RES: [bestbits] Fwd: [discuss] CIGI and Chatham House launch Global Commission on Internet Governance - FYI
parminder
parminder at itforchange.net
Sun Jan 26 01:41:58 EST 2014
On Thursday 23 January 2014 04:28 AM, Laura Tresca wrote:
> What´s the impact of this Comission over the Brazilian meeting?
All
What bothers me is how a new paradigm of global governance - or at least
of norms-setting that converts into governance -is being set up,which is
completely dominated and dictated by the North, and the powerful. ICANN
sets a high profile panel on global IG, and now we have this Northern
governments driven initiative. Such initiatives will shape what is
Internet governance, its essential vocabulary and paradigms. For
instance, here we see talk of Internet freedom and Internet security but
not things like Internet equality and Internet justice... Who will frame
and articulate such latter ideas and concerns? Civil society which
should be doing it has been conveniently co-opted, and handed over
rattle toys like the slogans of Internet freedom and
multistakeholderism, which is seems to rather pleased to keep shaking
and hearing its wonderful sounds.
The purpose of the commission is clear in this part of the announcement
"The rapid evolution of the net has been made possible by the open and
flexible model by which it has evolved and been governed. But
increasingly this is coming under attack". Not a word about the
injustices and illegitimacies of the current models. This is an effort
by the powerful to put back on course a ship rocked by Snowden et el.
And to do it this time in a much more elaborate and sophisticated
manner, so that it takes another couple of decades for anyone to figure
out a good articulate response to it....
The announcement of the commission also says that "The issue of Internet
governance is set to become one of the most pressing global public
policy issues of our time". Sure! But you should hear the same actors,
who drive this commission, inside US spaces. like to the WG on enhanced
cooperation. They seem utterly unconvinced that there are any important
global public policy issues related to the Internet at all.And this
needless discussion has taken up most of the time of the WG, rather than
talk about the real issue of how should we democratically deal with the
existing and emergent public policy issues. You would expect civil
society to expose such hypocrisy, but then....
Decades of post-colonial gains and victories towards more just and
democratic global frameworks are being allowed to erode rapidly in the
IG space. Pity is that civil society has mostly not stood up to these
losses. It has mostly allowed itself to be hoodwinked with facile and
misguiding arguments like 'access is more important' or 'a China or Iran
will take over the global Internet' while some global superpowers
actually take over the Internet as means of global domination -
economic, political, social and cultural. The civil society involved in
global IG has simply had no response to this enormity. It has mostly
agreed to be easily co-opted and go along merrily reciting the slogans
manufactured for it by the powerful.
In his writings about participatory democracy (which is want is needed,
not some kind of compromised multistakeholderism), John Gaventa
theorises about 'invited spaces' and 'invented spaces' .... While
participating in 'invited spaces' may sometimes (only sometimes) be
usefultactically, what is really needed is for progressive civil society
to 'invent' its spaces of engagement, at its own terms, and not those of
the powerful, whose power is what is required to be confronted...
Participating in this commission etc is to agree to engage on the terms
of 'those powerful'.
As framing of global IG's basic ideas and norms, and the needed action,
moves firmly towards the World Economic Forum (both, this commission and
the ICANN panel), the big question is - who would provide the
resistances and counter action against the complete capture of the
agenda by the globe's most powerful.... Who would pull things towards,
say, the World Social Forum. Or are we happy to take the cushy rides
that are offered to us, holding high their compromised slogans,
developed specifically for civil society 'friends'..... Inter alia, do
we realise what it means to abandon the UN (that evil force!) and take a
happy ride to Davos.... The question is not just whether the UN is
bad... Yes it is in many ways, and we need to constantly try and improve
global democracy... The question is, whether Davos is a better
destination? Because that is where everything global IG seems to be
headed now.
A last comment: There is an extra- ordinarily huge amount of funds
suddenly thrown into the global IG space by Northern powers.
