<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div>May I invite you to have a look at our recently launched Internet Policy Review at <a href="http://policy-review.info?">http://policy-review.info?</a> We just published an article on the WTPF as well. </div><div><div><br><div>Best regards from Berlin!</div><div>Uta</div><div><div class="header">
<h1>5th World Telecom Policy Forum – stepping stone to changes in the internet governance arena?</h1>
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15 May 2013 by <a href="http://policyreview.info/users/monika-ermert">Monika Ermert</a> on <a href="http://policyreview.info/tags/wtpf" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">WTPF</a> </div>
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<div class="content"><p>818 official participants – government and sector members – 8
“guests” and some 50 members of the public are currently discussing
internet related policy issues at the 5th World Telecom Policy
Conference in Geneva (<a href="http://www.itu.int/en/wtpf-13/Pages/default.aspx">WTPF</a>).
While only non-binding “opinions” on “internet related public policy
issues” are on the agenda, the conference is seen as a stepping stone
towards potential changes in the future mandate of the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the role of governments in internet
governance. During the World Conference on International
Telecommunication (WCIT) these very issues caused a split in the
membership of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) over the
level of state control necessary. Can the breach be closed this week in
Geneva or will it widen even more?</p><p dir="ltr">The WTPF has a big advantage in bringing opposing views
together: it is of a non-binding nature. The six prepared opinions it
intends to pass, are the following:</p>
<ul><li dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr">Draft opinion 1:<a href="http://www.itu.int/md/S13-WTPF13IEG3-C-0047/en"> Promoting Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) as a long term solution to advance connectivity</a> </p>
</li>
</ul><ul><li dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr">Draft opinion 2:<a href="http://www.itu.int/md/S13-WTPF13IEG3-C-0043/en"> Fostering an enabling environment for the greater growth and development of broadband connectivity</a> </p>
</li>
</ul><ul><li dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr">Draft opinion 3:<a href="http://www.itu.int/md/S13-WTPF13IEG3-C-0046/en"> Supporting Capacity Building for the deployment of IPv6</a> </p>
</li>
</ul><ul><li dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr">Draft opinion 4:<a href="http://www.itu.int/md/S13-WTPF13IEG3-C-0045/en"> In Support of IPv6 Adoption and Transition from IPv4</a> </p>
</li>
</ul><ul><li dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr">Draft opinion 5:<a href="http://www.itu.int/md/S13-WTPF13IEG3-C-0042/en"> Supporting Multi-stakeholderism in Internet Governance</a> </p>
</li>
</ul><ul><li dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr">Draft opinion 6:<a href="http://www.itu.int/md/S13-WTPF13IEG3-C-0044/en"> On supporting operationalising the Enhanced Cooperation Process</a></p>
</li>
</ul><p dir="ltr">They are mere commitments and not treaty obligations.
