Apple Technology Review, Fall 1997: Conference Report: INET '97

INET '97 Report, Page 2

Although there was some controversy about ISOC's involvement in the recent debate over new Internet domains, their efforts in helping the IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority) develop the Generic Top Level Domain Memorandum of Understanding (gTLD-MoU) in this matter seemed to be critical. ISOC was joined in this effort by a number of powerful organizations, including the International Trademark Association, the World Intellectual Property Organization, and the International Telecommunications Union.

As for the conference itself, I found many good sessions and papers. Luckily the abstracts and in many cases the full text can be found in the proceedings provided on ISOC's Web site. Some of my favorite sessions were education based.

Panels covering Internet in the Classroom, Fostering Collaboration between Classrooms, and Empowering the Teacher were just a few I attended. I enjoyed the Disabilities session, especially the Room 13 Project from Canada, quite intriguing because it was such a successful effort despite the project's few resources.

A last-minute session on privacy was very interesting. Members of the Global Internet Liberty Campaign (GILC) described their long-term goals for privacy and freedom of speech on the GII (Global Information Infrastructure). It was interesting to hear their views on prohibiting censorship and providing adequate encryption and online free expression in a country where even all incoming television is edited. Even more interesting is the fact that many citizens in Malaysia seem to appreciate the censorship. There are already many members of the GILC, including the Internet Society, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Amnesty International USA, and XS4ALL.

One of the best reasons to attend a conference in person is the ability to meet colleagues face to face. There is no substitute for this experience! I call it the "Conference in the Hallways," and I often find the connections I make in the hallways to be the best. At INET '97, the place to meet colleagues was the Internet Access Room, where a many Mac or Windows Internet stations were availableas well as several tables of laptop Ethernet connectors. Many people were in this room to check their email, work on the final touches of their presentations, but most of all to show other colleagues their Web sites.

Another part of INET '97 that I find valuable is the exhibits. Now, I don't mean exhibits the size of American Library Association or InternetWorld. These are low-key, small exhibits, numbering less than 40 booths in total. I had a chance to chat with local telecommunications vendors to find out why the demo phone card was not working for me. (I found the many different phone system rules frustrating!) I also was pleased to see that the booth representing the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for Malaysia was always full and busy. The report of UNDP's work in Malaysia, especially their fifth program, which ended in 1996, is now available on the Web.

While at INET '97, I even had the pleasure of visiting with NetMom, (aka Jean Armour Polly), author of The Internet Kids & Family Yellow Pages. NetMom was a presenter for the K-12 Networking Workshop and on a book tour for the second edition for her terrific guide.

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