[LINK] Internet enhanced meetings for post-Copenhagen

[Tom Worthington]

Philip Argy wrote:
> ... The amount of carbon pollution produced by the failed Copenhagen
> conference with its 35,000 attendees makes the whole exercise more
> moronic than ironic. ...

By a remarkable coincidence just released:

		LINK INSTITUTE
     		   LINKGRAM

   POST-COPENHAGEN NEGOTIATIONS TO BE SELF FUNDING

Canberra (22 December 2009): The Link Institute announced today it will 
provide Internet enhanced meeting facilities for post-Copenhagen climate 
change negotiations. The Institute will and cover the cost by selling 
the resulting saved carbon emissions on the offsets market.

Institute Director, Professor Klerphell, speaking from his new oil seed
powered executive train, said:

"The Copenhagen climate change negotiation involved tens of thousands of 
people travelling. This resulted in the release of millions of tonnes of 
CO2. The post-Copenhagen meetings are in danger of causing warming of 
the planet. The Link Institute offers the nations of the world a new 
technology they may not have previously heard of called 'The Internet'. 
  Combined with other new technologies, such as the 'telephone' and 
'telegraph', these allow negotiators to exchange documents and speak 
with each other at a distance, thus reducing emissions caused by travel."

Klerphell commented that key to this process are techniques developed 
for social networking, where people can learn to work together online, 
even where "working" for international negotiations means undermining 
the other party.

The Link Institute has calculated that it can cover the cost of
providing Internet facilities for negotiations from the payments
received from carbon offset firms.

Klerphell said: "There is a healthy market right now for carbon
reduction. The post-Copenhagen meetings will be a huge source of hot
air. The Copenhagen meeting was equivalent to a small coal fired power 
station belching out pollution. There are people out there willing to 
pay to not have this happen again."

The Link Institute will provide a "Many Worlds" video system for early 
stages of negations, allowing the different factions (Europe, North 
America, Global South) to have their own forums. Split screen will allow 
each party to the talks to be in several separate negotiating camps 
simultaneously. A auction function, similar to eBay, will allow larger 
nations to offer incentives to smaller ones in an efficient manner.

A "One World" video conferecne facility will allow plenary style 
meetings for the later stages of talks. This will digitally combine the 
images from all the separate meeting venues into one large virtual hall, 
so that political leaders can be seen to have a sufficiently large 
audience for their set piece speeches, after the actual work has been 
done. All the features of a real multinational meeting will be provided, 
including a "walkout" button, "shoe throw" function and "protest banner" 
at a mouse click.

;-)


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-- 
Tom Worthington FACS HLM, TomW Communications Pty Ltd. t: 0419496150
PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617, Australia  http://www.tomw.net.au
Adjunct Lecturer, The Australian National University t: 02 61255694
Computer Science http://cs.anu.edu.au/people.php?StaffID=140274