Announcements of new initiatives, including research and advocacy
programs, seem to appear almost by the day... Such sudden, often/ mostly
motivated, funding can reconfigure 'civil society' which IMHO it is
indeed doing right now. However, a lot of people here would not want us
to talk about such matters, and what this means to real civil soicety
concerns, and how the space may be being captured...
parminder
>
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> De: bestbits-request at lists.bestbits.net [bestbits-request at lists.bestbits.net] em nome de Nnenna Nwakanma [nnenna75 at gmail.com]
> Enviado: quarta-feira, 22 de janeiro de 2014 14:37
> Para: Governance; <bestbits at lists.bestbits.net>
> Assunto: [bestbits] Fwd: [discuss] CIGI and Chatham House launch Global Commission on Internet Governance - FYI
>
> FYI
> === <https://www.ourinternet.org/#press>
>
> CIGI and Chatham House launch Global Commission on Internet Governance, chaired by Sweden’s Carl Bildt
>
> Davos-Klosters, Switzerland – January 22, 2014 – Carl Bildt, Sweden’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, will chair a new Global Commission on Internet Governance, launched by The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) and the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House).
>
> Announced today at the World Economic Forum in Davos-Klosters, the Global Commission is a two-year initiative that will produce a comprehensive stand on the future of multi-stakeholder Internet governance.
>
> “In most countries, increased attention is being given to all the issues of net freedom, net security and net governance. And they are, in my view, closely related to each other. The rapid evolution of the net has been made possible by the open and flexible model by which it has evolved and been governed. But increasingly this is coming under attack,” said Carl Bildt. “And this is happening as issues of net freedom, net security and net surveillance are increasingly debated. Net freedom is as fundamental as freedom of information and freedom of speech in our societies.”
>
> The commission will include about 25 members drawn from various fields and from around the world, including policy and government, academia and civil society.
>
> The Global Commission on Internet Governance will encourage globally inclusive public discussions and debates on the future of Internet governance through a public consultation platform, and through other institutional, media, and academic channels. It will create and advance a strategic vision for the future of Internet governance that can act as a rallying point for states that are striving for a continued free and open Internet.
>
> The commission will focus on four key themes:
>
> • Enhancing governance legitimacy;
> • Stimulating innovation;
> • Ensuring human rights online;
> • Avoiding systemic risks.
> “The work of this vitally important undertaking will be supported by a highly innovative research program at both CIGI and Chatham House as well as widespread stakeholder consultations with civil society and the private sector. The Commission’s work is also intended to build on a number of important strategic dialogues that are already underway and to feed into ongoing policy discussions at the global level,” said Fen Osler Hampson, Director of the Global Security & Politics Program at CIGI.
>
> “The issue of Internet governance is set to become one of the most pressing global public policy issues of our time. The Commission will work to develop ideas and propose a policy framework that enhances the legitimacy of Internet governance whilst preserving innovation. Chatham House is honoured to partner with Foreign Minister Bildt and CIGI in the Global Commission on Internet Governance,” said Dr. Robin Niblett, Director of Chatham House.
>
> Members of the commission currently include the following, with full biographies available at www.ourinternet.org<http://www.ourinternet.org>:
>
> • Carl Bildt, Chair of the Global Commission on Internet Governance
> • Gordon Smith, Deputy Chair of the Global Commission on Internet Governance
> • Dominic Barton
> • Pablo Bello
> • Dae-Whan Chang
> • Moez Chatchouk
> • Michael Chertoff
> • Anriette Esterhuysen
> • Hartmut Glaser
> • Dorothy Gordon
> • Dame Wendy Hall
> • Fen Osler Hampson
> • Melissa Hathaway
> • Patricia Lewis
> • Mathias Müller von Blumencron
> • Beth Simone Noveck
> • Joseph S. Nye
> • Sir David Omand
> • Nii Quaynor
> • Latha Reddy
> • Marietje Schaake
> • Tobby Simon
> • Michael Spence
> • Paul Twomey
> • Pindar Wong
> “For many people, Internet governance sounds technical and esoteric, but the reality is that the issues are ‘high politics’ and of consequences to all users of the Internet, present and future,” said CIGI Distinguished Fellow Gordon Smith, who is deputy chair of the new commission.
>
> “Internet governance is too important to be left just to governments. The Internet is a fundamental part of the global economy and how we manage its future will be decisive in facilitating development for all. Finding a way through the issues of access, privacy, security, protection and surveillance requires in-depth consideration and the wisdom that the Global Commission will provide,” said Dr. Patricia Lewis, Research Director, International Security Department, Chatham House.
>
> Among those supporting the commission’s work will be CIGI Senior Fellow Laura DeNardis, who will act as its Director of Research. Additional commission members will be confirmed over time.
>
> For more information on the Global Commission on Internet Governance, please visit: www.ourinternet.org<http://www.ourinternet.org>. Follow the commission on twitter @OurInternetGCIG.
> ===
>
>
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