subscribe to this page
Established in December 1997, the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN) is a Regional Internet Registry (RIR) incorporated in the Commonwealth of Virginia, USA. ARIN is one of five (5) RIRs.
The American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN) is a regional Internet registry that oversees Internet number registration in the Americas. According to the website, ARIN is concerned with “ Applying the principles of stewardship, ARIN, A nonprofit corporation, allocates Internet protocol resources; develops consensus-based policies; and facilitates the advancement of the Internet through information and educational outreach.”
ARIN provides information on registration services, various policies, meetings, membership and information on the other regional Internet registries. Current and annual reports can be found archived in ARIN’s website. Registration Services pertain to the technical coordination and management of Internet number resources. Organization Services pertain to interaction between ARIN members and stakeholders and ARIN. Policy Development Services facilitate the development of policy for the technical coordination and management of Internet number resources in the ARIN region.
ARIN’s Structure is as follows, “ARIN is a nonprofit service organization that is responsive to the needs of the public it serves. Stakeholders in the community drive policies and activities, thus enabling ARIN to keep in step with their requirements. The organizational structure of ARIN is comprised of a 7-member Board of Trustees, a 15-member Advisory Council, and a professional staff of nearly 50. The Board of Trustees and Advisory Council are elected by ARIN members for three-year terms.”Call#: Van Pelt Library JK1764 .D37 2005
Ch. 1: “Electronic Political Discussion”
This chapter offers an overview of various online communications, including electronic email lists, Usenet and blogs. Davis addresses the question of whether or not online discussions make any difference in political processes, institutions or societal behavior and ultimately decides that the prophesized utopia of direct democracy has not yet been achieved. The obstacles facing such restructuring include: inequality in the levels of accessibility and the fragmented nature of electronic political discussion. Even the more tempered notion of deliberative democracy faces hurdles - most notably human reliance on technological solutions.
This chapter is a helpful summary of current online discussion forums and briefly pulls apart the kind of Trippi-esque claims of revolution. I'm going to utilize the rest of this book in order to examine the broad claims of internet revolution which, in the case of much writing about the internet, seem devoid of factors like accessibility.