This week sees the second meeting, in Rio de Janeiro, of the Internet Governance Forum, an organisation established by the United Nations to debate public policy issues associated with the Internet. The obvious question is why we need any governance, other than the technical standards needed to enable everyone to communicate.
The answer to me seems clear. Outright anarchy is as undesirable as central UN control. Hopefully we can steer a course through these two extremes with a light but firm touch on the rudder, based on a solid foundation of consistent legislation, security and law enforcement. Public policy provides a vision but good security is the real enabler of electronic governance.