--On 28 April 2005 10:47 +0200 Stephane Bortzmeyer <bortzmeyer@nic.fr> wrote:
This is no longer true (for several years). Corporations ("Sector members") can now join (ITU is the only UN organization which does that). See http://www.itu.int/cgi-bin/htsh/mm/scripts/mm.list?_search=SEC
I think Bill is actually correct. ITU is a treaty organization. Only members of the UN (i.e. countries). ITU-T (and ITU-R, ITU-D) are sector organizations that telcos can join (AIUI the difference having arisen when a meaningful difference arose between telco and state monopoly). However, given the entire organization is run by the ITU, it's fair to say it is essentially a governmental organization run with some private sector involvement. Whereas ...
So, like ICANN, governements and big corporations are represented at the ITU. Like ICANN, ordinary users are excluded.
... ICANN is billed as a private sector organization with government involvement. Obviously the extent of the involvement of the private sector (and non-commercial sectors), and the extent to which one likes the ICANN model are all up for extensive debate, preferably on somewhere other than this mailing list. Alex