[governance] Media coverage of WSIS 2 = IG in Canada

[lissjeffrey at sympatico.ca]

Dear IG Caucus:
Our Canadian civil society project eCommons/agora Witness 2 Wsis 2 (W2W2)
continues to cover Wsis.

http://wsis.ecommons.ca

We endorsed the Citizens summit on Nov. 11.

As a CS organization  that has been part of Wsis process since June 2003, we 
would like to participate in going forward, notably in the IGF.

My own take on the trade offs and results of the compromise on IG is here. 
Yes have lots of evidence to support this interpretation, but recognize that 
the situaton is far more complex.
http://wsis.ecommons.ca/node/view/647
==========
Our W2W2 team has also tried to reach Canadian citizens, directly on our web 
site, and also via the mainstream media.
Given Canada's commitment to freedom of media expression, I do not of course 
control the results of these efforts.
Radio - CBC Radio Canada International  - background Nov. 14
Radio - Calgary "The world tonight" CHQR - on air 20 minute interview Nov. 
16
and
Print: Canwest national news feed (cpapers across the country)
=======================

Here are the 2 national news feeds, most recent first.
The resulting articles vary in papers nationwide.
All the interest that has come to us on Wsis from the media has focused on 
who won on Internet Governance. My attempts to raise other issues (human 
rights notably) have been largely ignored.
================================
Canada helps U.S. keep grip on Internet
Canwest News Service
Thursday, November 17, 2005
Byline: Steven Edwards
Dateline: UNITED NATIONS
Source: CanWest News Service

UNITED NATIONS - The United States has won its bid to retain control over 
the Internet after Canada brokered a crucial deal at a United Nations 
summit.

Canadian delegates to the World Summit on the Information Society told 
countries pushing for full UN control of the Internet they should instead be 
content with the creation of an international advisory body.

The so-called Internet Governance Forum would discuss day-to-day Internet 
issues, such as security, spam and viruses, but have no binding authority.

This means the U.S.-based Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and 
Numbers (ICANN) will remain in charge of the computer systems that control 
Internet addressing and information traffic.

Canada prefers this arrangement because countries leading the push for full 
UN control included China, Iran and Burma, which limit Internet access to 
their citizens.

"Canada did the heavy lifting to bring everyone onto the same page, and 
everybody gave a little bit, but the key is the United States is very happy 
because they did not give up the fundamental control of the route domain 
servers," said Liss Jeffrey, a delegate to the first leg of the conference 
in Geneva in 2003, and a close watcher of the current one as head of the 
McLuhan Global Research Network at the University of Toronto.

"They agreed to create the Internet Governance Forum, but it remains to be 
seen exactly what this beast is going to do."

The forum will be established by the UN's Economic and Social Council, a 
development branch of the world body, but one that long ago lost its clout. 
Greece will host the first meeting.

"It will be a talk shop, and, as far as the U.S. is concerned, they haven't 
really given anything up," Jeffrey said.

To get countries opposing the United States on side, Canadian delegates 
bluntly said: `Do you want the status quo or do you want some kind of shift 
in the direction you want to move in?' Jeffrey explained.

The European Union agreed because it sees its call for more international 
input into the running of the Internet reflected in the deal.

The question over the future of the Internet had threatened to dominate the 
three-day summit, which opened Wednesday in Tunis, Tunisia.

Now the expected 10,000 delegates can get on with discussing the real aim of 
the conference, which is finding ways to narrow what's become known as the 
"digital divide." That's the difference between the number of people in rich 
countries who have access to the Internet, and the relatively negligible 
number in the developing world.

Enabling people to get on line in the developing world is important because 
the Internet which began as a Pentagon research project is now one of the 
global economy's most vital engines.

However, in countries where freedom of speech is limited, it has also become 
a threat. China has moved to restrict cyber dissidents using a number of 
methods disparagingly referred to outside the country as the Great Firewall 
of China. Iran, meanwhile, has made it difficult to access websites 
promoting political reform. Restrictions exist in many other countries.

The same governments could potentially stifle dissent even more if UN member 
states were collectively handed control of the Internet, because they could 
band together to form unbeatable blocs.

