Just wanted to share something I posted on the governance list with regard to Robert's post. -- Bret Begin forwarded message: I believe in the power of making statements. I believe that making statements about what is right and just is both good in and of itself and sometimes has the power to create change for the better in the world. The participants in ICANN ought to know that the presence of an ICANN meeting in a host country is used by many inside that country as a sign that they are doing something right. If Egypt, or any host country for that matter, is filtering Internet access or otherwise abusing its gateways to prevent or impair end-to-end communications between users of the world, that is something that, in my view, ought to be publicized and condemned. We ought not let the presence of an ICANN meeting be misused, by those who would deny Internet access to others, as a symbol that they are doing the right thing. I don't know what the Internet in Egypt looks like, but I will certainly investigate that before the Cairo meeting. Certainly filtering is not an ICANN issue, but the celebration of the local Internet community always accompanies an ICANN meeting. While I wouldn't necessarily expect ICANN, as a corporation, to make any statements about the host community's Internet policies and practices on filtering, I would applaud ICANN _as a community_ for making a statement about what is right and just. -- Bret