U.N. official invokes spirit of Socrates

ATHENS, Greece -- During opening ceremonies here at a United Nations Internet summit, Yoshio Utsumi criticized the current way the Net is operated. Utsumi is a lawyer and former government official who is the secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union, a U.N. agency.

What raised some eyebrows here, though, is that Utsumi compared himself to Socrates: a philosopher who was once considered a heretic but was vindicated by history. It's always somewhat dodgy to compare oneself to one of Western civilization's towering figures, and it's not clear whether Utsumi pulled it off successfully.

Here are excerpts from the official transcript:

I would like to, today, as usual, in the spirit of Socrates, challenge beliefs some of you have as to how the Internet should be governed.

Let us not claim falsely that we know there are no problems. Let us welcome open debate in the great spirit Athenian democracy. The underlying theme of this first IGF meeting is supposed to be a focus on development.

I do not share the perspective of those who argue that Internet Governance is just a developing-country problem. I disagree, because the basis of this perspective is that with just more capacity building, then developing countries will come around to a certain enlightened point of view. We have heard this often, and it borders on arrogance. Many of the critics of the current system of Internet Governance are not from developing countries, and they are extremely well-informed.

Today's common sense may become tomorrow's heresy. And as demonstrated by Socrates, history has also demonstrated that today's heretical views may be tomorrow's widely accepted wisdom. So ladies and gentlemen, may I wish you the best of luck in your discussions. I thank you very much.