The future of the ISOC is obviously unclear; it could degenerate, but I don’t believe this is likely (at least for a long time yet). I believe that there are good reasons to enter into liasison arrangements with other international entities, etc. The Internet is not an toy anymore. It’s frighteningly real, and becoming more so. In my view, we have two choices: to step up our governance and sense of responsibility, and continue to have a role in guiding the Internet, or fail, and watch all that power pass to others, who will, I *assure* you, not do as good a job as we have done to date. The ISOC represents, in my view, the best chance to prevent the latter course. It is a reasonably democratic organization, and I hope everyone on this list will participate fully in the ISOC to keep it on the right path.
Predictor: Chiappa, Noel
Prediction, in context:In a discussion thread in the 1993 IETF archive, Noel Chiappa shares his views, writing: ”The future of the ISOC is obviously unclear; it could degenerate, but I don’t believe this is likely (at least for a long time yet). I believe that there are good reasons to enter into liasison arrangements with other international entities, etc. The Internet is not an toy anymore. It’s frighteningly real, and becoming more so. In my view, we have two choices: to step up our governance and sense of responsibility, and continue to have a role in guiding the Internet, or fail, and watch all that power pass to others, who will, I *assure* you, not do as good a job as we have done to date. The ISOC represents, in my view, the best chance to prevent the latter course. It is a reasonably democratic organization, and I hope everyone on this list will participate fully in the ISOC to keep it on the right path.”
Date of prediction: December 30, 1993
Topic of prediction: Information Infrastructure
Subtopic: General
Title, headline, chapter name: Clarification: ISOC and its Charter
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.netsys.com/ietf/1993/1765.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney