I came across a rather daring article at www.rediff.com, and it can be found at the following link....

http://in.rediff.com/news/2004/mar/29rajeev.htm

Now at the outset... this article sure does seem blunt, and very much like a loose cannon blowing up all over the place, but if you read between the lines.... it is an amazing article spiced with some earth-shattering truths.

The Indian tour of Pakistan has finally begun. And India lost the tour opener to Pakistan 'A'... especially after steamrolling to a whopping 335 in fifty overs.

I didn't catch the match on TV... but a look at the score card suggests that the bowlers let the team down. India conceded 42 extras including 17 no balls and 12 wides.... and that is absolutely unacceptable by any standards.

Anywayz... I am looking forward to catching the first one-dayer this weekend. Hopefully by then the dispute between Ten Sports (the channel that holds the International Broadcasting Rights for any cricket played in Pakistan) and the cable operators is settled.

Ten Sports is supposedly demanding unacceptably high rates from Cable operators at most Indian metros... and the cable operators in Delhi and Mumbai have threatened to black out the channel if they cannot come to a aggreeable solution. Also, the channel has demanded Doordarshan(India's Government owned television network) 25 million US Dollars to share the broadcasting rights. Whereas the channel bought the rights from the Pakistan Cricket Board for just 8 million dollars.

Interestingly enough... the matter went to the High Court after a Public Interest Litigation was lodged. And the Chennai High Court as directed the government to invoke an ordinance forcing Ten Sports to share rights with DoorDarshan if the two channels cannot settle their dispute. If the Government invokes its ordinance then Ten Sports would be forced to share telecast signals with DoorDarshan.

I hate to spoil the party... but I guess I am going to be the first person to blow a whistle on the WSIS.
I shall not go to the extent of backing my statements with the facts... and if my statements seem outlandish to the uninitiated... I am sorry... I just can't help it... atleast not just as of now.

I believe the world isn't ready for any of the recommendations from the ITU-INT as regards to WSIS. Primarily because most developing economies of the world simply aren't ready to sustain the expensive infrastructure that goes into building an Information Society. Any recommendation or guideline to do so would only lead to techologically advanced nations controlling crucial interests of the developing world and this in turn would spawn a new age of Imperialism.

The developing world must have the right to choose how they should use information technology to expand their economies to their benefit.... and I fear that WSIS might just get them working on unsustainable ideas... and this would in turn cause them depend on the developed world more than ever before.

The information society is still at its infancy in most nations... it is these pioneers who have to sit back and think how their respective societies would benefit most from ICTs, and to what extent should they invest in their region so as to generate sustainable growth.

Thus I believe that it is only the developed world that is ready for the WSIS... and the so-called talk on bridging the digital-divide is a farce... only a ploy to extend the markets for the technology they possess.