AW: [governance] ICANN taxes/fees (was: Caucus at IGF stock taking meeting)

[Wolfgang Kleinwächter]

George: 
one reason that Athens worked so well, and that there was so much pleasant mixing of people from different sectors, was that there were no decisions to be made, and no statements that would have to be crafted.   I agree with his assessment.
The concept of non-binding recommendations is interesting.  I think even that would lead to a fundamental shift in the IGF milieu. Consider the United nations, for example, where sovereign nations generally do not consider UN decisions binding upon them.  Yet the way in which UN resolutions are formulated  apparently requires a highly politicized environment.  Further, if you've ever sat in on UN meetings in New York (I worked there for 13 years), the discussion is formal, verbose, indirect and generally not conducive to a free and frank exchange of views.  Let's keep the ambience of the IGF the way
it was in Athens.

Wolfgang:
I fully agree with George. It was the "liberation" from the need to draft a final document which stimulated the debate. However, in the long run people could ask for more. One compromise could be to send "messages" from the IGF, but not recommendations or non-binding resolutions. Keep it as flexible as possible and let do the real hard part by the institutions and organsiations at the edges of the network/mechanism. They have have a mandate (and duty) to move towards decisions (by listing ot the debates and taking into account the "IGF Messages"). IGF is better positioned to become an "early warning system" then to produce solutions. A new element could come with the dynamic coalitions. Here more imagination and pioneering work is needed. This is much more concreete, issue oriented and brings together the hard core player. These multistakeholder coalitions could be developed into more formal bodies (complementary to the existing onestakeholder groups). Dynamic Colaitions could get over the time a certain legitimicy to work on specific recommendations (to whom it concerned) in their arena of competence. But again, keep the center of the IGF free from such a burden to be the PDP body. . 
 
 
w
 
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