[bestbits] Re: [governance] Re: [IRPCoalition] IGF - and the corporatisation scandal

[parminder]

On Saturday 27 July 2013 03:33 PM, Jeremy Malcolm wrote:
> On 27/07/2013, at 3:42 PM, parminder <parminder at itforchange.net 
> <mailto:parminder at itforchange.net>> wrote:
>
>> Following up on the current IGF cancellation imbroglio, I happened to 
>> see what is called as the 'fund raising proposal' 
>> <https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BylRrf_lFlA9OXhieGt5WUJsMkU/edit> of 
>> the managing committee of Bali IGF..... Sorry to say, but it is a 
>> pure scandal....
>
> This is hopefully just naivety on the part of the local organisers, 
> who didn't appreciate the difference between the IGF and any other 
> Internet conference.

Well, may be.... although we tend to be selective about whom are we 
ready to easily forgive and for what... But in any case, what about the 
IGF secretariat and the MAG. Can they also be considered naive and / or 
innocent.  They obviously knew of this document. BTW, the document says 
that it is trying a new multistakeholder model for holding the IGFs..  
Does it not then constitute an express blessing by the IGF secretariat 
and the MAG to such a 'new model'.


IGFs are held under the UN flag and the IGF space is subject to UN 
conference rules and immunities..... Would many things in the document 
not fundamentally be violative of some of these norms and rules.... In 
other circumstances, this would have immediately led to an inquiry and 
questions being raised officially about how did the IGF secretarit and 
the MAG allow such a thing.... But we are not in normal circumstances,  
this is the times of a strong ascendency of neo-liberal ideology..... 
And those who need to have triggered the outrage, the civil society, 
seem to be happy to quietly condone it as well.

And what about the 1 million dollar that has been raised, I would think, 
on the basis this document. Is the IGF now bound by the promises made 
under the sponsorship deals.... And if these deals are not valid, 
because we would not want to deliver on the promises, can we still 
consider to have that 1 million dollar for holding the IGF?


parminder



> They can be forgiven for this because indeed until now there has been 
> precious little difference between the IGF and any other Internet 
> conference.  That this could have happened is more of an indictment of 
> the state of the IGF than of the Indonesian team.
>
> -- 
>
> *Dr Jeremy Malcolm
> Senior Policy Officer
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