With the acknowledgment of the importance of IXPs, especially in the
developing countries (the whole of Africa has only 26 exchange points at
this point), the need for much more broadband connectivity and
high-level support for the transition to the new internet protocol IPv6,
the parties should be able to find a lot of common ground.</p><p dir="ltr">Several non-governmental organisations have applauded the
focus on supporting the infrastructure of the network and commitments
may be easy to agree on by many stakeholders on these issues. This
should put the participants into a conciliable state of mind for the
more controversial negotiations that remain below the surface, headmost
the controversies around the role of the ITU. ITU Secretary General,
Hamadoun Touré, underlined during the opening press conference of the
5th WTPF that he expected consensus results would be possible in the
non-treaty “low pressure environment”.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Controversies over the multi stakeholder model and ITU role continue</h2><p dir="ltr">Reading thought the 50 pages<a href="http://www.itu.int/en/wtpf-13/Pages/report-sg.aspx"> report</a>
of the ITU Secretary General, it becomes clear that the ITU has tapped
into advice from the experts at the organisations for internet naming
and numbering management. Issues like IPv4 address transfers, community
discussions over secure routing or domain name system security
extensions (DNSSEC) are listed as “problem issues”. At the same time,
the ITU Secretary General clearly invites member states to take their
concerns and input on these issues, not only to the relevant
organisations, but also to the ITU. Some observers see this as a
friendly form of a hostile take-over.</p><p dir="ltr">After the report was released, calls from both sides about a
possible foul play only grew. US Congress pushed for a tiny piece of
legislation to “affirm the policy of the United States regarding
internet governance“ positioning itself against "increased government
control over the internet“ and an undermining of the “current multi
stakeholder model”, the joint responsibility of all stakeholders for the
development and management of the internet.</p><p dir="ltr">On the other side, former “ITU hawk“ Richard Hill, now a
consultant and a member of the Informal Expert Group that prepared the
draft opinions, twists the knife in the inconsistent position of the
“hands-off-the-internet“-camp, namely the US government keeping some of
its privileges in oversight over internet resources like the central
root zone of the Domain Name System (DNS).</p><p dir="ltr">US academic Milton Mueller, professor at Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies, added some more<a href="http://www.internetgovernance.org/2013/04/23/wtf-wtpf-the-continuing-battle-over-internet-governance-principles/"> fuel</a>
to the fire by declaring that the debate about the cherished multi
stakeholder model was flawed and devoid of meaning as long as it would
not strive to limit “the power of nation-states to interfere unduly with
the use and operation of the internet, and empowers individuals
worldwide to govern themselves.“</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Governments' and ITU's future role</h2><p dir="ltr">Defining what multi stakeholder means and what the roles of
governments are in it, can be expected to be the most controversial
point over the course of this week. The Russian Federation, Brazil and
several civil society members have contributed statements to this issue.
Russia for example reiterated its proposals for a much stronger
national grip on internet governance.</p><p dir="ltr">The Russian attempt to introduce “national segments of the
internet“, where the respective governments could have their say on
global resources, had been one of the most extremist during the failed
WCIT-12 conference and provided for a lot of discussions there.</p><p dir="ltr">Related to this is the future mandate of the ITU in
internet governance, a topic that will become key when the
Plenipotentiary Conference (<a href="http://www.itu.int/en/plenipotentiary/Pages/default.aspx">PP14</a>)
will decide on the future tasks and budget of the ITU for the coming
four years. For many observers, the non-binding WTPF's relevance this
week mainly is this: how member states position themselves in that
regard.</p><p dir="ltr">Much more work has to be done with regard to opening ITU processes, civil society coalition Best Bits wrote in a<a href="http://bestbits.net/wtpf-2013/"> short statement</a>
published on the eve of the WTPF. “It looks a lot like parties are
eager to have an agreement here,” Wolfgang Kleinwächter, professor for
International Communication Policy at the University of Aarhus and
another member of the WTPF Informal Expert Group wrote after the opening
session in Geneva. “We have to watch closely, for sure, but so far it
does not look that bad.“</p></div><div apple-content-edited="true">
