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<DIV>sorry, my loose language.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>However I would be very surprised if the US government (or most governments
in fact) were to determine they dont have a controlling role in areas such as
competition policy, law enforcement etc</DIV>
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<DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=avri@acm.org
href="mailto:avri@acm.org">Avri Doria</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Saturday, April 13, 2013 1:43 PM</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=governance@lists.igcaucus.org
href="mailto:governance@lists.igcaucus.org">governance@lists.igcaucus.org</A>
</DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> Re: [governance] US House Bill to Affirm the Policy of the
United States Regarding Internet Governance</DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; TEXT-DECORATION: none">Hi.<BR><BR>The
issue its _not_ one of no government involvement. They are stakeholder that play
a role. <BR><BR>It is one of no government control.<BR><BR>
<DIV class=gmail_quote>Avri Doria <avri@acm.org> wrote:
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: rgb(204,204,204) 1px solid; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; PADDING-LEFT: 1ex"
class=gmail_quote>Hi,<BR><BR>I have not read the bill yet, but from what you
say, I find its premise reasonable. I am sure I will find something to be
critical of when I have read the whole thing.<BR><BR>Or did you mean critical
thought in the philosophical sense. Which can agrees as much as it can
disagree.<BR><BR>I too wish for an Internet free of government control. Any
government control. <BR>Though of course I accept them as one stakeholder
among the other stakeholders.<BR><BR>And I too wish to preserve and advance,
aka make better and more prevalent, the multistakeholder model.<BR><BR>So from
what you have quoted, I find little to disagree with so far. <BR>Though I am
sure I will find lots to quibble about in the full language.<BR><BR>Yes, there
are governments that wish to control the Internet. <BR>But I do not believe
that its in anyone's interests, not civil society's and not even the
governments, for them to try do so. <BR>I don't believe they would ever
succeed, but they could certainly cause a lot of dangers and degradation of
the rights concerns we all have in the operation of an open Internet.<BR><BR>I
do believe the model needs to be enhanced, aka made better or advanced.
<BR>And I do believe there are many parts of the model that can be advanced,
enhanced and improved.<BR>And I do believe there is a lot of room for
improvements in stakeholder participation, accountability and
transparency.<BR><BR>If only we could focus on that instead of constantly
needing to defend it against those who would destroy it by turning it into a
intergovernmental fiefdom.<BR><BR>Now whether I believe anything the US
Congress does can actually achieve that goal is another matter
completely.<BR><BR>But I would personally be happy to see every government
make a pledge to keep their hands off of the management of the Internet and to
become good actors as stakeholders in the governance of the Internet.<BR><BR>
<DIV class=gmail_quote>Jeremy Malcolm <jeremy@ciroap.org> wrote:
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: rgb(204,204,204) 1px solid; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; PADDING-LEFT: 1ex"
class=gmail_quote>
<DIV>It doesn't seem to have been mentioned here yet (or maybe only in
passing) that there is a bill on Internet governance being debated in the
Energy & Commerce Committee of the US House of Representatives at the
moment. There will doubtless be stampede of uncritical support for it
from politicians of all sides (there is no hidden intellectual property
"gotcha"), but unfortunately its premises are fundamentally flawed.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><A
href="http://energycommerce.house.gov/markup/markup-bill-affirm-policy-united-states-regarding-internet-governance">http://energycommerce.house.gov/markup/markup-bill-affirm-policy-united-states-regarding-internet-governance</A></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>It only has two sections: one on "Findings" and one on "Policy
regarding Internet governance", which flows from the findings. The
latter simply states:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>"It is the policy of the United States to promote a global Internet
free from government control and to preserve and advance the successful
multistakeholder model that governs the Internet."</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>So this is obviously nonsense; it is not US policy to promote a global
Internet free from government control, only free from the control of other
governments besides itself. And note that US policy is only to
"preserve and advance" not to "enhance" the multistakeholder model, which
continues the fiction that the multistakeholder institutions that we have
now are adequate both in their inclusiveness and in the breadth of Internet
governance topics that they cover.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Of course, you can argue for more beneficial interpretations by
defining "control" and "multistakeholder model" expansively, but even so
this bill is just going to entrench the standoff between the US and other
countries, which is not going to be helpful in reaching compromise on the
evolution of Internet governance arrangements this year...</DIV>
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style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)">-- </SPAN><BR
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<P style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-SIZE: 9pt"><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>
<P style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-SIZE: 9pt"></P>
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<DIV> </DIV></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR>Avri
Doria</BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR>Avri Doria
<P>
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