[bestbits] Whether to participate in NETmundial Initiative - RFC

[Imran Ahmed SHAH]

Thanks Jeremy for the clarification of BestBits position. 

 

 

Best Regards

 

Imran Ahmed Shah

\

From: bestbits-request at lists.bestbits.net
[mailto:bestbits-request at lists.bestbits.net] On Behalf Of Jeremy Malcolm
Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2014 8:54 AM
To: Best Bits
Subject: [bestbits] Whether to participate in NETmundial Initiative - RFC

 

By now everyone will have read from previous threads that ISOC and the Just
Net Coalition (JNC) have both decided not to participate in the NETmundial
Initiative, and you may have also have read some false information that Best
Bits and other networks represented on the Civil Society Coordination Group
(CSCG) *have* decided to participate.  As Ian Peter's clarifying message
setting out the truth of the matter should have made clear, that is *not*
the case.  All that has happened is that the we have obtained as much
assurance as we can that *if* we decide to participate, then the Secretariat
(ICANN, WEF and CGI.br) will accept our self-nomination process rather than
choosing civil society representatives independently.

 

Now we turn to you, our communities, to provide us with guidance about
whether to proceed further or not.  Some views have already been expressed
pro and con.  I have been (and remain) publicly critical about the
NETmundial Initiative, but on the other hand the reasoning ISOC and JNC give
for boycotting it is rather specious, because they characterise the
initiative as being something that it doesn't purport to be - ie. a single
central policy-making body for Internet governance. This is an alarmist
critique that turns the NETmundial Initiative into an exaggerated ITU-style
bogeyman.

 

So whilst there is certainly room for disagreement about whether we should
bestow the benefit of our participation on the Initiative (I remain deeply
conflicted about this), let's decide on the basis of factual pro and con
arguments rather than oversimplifications about the 1% taking over the
Internet.  Also note that a few civil society representatives, including
Human Rights Watch, have endorsed it already and are featured on the
carousel message on the front page of netmundial.org.

 

So what do people think?  If you haven't already shared your views, please
do so on this thread, within the next few days if possible.

 

-- 

Jeremy Malcolm

Senior Global Policy Analyst

Electronic Frontier Foundation

https://eff.org
jmalcolm at eff.org

 

Tel: 415.436.9333 ext 161

 

:: Defending Your Rights in the Digital World ::

 

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