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<font face="sans-serif">Hi Lee</font><br>
<br>
On Tuesday 03 May 2011 04:33 PM, Lee W McKnight wrote:
<blockquote
cite="mid:93F4C2F3D19A03439EAC16D47C591DDE0351B79B23@suex07-mbx-08.ad.syr.edu"
type="cite">
<pre wrap="">Parminder,
If I recall correctly G7 meetings as far back as...95? 93? 97 at latest...had similar themes, albeit with phraseology then around the more inclusive 'information society.'
</pre>
</blockquote>
Yes, even the idea of ICTD was born at G 8 meetings, wrapped in very
alien ideologies, and it has never recovered from this accident of
its birth. We in devleoping countries know how we suffer this fact,
and how ICTD consequently has remained distanced from traditional
development practice. As a result, the best opportunities of ICTs
for development have not been able to be realized. <br>
<br>
<blockquote
cite="mid:93F4C2F3D19A03439EAC16D47C591DDE0351B79B23@suex07-mbx-08.ad.syr.edu"
type="cite">
<pre wrap="">
OK in my recollection there was a broader less commercial agenda back then than the 2011 version, back in the day, with cs folks more likely prominent on the agenda.
</pre>
</blockquote>
That is not a small difference. If civil society participation, or
to use a more fashionable term, multistakeholderism, is being pushed
back in the plurilateral meetings (with global impact), why is civil
society quite. Why does it reserve all its - instinctive and intense
- opposition and venom for UN processes, which, whatever else may be
said about them, are certainly better than those of these rich
country clubs. <br>
<br>
Why there is such a powerful rhetoric around the slogan of 'UN (read
developing country govs) take over of the Internet' and none about
'rich countries takeover of the Internet in partnership with
mega-corporates', which is where we surely seem to be headed. How
some discourses are manufactured so easily, and others are simply
not allowed to precipitate. While the IG civil society is largely
organized around 'UN take over of the Internet' slogan/ banner and
it is so difficult to build civil society mass around addressing
the other, now much larger, danger?<br>
<blockquote
cite="mid:93F4C2F3D19A03439EAC16D47C591DDE0351B79B23@suex07-mbx-08.ad.syr.edu"
type="cite">
<pre wrap="">
But point is high level showcase schmooze-athons have been going on at or near this level for quite some time, related to Internet.
If one for whatever reason gets close to being part of agenda - it is a big pain and probably not worth cost to any cs org. In my experience from walking away from getting sucked into such things in past.
Except for largest/wealthiest cs orgs, it is very hard to play at this level.
</pre>
</blockquote>
From what you are saying, can we agree then that the UN processes,
where at least some openings are always there for relatively
outsider groups to participate, are a much better bet for us, I mean
the global IG civil society. But can you take the UN system haters
among the CS along on this. Such hatred may still be ok if the same
people were not so so friendly with the government reps of these
rich countries, and not only that, together they make such elaborate
show of die hard support for multistakeholderism in UN forums, and
disdain developing country governments, or even civil society actors
who may be more policy institutions oriented. <br>
<br>
Can we, in the above background, safely say that the
multistakeholder show of the developed countires at UN is simply a
ruse - and a quite successful one till date - to resist inclusion
of developing countries in any global govenrance regimes for the
Internet? Whereby, we must then also question the role IG civil
society has, willy nilly, been playing in this global 'game'. I
suggest this is time for such intense retrospection by the IGC and
other civil society actors. <br>
<br>
Some of the above posers may be deliberatively provocative, but we
need to ask some hard questions from ourselves.<br>
<br>
Parminder <br>
<blockquote
cite="mid:93F4C2F3D19A03439EAC16D47C591DDE0351B79B23@suex07-mbx-08.ad.syr.edu"
type="cite">
<pre wrap="">
Maybe, instead of worrying about sales pitches from corporates at G7, you could...work the system towards a more cs-friendly G-20 showcase?
(I suspect you may know people who people who...could make it so.) Frankly if global cs were to play, it would more likely be worth our bother to aim for a 2012 G20 meeting.
Though Paris in spring is always pleasant. But G20 is where the markets and - policy action - is these days anyways.
Lee
________________________________________
From: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:governance@lists.cpsr.org">governance@lists.cpsr.org</a> [<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:governance@lists.cpsr.org">governance@lists.cpsr.org</a>] On Behalf Of Roland Perry [<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:roland@internetpolicyagency.com">roland@internetpolicyagency.com</a>]
Sent: Tuesday, May 03, 2011 4:51 AM
To: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:governance@lists.cpsr.org">governance@lists.cpsr.org</a>
Subject: Re: [governance] Internet G8 meeting
In message <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:4DBFA6B4.7090503@itforchange.net"><4DBFA6B4.7090503@itforchange.net></a>, at 12:24:44 on Tue, 3 May
2011, parminder <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:parminder@itforchange.net"><parminder@itforchange.net></a> writes
</pre>
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre wrap="">We wrote to the UN asking for more spaces for civil society for the Dec
consultations on enhanced cooperation. What about this G8 Internet
meeting?
</pre>
</blockquote>
<pre wrap="">
The G8's nothing to do with the UN, nor is there an assumption that
rules of multistakeholderism can be imposed from one to the other.
Indeed, many would regard it as a positive feature that organisations
can have their own working methods independent from the UN.
> This kind of thing was unthinkable a few years back.
It's very appropriate that such a G8 meeting emerges now, because a
previous G8 cybersecurity initiative[1], which got up to speed with a
meeting in Paris in May 2000 and concluded with a meeting in Tokyo on
May 2001, was very soon stalled[2] when law enforcement's resources were
diverted away from the Internet and towards terrorism after 9/11.
But the ground rules were written all that time ago, and not much has
changed since.
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/i_crime/high_tec/conf0105-3.html">http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/i_crime/high_tec/conf0105-3.html</a>
[1] Full title: "Government/Industry Dialogue on Safety and Confidence
in Cyberspace"
[2] One of the few identifiable results of the work was the EU's Data
Retention Directive.
--
Roland Perry
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</pre>
</blockquote>
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