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<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>Hi Guru & Ian & Jeremy and everyone,</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hope we can have a good attendance at the 'Role & Mandate' workshop Saturday 9 am here in Hyderabad where I will moderate a wide open discussion on these issues.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial size=2>My own view is that IGF's existence is itself a success in beginning to change the landscape, but yes it is imperfect and young and can evolve to do much more. Now is not the time to stay quiet while critics speak up - we can be constructuve critics ouselves eg the ITfC 'open letter.'</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial size=2>Also, I wouldn't put the 'blocs' down as being quite as solid as Nitin might have hinted or others are interpreting; meaning key private sector actors/drivers of the technical community seem to have more than a rooting interest in IGF's survival and success too. And if they're on 'our' side that changes the balance of power, at least in so far as the IGF goes.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial size=2>Lee</FONT></DIV>
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<FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>From:</B> Guru [mailto:guru@itforchange.net]<BR><B>Sent:</B> Wed 12/3/2008 8:53 PM<BR><B>To:</B> governance@lists.cpsr.org; Ian Peter<BR><B>Cc:</B> 'Jeremy Malcolm'<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re: [governance] Nitin Desai's two groups<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">Dear Ian<BR><BR>The second group is not only some governments ... the 'open letter to IGF' that ITfC and other organizations have written identifies 'democratic deficit' as a key IGF concern for CS as well. This letter has been endorsed by CS institutions and individuals across the world, more so from the geopolitical south.<BR><BR>Unless we discuss/address (if not resolve) these issues that make IGF ineffective, we run the risk of playing into the hands of those who want to declare the IGF a failure <BR><BR>As CS (including IGC) we have a strong interest and belief in IGF and should put our efforts at bridging the gap between the two groups ... which is to address the democratic deficit at IGF<BR><BR>regards,<BR>Guru</FONT><BR><BR>Ian Peter wrote:
<BLOCKQUOTE cite="" type="cite"><PRE> I too though Desai's quote was excellent - but I do interpret it a bit
differently, in that governments as I see it sit in the second group who
want more say and/or more power. That's an interesting dynamic.
Ian Peter
PO Box 429
Bangalow NSW 2479
Australia
Tel (+614) 1966 7772 or (+612) 6687 0773
<A class=moz-txt-link-abbreviated href="http://www.ianpeter.com/">www.ianpeter.com</A>
</PRE>
<BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><PRE>-----Original Message-----
From: Jeremy Malcolm [<A class=moz-txt-link-freetext href="mailto:jeremy@ciroap.org">mailto:jeremy@ciroap.org</A>]
Sent: 03 December 2008 22:42
To: <A class=moz-txt-link-abbreviated href="mailto:governance@lists.cpsr.org">governance@lists.cpsr.org</A>
Subject: [governance] Nitin Desai's two groups
I just touched on this at igfwatch.org, but I felt it was worth
highlighting here too in view of the debate at last night's IGC
meeting about whether we should on the one hand push the IGF to
achieve more, or on the other hand stay quiet to avoid giving
ammunition to the IGF's enemies.
As you will guess it is my view that we would be doing civil society a
disservice to stay quiet for fear of damaging what we have in the IGF
as it already exists. But what is more interesting than what I think
is that Nitin Desai said during the opening ceremony. In his view the
contention over the appropriate role of the IGF is very much a live
issue. He stated:
</PRE>
<BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><PRE>essentially, this is a dialogue between two groups of people ... and
we must face up to that reality. On the one hand, we have a group of
people who feel that the present modalities of management of the
Internet are working, will work, even in the future, who are afraid
that any major change in the way in which these arrangements are set
up would compromise the Internet in some form. And on the other
hand, we have a lot of people who are dependent on the Internet for
their activities, for the economic, social, political, whatever, who
feel that they have to have a say in the public policy issues which
affect how the Net runs in this manner. These are essentially the
two groups who are in dialogue here.
</PRE></BLOCKQUOTE><PRE>So if we were to leave this campaign half-finished and concede it to
the group who are satisfied with the status quo of Internet
governance, in some sense that would be the end of the dialogue that
Nitin Desai describes, leaving it as a self-satisfied monologue of
powerful governments and private sector actors. In that case, what
purpose does the IGC see itself as serving?
--
JEREMY MALCOLM
Project Coordinator
CONSUMERS INTERNATIONAL-KL OFFICE
for Asia Pacific and the Middle East
Consumers International (CI) is the only independent global
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</PRE></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><PRE class=moz-signature cols="72">--
Gurumurthy Kasinathan
IT for Change
<A class=moz-txt-link-abbreviated href="http://www.itforchange.net/">www.ITforChange.net</A>
Bridging Development Realities and Technological Possibilities
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*IT for Change is an NGO in Special Consultative Status with United Nations’ Economic and Social Council*
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