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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=ES-AR link=blue vlink=purple style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>Evan, I didn't want to go into details. The majority of those disconnected are in countries that at some point were called third world. Many without access, others with very poor access where it does not matter if there is AI or not. And there are many millions of end users.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>I'm not supposed to prove you wrong, nor am I saying you're misinformed. I am pragmatic and I believe that time should not be wasted.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>Greetings<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>Alberto<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span lang=ES style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>De:</span></b><span lang=ES style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'> Evan Leibovitch <evanleibovitch@gmail.com> <br><b>Enviado el:</b> lunes, 1 de abril de 2024 13:25<br><b>Para:</b> alberto@soto.net.ar<br><b>CC:</b> Andrei Kolesnikov <andrei@rol.ru>; EURALO Discuss <euro-discuss@atlarge-lists.icann.org>; At Large <at-large@atlarge-lists.icann.org><br><b>Asunto:</b> Re: [At-Large] UA Days<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#0B5394'>On Mon, Apr 1, 2024 at 10:18 AM <<a href="mailto:alberto@soto.net.ar">alberto@soto.net.ar</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><div><blockquote style='border:none;border-left:solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt;padding:0cm 0cm 0cm 6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-right:0cm'><div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:11.0pt'>Without doing much analysis, there are hundreds of places in the world that require IDN.</span><o:p></o:p></p></div></div></div></blockquote><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#0B5394'>Sorry, but I do not take such an assertion at face value, and neither should anyone here.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><b><u><span style='font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#0B5394'>What is the evidence?</span></u></b><span style='font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#0B5394'> All I encounter is guesswork and wishful thinking.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#0B5394'>The preface "without doing much analysis" speaks volumes about acting on faith rather than fact. Said analysis is desperately needed.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><blockquote style='border:none;border-left:solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt;padding:0cm 0cm 0cm 6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-right:0cm'><div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:11.0pt'>And precisely those places are the most populated in the world and where the vast majority are "disconnected."</span><span class=gmaildefault><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#0B5394'> </span></span><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:11.0pt'>There is no AI there.</span><o:p></o:p></p></div></div></div></blockquote><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#0B5394'>I do not understand this assertion, it seems to me outrageous and likely ill-informed.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#0B5394'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#0B5394'>If you have Internet, you have access to AI. (And, more ominously, it has access to you -- but that's a very different discussion.)<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#0B5394'>If you don't have Internet, the problem is not domain names but lack of physical infrastructure -- cables, towers, satellite receivers, affordable devices, etc.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#0B5394'>Let's please be accurate here; domain names are an insignificant component of connecting the unconnected.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#0B5394'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#0B5394'>For two years I had a UN contract where the job task was literally connecting the unconnected. In that time I observed that many in the barely-connected world have access to little more than Facebook and WhatsApp, which meet many needs in local languages. This situation, not without controversy, is accelerated by initiatives such as Meta's <a href="https://www.facebook.com/connectivity/solutions/free-basics/">Free Basics</a> which provide funding for physical infrastructure in return for monopolizing the user experience of those connected. Mobile money and microfinance are more likely to be done by SMS than Internet. In these environments knowledge of domains -- ASCII or IDN -- is absolutely irrelevant. I witnessed this myself first-hand in environments where many tens of thousands of people had to share a single 3G cell tower.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#0B5394'>I invite you to <u>prove</u> me wrong. Sure there is use for IDNs, but framing them as an international development issue is IMO disingenuous and not backed by evidence.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#0B5394'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#0B5394'>- Evan<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></div></div></div></body></html>