[governance] Consensus on the forum issue

[Milton Mueller]

Jeanette:
This is a very good summary of the Forum function debate. Thank you for
your leadership. Let me contribute to this important discussion.

One argument against the forum that I heard from both state and
non-state participants was that it would be a placebo. In other words,
it would provide the U.S. a way to appear to do something without
changing any of the important things. To this argument, there is a
simple answer: it might still be better than doing nothing. If the U.S.
doesn't want to make some of the "important" changes re: ICANN and
Internet resources, they will not happen, regardless of whether the
Forum is created. So that is not an argument against the Forum.

Concerns that the Forum would have too much power, or would slowly
accumulate too much power, seem to me to be incredible. As I explained
at the CPSR-sponsored side event on the forum, it faces enormous
obstacles even to get created, due to competition from other
international organizations, with more funds and with well-established
interest groups behind them. So Avri is correct that if the Forum can be
created at all in this environment, it will only be by acquiring "soft"
or persuasive power over time. 

>>> Jeanette Hofmann <jeanette at wz-berlin.de> 09/22/05 4:02 AM >>>
Hi,

although many  of the active caucus members are here, there are 
obviously problems to meet. We have had two caucus meetings so far,
both
of them had lots of new attendees. While it is very good that other 
caucuses become interested in our work, it turns out to be difficult to

discuss contested issues such as the forum. The fact that only a few 
WGIG members find the time to attend the caucus meetings doesn't
exactly 
help.

Having said that, I think we need to make an effort to clarify a number

of things:

1. How far does consensus reach with regard to the forum?
2. What exactly do we disagree about?
3. How can we bypass this conflict?

As far as I understand nobody opposes the idea of a forum in principle.

Nobody supports the position of the business sector, which doesn't even

recognize the need for a venue where Internet related issues can be 
discussed.
What is more, we seem to agree that the forum should be open to anyone

and composed in a multi stakeholder manner.

 From what I understand we disagree about the functions and the
authority
of such a forum. Some people think it should have only soft power 
without any decision making power. Others think we need a body that can

make binding decisions.
Another bone of contention might concern the so-called oversight 
function. Some people think this issue should be treated seperately
from
the forum, others think the role of the forum is related to that
function.

I would like to know if this is a correct description of our
controversy?

If so, I would like to suggest a possible compromise between these two

differing views.
The civil society statement has language to the effect that the forum 
can make decisions if all participating statekholders agree with this.
(Former versions of Bill's statement included this clause. I think it 
only disappeared for the sake of brevity.) In other words, any
extention 
of the forum's authority would have to be consensus-based and bottom
up.

The second common element I see has been pointed out by Avri. In her 
view, the forum has to earn its authority. It can only gain political 
authority if it is regarded useful by those who participante in the
forum.
Decision making authority for the forum would thus depend on two
related
if's: consensus among the participants and legitimate outcomes. This 
implies that the forum may grow over time. It would start in a very 
modest way with nothing but advisory functions but its authority could

increase over time depending on its productivity and legitimacy.
What do people think? Can we find a consensus along these lines?

Jeanette



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