While Canada also wanted to see international input into the running of the 
Internet, it made clear it would side with the United States in its bid to 
retain oversight if the alternative appeared to be a politicization of the 
network.

While ICANN, as a non-profit organization answerable to the U.S. Commerce 
Department, can in theory censor the Internet, it has not done so to date. 
Canada stressed that point after it agreed to chair a committee ahead of the 
conference charged with breaking the international deadlock.
==============================================

Canada supports U.S. control over Internet
Canwest News Service
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Byline: Steven Edwards
Dateline: UNITED NATIONS
Source: CanWest News Service

UNITED NATIONS - An international summit will this week see Canada back 
continued U.S. control of the Internet if that's what it takes to keep 
censorship-imposing countries such as China and Cuba at arm's length.

While Ottawa generally favours international solutions to global logjams, 
officials and activists involved in the World Summit on the Information 
Society say Canada has had few complaints about U.S. oversight to date.

Seeing that control continue would be preferable to surrendering it to a 
United Nations body that could be hijacked by countries known for limiting 
freedom of speech, summit watchers say.

The concern is not without foundation: countries with poor human rights 
records have used their positions as UN member states to blunt criticism of 
their activities by the UN Human Rights Commission.

After launching the Internet, the United States has retained control of the 
mechanisms behind every mouse click through the California-based Internet 
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

The non-profit body is, in turn, overseen by the U.S. Commerce Department, 
which can veto ICANN decisions.

But as the Internet has spread around the world, the call for an end to U.S. 
control has grown, with countries such as Brazil, China, Cuba, Iran and 
Saudi Arabia pushing for the creation of a UN oversight body.

Recently, the European Union joined the chorus, although it has declared the 
international input must ensure freedom of speech.

While Washington initially envisaged giving up control when its contract 
with ICANN expires next September, it declared in June that ICANN oversight 
would continue, citing the need to maintain the Internet's security and 
stability.

Canada, although preferring some international oversight, has sympathized 
with Washington's stance that the Internet is better off in U.S. hands than 
in the hands of a UN body.

The fight over the Internet is the most contentious topic at the three-day 
summit, which gets under way Wednesday in Tunis, Tunisia.

"If Canada has to choose between the status quo and some unknown that 
appears to put Internet governance in play, Canada would very likely stick 
with the status quo," said Liss Jeffrey, director of the McLuhan Global 
Research Network at the University of Toronto, and a delegate to the first 
leg of the conference in Geneva in 2003.

"Canada does seem to have confidence (in) the United States and has been 
very supportive."

One solution being considered by Canada is giving more teeth to an 
already-existing international advisory body attached to ICANN. Another is 
spelled out in a paper Canada and Australia presented Monday during 
discussions ahead of the summit.

It talks about creating a governance "forum" that would "actively involve 
all stakeholders on an equal footing, and benefit from their expertise," but 
"should not replace existing arrangements, institutions or organizations."

Although Washington has never overruled ICANN, backers of international 
control say it influenced the body recently by withdrawing support for a new 
domain name for pornography websites after receiving complaints from 
conservative Christian groups.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan says the Internet would be safe in UN hands.

"Far from plotting its capture, the UN wants only to ensure the Internet's 
global reach," he wrote in the Washington Post.

But officials wary of international control say careful note must be made of 
some of the countries that are leading the charge.

"One assumes that one of the reasons they want control is to get more 
control themselves of the Internet and its use by their citizens," said one.

Within the EU, the biggest opponent of sole U.S. control is France, which 
insiders say is most angry that the Internet is largely English-dominated.

"We just say this needs to be addressed in a more co-operative way," one EU 
official told Reuters.

The Internet is today seen as a vital tool for development, and the wider 
aim of the summit is to find ways to close the so-called "digital divide" 
between rich and poor countries.

"This is about something that has grown far beyond what anybody thought, and 
the Internet is part of the essential infrastructure," said Jeffrey. "None 
of the goals of poverty- or digital divide-(reduction) can be achieved 
unless some governance ... oversight is in place that makes sure one country 
does not simply dictate to others."

=======================================================


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