<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
</head>
<body text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
On 19/1/18 5:11 am, parminder wrote:<br>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:f14caf4c-af29-2468-f7e0-5c9a6c26cf69@itforchange.net">
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
<p><font face="Verdana">I really did not know that IGF had its own
agency to represent itself at other forums. Whom does it
really represent? Because when you represent, you also speak
for. For whom does the it speak, and on what basis? .. That is
a mission creep which has been done without consulting or even
declaring.... <br>
</font></p>
</blockquote>
<br>
I actually agree with Parminder on this (yes, it does happen). Not
that I think that the IGF shouldn't be able to be represented in an
official way at other international institutions. On the contrary, I
strongly believe that it should be able to do so, and the fact that
it hasn't been able to effectively deliver messages to other
institutions has been one of its chief failings. I also don't blame
Lynn St Amour for wanting to do this.<br>
<br>
But this is not the way to do it! The liaison between IGF and WEF
(and IETF, ICANN, OECD, WTO...) should be formally institutionalised
in some way, so that there is accountability and legitimacy. It
shouldn't just be casually announced that "I/the IGF have been
invited...", as if the distinction is immaterial.<br>
<br>
I do disagree in one minor respect with Parminder and that's that,
in my reading of what has happened, it's not that the MAG has
engineered this, but rather that it's been done in a way that
deliberately bypassed the MAG, because the MAG is so dysfunctional
that it stands in the way of the evolution of the IGF, in this and
other respects, and Lynn knows this.<br>
<br>
But that doesn't make it right. If anything, this means the MAG
needs to be overhauled, not that it needs to be minimized and
bypassed. I support Parminder's call for the CS members of the MAG
to hold it accountable here and to call for the institution of a
proper, transparent and accountable process for the appointment of
formal institutional liaisons between the IGF and other bodies.<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Jeremy Malcolm
Senior Global Policy Analyst
Electronic Frontier Foundation
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://eff.org">https://eff.org</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:jmalcolm@eff.org">jmalcolm@eff.org</a>
Tel: 415.436.9333 ext 161
:: Defending Your Rights in the Digital World ::
Public key: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.eff.org/files/2016/11/27/key_jmalcolm.txt">https://www.eff.org/files/2016/11/27/key_jmalcolm.txt</a>
PGP fingerprint: 75D2 4C0D 35EA EA2F 8CA8 8F79 4911 EC4A EDDF 1122</pre>
</body>
</html>