Well, if access is external to Internet governance, as Susan declares above, then applications must be external too, right? That is, if Internet governance is defined to be about The Internet Protocol only, well then spam, worms, etc., are simply data packed in packets defined by the Internet Protocol just like all other data, therefore the contents of packets -- and the applications that use them -- are also external to Internet governance. Right, Susan?

Ideally, this (is access included? are the contents of packets included? is how devices at the edge of the network process the contents of packets included?) would be the very stuff of the proposed Framework Agreement. And that would be nice, but I think the negotiation will probably be more about, "Who decides who gets to decide."

The winners are likely to be the big telcos of the economically developed countries, assuming that the big telcos participate. If they don't, they're still powerful, because the Framework Agreement will be dead-on-arrival in their absence. Meanwhile, new entities -- municipalities, school districts, villages, homeowner associations, new kinds of network service providers, small companies, end users, citizens -- are likely to be relatively powerless even if they do participate.

All that said, sounds like the drafting of the Framework Agreement has the potential to become a useful exercise. And to go on for decades. Which might be the right amount of time.