WSIS II Day Two

The conference started yesterday and there has been so much controversy surrounding the choice of Tunisia as a venue for this “information summit”. (Read the APC blogs for more detailed write-ups from the event.)

Some of the discussion preceding the event has included whether the United States could be persuaded to give up ‘control’ of the Internet. Some countries, particularly China and Iran, are pushing for an international body oversee the management of the Internet. Until a decision is made, the day-to-day technical management rests solely in the hands of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a US organization. Read more about the ongoing debate on the BBC site. The Beeb site also has a nice slideshow of some of the younger attendees sharing their perceptions of the summit.

We also finally get to see a prototype of the famous MIT-produced $100 laptop that has been the subject of discussion for much of this year. With its (relatively) low cost, durability and low power consumption, the laptop is aimed at helping to narrow the technology gap.