[bestbits] Civil society response to NETmundial 2014 outcome text open for endorsement

Thu May 1 06:52:23 EDT 2014

Hi Ian,

the only cs people I could see against the light directed towards the 
stage during the closing ceremony where those who didn't get up when 
most most people in the room had risen and applauded process and/or 
outcome.

Less than 30 minutes before the closing ceremony, both statement and 
process where about to collapse due to a few governments who weren't 
willing to support the principle section of the outcome document. These 
governments hadn't been part of the editing process and probably hadn't 
monitored it either. They looked at the changes being made to the draft 
document some hours before and simply said no to some of what they saw 
on the screen, or wanted text included that they didn't see on that 
screen. In this situation it occurred to me how very risky the process 
was that we had sketched out earlier that week. Board and committees 
simply hoped that the outcome would be legitimate and acceptable to the 
majority of attendees.

While more and more government reps expressed their discont and the 
meeting was running over time, I tried to imagine what a failure of 
netmundial would mean for the future evolution of the multistakeholder 
process. For years to come, I thought, we would be stuck with the IG 
truism that one can have either multistakeholder and chairman reports or 
more specific outcomes BUT NOT BOTH. We would have faced an agonizing 
stalemate for a long time despite all the goodwill and efforts to push 
this fragile baby forward. If we had ended with yet another chairman's 
report, netmundial would have be interpreted by many as a confirmation 
of the limits of multistakeholder processes.

I was so relieved when we achieved a compromise and prevented the 
process from failing! And this is why I found it pretty hard to listen 
to the cs statement and watch you all sitting their with your arms 
folded and not even a little smile on your faces.
The only person who sensed the split between cs in the audience and cs 
on the stage was Anja. After some hesitation she got up. I felt like 
hugging her, and I wholeheartedly did after the closure.

I guess what I want to say is that it a bit of expectation management 
among civil society wouldn't hurt. This includes putting outcomes such 
as the Sao Paulo statement into perspective while they are negotiated. 
Only a few years ago we were unable to get consensus for IGF main 
sessions focussing on human rights. Plus, is is still open if we will 
ever move beyond a chair man's report at the IGF. Recent reflections by 
cs people on netmundial move into this direction.

jeanette

Am 30.04.14 21:44, schrieb Ian Peter:
> The Niels statement was drawn up quickly by a group of about 30 of us
> sitting in the CS quarters of the conference hall after the changed text
> was leaked showing the last minute changes after the text left the two
> drafting committees.
>
> Some of us would have gone further. Some were considering a walk out.
> The text was probably indicative of a more balanced approach given the
> mood at the time.
>
> With a bit of distance from the disappointment at those changes, perhaps
> many feel differently. But it was an honest attempt to capture the mood
> at the time and I am personally glad civil society said something rather
> than nothing.
>
> But with a bit of distance from the event perhaps many of us have other
> thoughts.
>
> Ian Peter
>
> -----Original Message----- From: Adam Peake
> Sent: Wednesday, April 30, 2014 9:31 PM
> To: Jeremy Malcolm
> Cc: Andrew Puddephatt ; bestbits at lists.bestbits.net&gt &lt
> Subject: Re: [bestbits] Civil society response to NETmundial 2014
> outcome text open for endorsement
>
>
>
>
> On Apr 25, 2014, at 7:24 PM, Jeremy Malcolm wrote:
>
>> I haven't endorsed it either for the same reason.
>>
>
>
> Would have been nice to know who Niels was speaking for -- gave the
> impression of civil society broadly.  Who asked for the opportunity to
> speak and who did they say they represented?
>
> Adam
>
>
>
>> --
>> Jeremy Malcolm PhD LLB (Hons) B Com
>> Internet lawyer, ICT policy advocate, geek
>> host -t NAPTR 5.9.8.5.2.8.2.2.1.0.6.e164.org|awk -F! '{print $3}'
>> WARNING: This email has not been encrypted. You are strongly
>> recommended to enable encryption at your end. For instructions, see
>> http://jere.my/l/pgp.
>>
>>
>> On 25 Apr 2014, at 7:20 am, Andrew Puddephatt <Andrew at gp-digital.org>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> I think this is much too negative and fails to reflect the amount of
>>> positive agenda and genuinely good things that came out of the whole
>>> process.  I can’t support this statement
>>>
>>> Andrew Puddephatt
>>> Global Partners Digital
>>> Andrew at gp-digital.org
>>> Tel mobile +44 (0)771 339 9597
>>> Tel office   +44 (0)207 549 0350
>>>
>>>
>>> From: Jeremy Malcolm <Jeremy at Malcolm.id.au>
>>> Reply-To: Jeremy Malcolm <Jeremy at Malcolm.id.au>
>>> Date: Friday, 25 April 2014 01:44
>>> To: "<bestbits at lists. net>" <bestbits at lists.bestbits.net>
>>> Subject: [bestbits] Civil society response to NETmundial 2014 outcome
>>> text open for endorsement
>>>
>>> The following initial response to the NETmundial 2014 outcome text
>>> was agreed in the room at NETmundial by about 25 civil society
>>> representatives and was read out in the session by Niels ten Oever
>>> from Article 19.  If you are in agreement, please endorse and share:
>>>
>>> http://bestbits.net/netmundial-response
>>>
>>> This need not prevent the development of a more substantive civil
>>> society response later.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Jeremy Malcolm PhD LLB (Hons) B Com
>>> Internet lawyer, ICT policy advocate, geek
>>> host -t NAPTR 5.9.8.5.2.8.2.2.1.0.6.e164.org|awk -F! '{print $3}'
>>>
>>> WARNING: This email has not been encrypted. You are strongly
>>> recommended to enable encryption at your end. For instructions, see
>>> http://jere.my/l/pgp.
>>>
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>
>
>
>
>
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