within any other resource.
- tagged text files written according to a specification known as HTML (HyperText
Markup Language).
- mid-1996, this represented tens of millions of pages of material
resident on several hundred thousand servers on the Internet alone.
From Anthony M. Rutkowski, The Internet as Paradigm, Aspen Institute |
Slide 8:Ownership: Who runs the networks? Who pays for
them?
- The networks have run themselves
- With some help from engineers
- And some support from government agencies
- It is a unique approach to governance
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Slide 9:Governance
- Domain names
- A controversy that has been temporarily resolved by ICANN
- Intellectual property
- Major issues of trademarks and copyright
- On-line copyright guidance
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Slide 10:National and international issues
| Communications Aspect |
National Issue |
International Issue |
| Sender |
Universal service Non-discrimination |
Developing country access (UNDP/World Bank/ITU)
Non-discriminatory (UNHCHR)
Competition in services (WTO)
Authentication (UNCITRAL)
Domain name registration (ITU/WIPO) |
| Message |
Content regulation |
Norms for content regulation (UNHCHR)
Copyright (WIPO)
UN public information / Informatics |
| Medium |
Telecom regulation
Encryption policy |
Transmission Standards (ITU)
Satellite orbit slots (ITU) |
| Receiver |
Universal access |
Universal access |
| Feedback |
Regulatory policy |
Interactive media |
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Slide 11:Uses
- E-commerce
- Trans-boundary communication
- Political openness
- Community
- Critical information exchange
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Slide 12:Encryption: Key concepts and issues
- 64 bit keys or 128 bit keys
- The basis for e-commerce: how can you be sure your credit card isn’t
being appropriated
- Key deposit
- State need vs. Individual privacy
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Slide 13:Exchange of Critical Information
- Rapid dissemination
- Practical interaction
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Slide 14:Possible means for enhancing development
- More accessible government
- More open international organizations
- Especially the UN System
- Use the Net to further your programme
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Slide 15:How do you keep up to date?
- On-line news sources
- Maintenance of bookmarks
- Joining list-serves
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