Memorial Day is a time for saying goodbye and, in one sense, saying goodbye around this time of year to a group of people has become automatic for many of us. I am referring to the many graduating seniors from high schools and colleges around the nation. Those institutions say goodbye to one class of students in order to welcome a new class of students.

Last week at the G-8 summit, French President Nicolas Sarkozy proposed saying goodbye to what has primarily been private governance of the Internet, which is to say that little, if any, governance exists, and proposed welcoming an international governance regime with government at the helm. As one would imagine, the isle is divided on whether government should control a private enterprise and, if so, to what extent should government intervene. Generally, countries have taken differing stances in their approach to such issues as Internet privacy and taxation.