Mark C. Langston <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> asked:
> It's been mentioned several times now that there would be some form
> of real-time chat available. However, there's no information on any
> such setup on the Berkman Center's pages.
>
> Should we just assume that comments will be dealt with in the same
> manner that they were in San Jose?
Sorry to take so long to respond -- have been in transit to Chile for what
seems like forever!
First, a factual note: The Berkman Center wasn't involved with the 6/25 San
Jose DNSO meeting except to provide webcasting support; we received an
analog audio signal via a long-distance telephone call, and we made live and
archived RealAudios of that (still accessible from
<http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/icann/dnso> if anyone is interested). But the
DNSO Names Council handled its own remote participation for that meeting.
What we'll have in Santiago is a refined version of the comment-submission
system we provided in Singapore and Berlin. As
<http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/icann/santiago> describes: "Online
participants will be able to submit text comments in real-time. Questions
and comments submitted over the Internet will be sent to technical staff
present in the meeting room. Those real-time messages relevant to the topic
currently being discussed will be processed by the moderator who will select
certain messages for presentation to the assembled group for a response
similar to that provided to a concern raised at a microphone in a Q&A
session. All messages will be archived on this site."
Note that the "real-time comment submission system" is different from the
"real-time chat system." The latter is a simple unmoderated text chat -- an
IRC chat, in some ways comparable to the ICQ or AOL Instant Messanger
programs that some of you may be familiar with. It's something that many of
you requested after Berlin, and we think & hope it'll be helpful. But do
note that comments made in the real-time chat area won't be reviewed by
Berkman staff in Santiago -- there just aren't enough of us to go around!
So, use the "comment submission system" to send "official" comments, and use
the "chat" area to get a feel for who else is online, perhaps to debate
ideas or see where other online participants stand on particular issues.
But do realize that the real-space group may never see your "chat"
messages -- although they will be archived and posted in the Santiago
archive site that we'll be creating during the course of the week.
I understand that these two features are somewhat confusing -- especially as
I explain them now. But I think the interface we've prepared will do a
reasonable job of making clear what's appropriate to use when... and if it
isn't, specific suggestions are welcomed & very much appreciated to the list
or off-lits to me and John Wilbanks ([EMAIL PROTECTED]).
Ben Edelman
Berkman Center for Internet and Society
Harvard Law School
