[discuss] The love-hate relationship between the Internet technical community and civil society

Thu Feb 27 02:13:00 UTC 2014

Here's the abstract of a a fun lightning talk that I'l be giving at APRICOT 2014 today.  Recognise these stereotypes?
To techies, "civil society" is a useless concept, referring to a bunch of failed career politicians who lack a basic understanding of the technology behind the Internet, have no legitimacy to represent Internet users, and litter their conversation with stupid acronyms like "WSIS", "MDGs" and "LDCs".

To civil society, the technical community are a bunch of narrow-minded libertarian geeks, who can't (or refuse to) understand the policy dimensions of technology, or how it is shaped by power and money, and who litter their conversation with stupid acronyms like "BGP", "MPLS" and "DNSSEC".

However, the future of the Internet depends on the two sides learning to get along. Both need to recognise their own limitations, and the value of what the other side has to contribute. Civil society and the technical community may hate each other sometimes, but could they really be a perfect match?

Watch this lightning presentation live at http://apnic.adobeconnect.com/apricot2014-room1/ from 2pm local Malaysian time. 

--
Jeremy Malcolm PhD LLB (Hons) B Com
Internet lawyer, ICT policy advocate, geek
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