Vivek Durai
Candidate in ICANNATLARGE.COM Interim Panel Election April 2002

I am a lawyer with a passion for technology and an interest in the global evolution of communications infrastructure. The organisation of ICANN and issues relating to the representation of at large members, are to me, a slice of the larger debate created by the explosion of new technologies that empower the individual rather than states or corporations. This debate envelops the expansion of intellectual property rights into the digital domain, the utilization of technologies in government and administration, and the growth and evolution of non-state entities (including traditional NGOs) across cultures and peoples.

I have observed the formation of ICANN with apprehension, and later disappointment. I hope that we can, as individuals, empower ourselves, and create a globally significant pressure group, recognised or unrecognised by state-entities, and prevent an imbalance that may occur through the domination of corporate and government representation on decision-making bodies such as ICANN.

While I believe that differences in culture, national identity, etc. may have less of a role to play in such fora, it is also true that the interests of at least half the world's population are under-represented even in non-state fora. The interests of a billion people who do not have access to the internet may not seem significant to many, but one must realise, that this is a struggle, not merely for the present, but for a future where such technologies may pervade our world. While a technologically ideal world is not hard to realise, a morally ideal world is difficult to even envision, given the values of today's elite. In such a scenario, what becomes of the meek, the poor, the ignorant? Are they merely an emerging market or a civilization in distress?

Is icannatlarge merely an interesting proposition for geeks, or an effort to provide a higher moral ideal?

I believe it can be the latter.

Vivek Durai
Mumbai (Bombay)
India.