[CCWG-ACCT] Definitions and the tussle (was Re: Fwd: [CCWG-Advisors] question regarding Global Public Interest)

[Andrew Sullivan]

Hi,

I'm sort of loathe to dive into this discussion, but I think there's a
useful thread in here that is worth tugging on so that we can see the
quality of the weave.

My biggest worry about the phrase "the global public interest" is not
the meaning of "global", "public", or "interest", but "the".  By
claiming that something is or is not in _the_ global public interest,
the definite article implies that there is such an interest (or maybe,
such a public); that there is exactly one; and, perhaps most
interesting, that one knows what that is.  Even if I were to grant (I
do not, but let's say for the sake of argument) that there is a fact
of the matter about the the interest of the global public, I cannot
imagine how one would test a claim that something is or is not in said
interest.

The quest to come up with a definition of "the global public
interest", therefore, is an attempt to create such a test; but it's
really a dodge in a Wittgenstinean language-game.  Were we to unpack
any such definition that was even widely acceptable, we'd discover
either that some interest (or public) would be left out, or else that
some conflict inherent in the definition would be obscured.  For the
basic problem is that you cannot define "the global public interest"
in a way that is all of universally acceptable, useful for the
purposes of making tough decisions, and true.  Even apparently simple
and obvious cases -- "It is in the global public interest for war to
end" -- turn out to be troublesome.  For example, people fighting a
current war are presumably doing it for some other end, so they'd only
agree to that example statement with the implicit premise, "as long as
my desired outcome is assured."

A definition of "the global public interest" will be ever more
troublesome the clearer it tries to be, because the list of specifics
will start to be long.  I think our experience in working on the
mission statement is mighty instructive, and it is at least scoped
merely to the parts of the Internet ICANN directly touches -- whatever
we think those are.

As a consequence, I think a claim that _x_ is [not] in "the global
public interest" is really just a way of saying, "I [don't] think _x_
should happen."  Such a claim is part of a tussle, like the "Tussle in
Cyberspace" described by Clark, Wroclawski, Sollins, and Braden (see
http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1074049).  It's a nice rhetorical
move to claim that you can define the tussle away, but you can't (at
least, not legitimately).  I think we should be honest with ourselves
that such definitional efforts will create wheels that do no work.

Best regards,

A

-- 
Andrew Sullivan
ajs at anvilwalrusden.com