<div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: medium; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><a href="http://policyreview.info/articles/news/5th-world-telecom-policy-forum-%E2%80%93-stepping-stone-changes-internet-governance-arena/129">http://policyreview.info/articles/news/5th-world-telecom-policy-forum-%E2%80%93-stepping-stone-changes-internet-governance-arena/129</a><br><br><table align="bottom" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td rowspan="2"><a href="http://www.hiig.de" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.hiig.de/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/hiig-logo-200.png" alt="HIIG-Logo" border="none" height="50" width="50"></a></td><td colspan="2"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(128, 128, 128); font-size: small; ">Uta Meier-Hahn | Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin | Doktorandenprogramm<br></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(128, 128, 128); font-size: x-small; ">Alexander von Humboldt Institut für Internet und Gesellschaft gGmbH<br></span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(128, 128, 128); font-size: x-small; ">Bebelplatz 1 · 10099 Berlin<br>T +49 30 20 93-3490 · F +49 30 20 93-3435 · <a href="http://www.hiig.de" target="_blank">www.hiig.de</a> · </span></td><td><a href="http://www.facebook.com/HIIG.Berlin" target="_blank"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.wisestamp.com/facebook.png" alt="Facebook-Button" align="bottom" border="0" height="16" width="16" style="vertical-align: text-bottom; "></a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hiig_berlin" target="_blank"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.wisestamp.com/twitter.png" alt="Twitter-Button" align="bottom" border="0" height="16" width="16" style="vertical-align: text-bottom; "></a> <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/104662709701524780855" target="_blank"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.wisestamp.com/googleplus.png" alt="Google+1-Button" align="bottom" border="0" height="16" width="16" style="vertical-align: text-bottom; "></a></td></tr><tr align="justify"><td colspan="3"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(128, 128, 128); font-size: x-small; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.082em; ">Gesellschaftssitz Berlin | Amtsgericht Berlin Charlottenburg | HRB 140911B</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: medium; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><table align="bottom" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr align="justify"><td colspan="3"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(128, 128, 128); font-size: x-small; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.005em; ">Steuer-ID 27/601/54619 | Geschäftsführung: Dr. Jeanette Hofmann · Prof. Dr. Dr. Ingolf</span><br>Pernice · Prof. Dr. Dr. Thomas Schildhauer · Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schulz · Dr. Karina Preiß</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br></div></div></div></span></div></div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline">
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<br><div><div>Am 15.05.2013 um 07:51 schrieb Jeremy Malcolm:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=windows-1252"><base href="x-msg://4887/"><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><div>On 14/05/2013, at 6:19 PM, michael gurstein <<a href="mailto:gurstein@gmail.com">gurstein@gmail.com</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><div lang="EN-US" link="blue" vlink="purple" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div class="WordSection1" style="page: WordSection1; "><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><span style="color: rgb(31, 73, 125); font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; ">With respect, the issue is not that an attack dog acted as an attack dog, that is to be expected.</span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); "> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); ">Rather the issue is that the statement was written in such a way that it could be understood (and was understood) to be supportive of her attack dog position.<o:p></o:p></span></div></div></div></blockquote><br></div><div>Here's a slightly better news article that references our statement, from the ever-reliable Monika Emert:</div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://www.ip-watch.org/2013/05/14/world-telecom-policy-forum-healing-the-split-or-fueling-a-telecom-policy-cold-war/">http://www.ip-watch.org/2013/05/14/world-telecom-policy-forum-healing-the-split-or-fueling-a-telecom-policy-cold-war/</a></div><div><br></div><div>I've just tweeted this as _BestBits.</div><br><div>
<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: medium; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; border-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; border-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; border-collapse: separate; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; border-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">-- </span><br style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><p style="font-size: 9pt; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b>Dr Jeremy Malcolm<br>Senior Policy Officer<br>Consumers International | the global campaigning voice for consumers</b><br>Office for Asia-Pacific and the Middle East<br>Lot 5-1 Wisma WIM, 7 Jalan Abang Haji Openg, TTDI, 60000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia<br>Tel: +60 3 7726 1599</p><div style="font-size: 9pt; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p style="font-size: 9pt; ">WCRD 2013 – Consumer Justice Now! | Consumer Protection Map: <a href="https://wcrd2013.crowdmap.com/main">https://wcrd2013.crowdmap.com/main</a> | #wcrd2013</p><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p style="font-size: 9pt; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">@Consumers_Int | <a href="http://www.consumersinternational.org/">www.consumersinternational.org</a> | <a href="http://www.facebook.com/consumersinternational">www.facebook.com/consumersinternational</a></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: 8pt; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); ">Read our <a href="http://www.consumersinternational.org/email-confidentiality" target="_blank">email confidentiality notice</a>. Don't print this email unless necessary.</p></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div>
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