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Dear Milton,<br>
<br>
thank you for your kind response and thanks for the suggestions you
make in improving the IGF, which I'll let others comment on, if need
be.<br>
To the question "the current status quo is no fit for purpose", the
current IGF mandate was pretty much a result of policies stemming
from a state of the Internet in 2005. We are in 2021, 16 years
later. The world is a different place and the Internet is a very
different animal than what it was back in 2005. Let's stop kidding
ourselves that we live in 2005 and open our eyes to 2021 and its
geopolitical, societal and technical challenges. We still live in a
world where there is a huge gap between the Internet haves and the
have nots, and that gap is widening, and might be set to widen
further as new technologies like 5G and the ubiquitous IoT get
rolled out in richer parts of the world. We have a climate emergency
on our hands and a significant part of it is caused by the very
network that we love and use daily. We have a handful of companies
with a budget larger than a small country that have no checks and
balances in place regarding the privacy of data and whose business
model is based on tracking you and me and everyone else. We have a
world where if you are not online, you are nothing, which means that
some complete cultures are bound to disappear altogether if they do
not have an online presence. I know it's a mixed bag of slushy stuff
that strictly speaking you could say has nothing to do with the
Internet, but these issues are real and the Internet's impact is
core to many of these issues.<br>
<br>
In my opinion, the current status quo of having a discussion forum
and nothing else around it to action the discussions is no longer
fit for purpose - it's a lot of money spent to write more books and
papers, but if there is no clear path on how to action the
discussions, it is money wasted for the happy few that benefit from
publishing these papers, at the expense of the wider world. I am not
saying whether an IGF Leadership Panel is a good or a bad thing, but
if you don't like the proposal, then propose something else because
one thing is sure: if the IGF continues being a talk shop with no
actual results or even suggestions coming out of it that can be
picked up using a well thought out process, in a multistakeholder
manner, for further study or action, some major players in the
multistakeholder model will walk away and turn to other fora,
perhaps multilateral fora, letting the multistakeholder model of
governance be a pipe dream of civil society that will remain by
itself in the IGF.<br>
<br>
As for the "purpose", I interpret it as the "Internet Governance
Forum", where civil society, governments, the private sector, the
technical community and any other actors come together to discuss
Internet Governance issues, leading to a well thought out future of
the Internet that includes input from all players and not only a
single actor. If you want the Internet of the future to reflect
consensus between all parties, that is the way to do it. If you'd
rather engage in poltical wars and arguments between stakeholder
groups, then let the talking continue and leave the development to
government and the private sector: together I am sure they have a
great plan for all of us. <br>
<br>
Kindest regards,<br>
<br>
Olivier<br>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 26/11/2021 19:28, Mueller, Milton L
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
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Olivier:</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
I don't agree with the premise that because the UN SG's office
proposed something that I need to have an alternative proposal.
I think the more fundamental issue we are debating is whether
the IGF serves a useful function, under its current parameters
(nonbinding, open, ms discussion forum). My answer is yes, and
my most basic alternative is to stop trying to turn it into
something else, via "high-levelism."
<br>
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
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<br>
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
The next question is what can be done to strengthen it? Here is
a simple program</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
<ol>
<li><span>Confine discussions to actual global internet
governance issues. Sorry, folks, climate change is
important but it's not IG<br>
</span></li>
<li><span>Start doing something meaningful </span>with IGF
main sessions. Instead of gigantic panels full of anodyne,
inoffensive statements, have focused debates in which real
policy alternatives are debated by people who have real
standing, and make them interact meaningfully with the
broader set of participants</li>
<li>Don't shy away from geopolitical debates involving state
actors. <br>
</li>
</ol>
<div>That would be a good start. <br>
</div>
<div>Now when you say, "the current status quo is not fit for
purpose" please tell me what purpose you have in mind.
<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>--MM<br>
</div>
</div>
<br>
<div>
<hr tabindex="-1" style="display:inline-block; width:98%">
<div id="divRplyFwdMsg" dir="ltr"><font style="font-size:11pt"
face="Calibri, sans-serif" color="#000000"><b>From:</b>
Governance <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:governance-bounces@lists.igcaucus.org"><governance-bounces@lists.igcaucus.org></a> on
behalf of Olivier MJ Crépin-Leblond via Governance
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:governance@lists.igcaucus.org"><governance@lists.igcaucus.org></a><br>
<b>Sent:</b> Friday, November 26, 2021 7:01 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> parminder <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:parminder@itforchange.net"><parminder@itforchange.net></a>;
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:governance@lists.igcaucus.org">governance@lists.igcaucus.org</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:governance@lists.igcaucus.org"><governance@lists.igcaucus.org></a><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Governance] Seeking roll back of IGF
Leadership Panel</font>
<div> </div>
</div>
<div>Dear Parminder,<br>
<br>
I understand from your letter with Milton that you are
*against* the creation of an IGF Leadership Panel. What I'd
like to hear is what you and Milton propose instead. It is
easy to be against all sorts of things, but the world isn't
static and from the IGF conultations, it is clear that the
current status quo is no longer fit for purpose. There needs
to be evolution.<br>
So what next?<br>
<br>
Thanks,<br>
<br>
Olivier Crépin-Leblond<br>
(speaking on my own behalf)<br>
<br>
<div class="x_moz-cite-prefix">On 24/11/2021 15:32, parminder
via Governance wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<p><br>
</p>
<p><font face="Liberation Sans">Dear All, <br>
</font></p>
<p><font face="Liberation Sans">Please find enclosed a
letter addressed to the UN Secretary General appealing
to him to roll back the decision for an IGF Leadership
Panel.
<br>
</font></p>
<p><font face="Liberation Sans">The letter is co-signed by
Dr Milton Mueller, on behalf of the Internet Governance
Project, Georgia Institute of Technology School of
Public Policy, and Parmider Jeet Singh, for IT for
Change, and the Just Net Coalition.
<br>
</font></p>
<p><font face="Liberation Sans">The letter is cc-ed to
representatives of civil society and technical community
groups requesting them to refrain from sending
nominations for the IGF Leadership Panel, and thus
legitimizing it.
<br>
</font></p>
<p><font face="Liberation Sans">The letter argues how the
IGF Leadership Panel militates against the basic idea,
objectives and structure of the IGF, and will weaken it.</font></p>
<p><font face="Liberation Sans">Best, parminder </font><br>
</p>
<br>
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<br>
</div>
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