And looking at this from another angle, the internet barely seems to be something that the government can be involved in. The idea of internet governance seems as preposterous to me as having a department of sweet sixteen parties, or a ministry of apple pie (also known as “podcasting“).

But of course, that says as much about me as about governments and the internet. To me, the internet is a collection of voices. And voices have in common that they are personal and unique. In many ways they are the exact opposite of what governments stand for.

A good internet lets these voices connect in an optimal way. Of course, that is not at all that different from what a government (or at least an idealized government) tries to achieve for its citizens. But governments do that because they have to, and nation-state governments do what they have to do because of silly dotted lines on maps, and a sense of identity that they try to attach to these lines. I am not sure governments are needed on the internet. What’s the identity of a nation-state on the internet?

Ok, it’s not on a par with breaking the Internet, but from any other body we’d say that was pretty bad, wouldn’t we?