[governance] Programme outline and schedule released

[William Drake]

Hi,

On 5/1/07 11:12 PM, "Jeanette Hofmann" <jeanette at wzb.eu> wrote:

> Yes, I agree with Adam, Avri and Milton. It is important that the caucus
> comes up with clear and strong statement that refers to the Tunis Agenda.

Just for the record, again, in saying yesterday that one of the options was
to adapt the proposal to reality, I didn't mean to suggest we shouldn't make
a clear and strong statement.  Probably I should have said we should adapt
our expectations of its likely impact to reality, which doesn't mean don't
fight the good fight first.   More precise language will undoubtedly
increase the chances of getting a decent hearing, and Milton's reformulation
of the global public policy bit helps in that regard.  And if our mAG
friends think there's greater latitude to fundamentally change the
orientation from what was done last year and reflected in the draft
programme outline for Rio, great, I'll be happy to have my expectations
proven wrong.  

I don't think the texts on the four themes have been collated before, so
I've done so below.  Maybe it'd make sense to tweak them collectively for
overall coherence etc.  The first one is a lot longer than the others, if
that matters, and the framing/formatting is variable.

Cheers,

Bill
--------

(1) Plenary on Internet Global Public Policy

A call to "discuss public policy issues related to key elements of
Internet governance" is the first point in the IGF mandate in the  Tunis
agenda. The Agenda deals at length with the question of new  global
public policy issues regarding IG, the possibility of new frameworks and
structures, and the role of existing ones (e.g,  paragraphs 61, 69). We
therefore believe that an IGF Plenary session should explore the
following topics: 

a) What is "public policy" on the Internet and when do we need to  use
global institutions to establish it? The Tunis Agenda  distinguishes
between "technical" and "public policy" issues, and  between public
policy and the "day-to-day technical and operational  matters." What
makes an Internet governance issue a "public policy"  issue, and what
happens when policy concerns are closely linked to  technical
administration?

b) What was intended by the TA's call for the "development of
globally-applicable principles on public policy issues associated  with
the coordination and management of critical Internet resources"  and how
can this goal be pursued?


(2) ICANN and Core Internet Resources

Core Internet resources should be discussed as a main session in the
IGF. Policy toward "critical Internet resources" are a major topic  in
the Tunis Agenda and the mandate for the IGF. Currently, name and
number resources are administered by ICANN and the Regional Internet
Registries. This session should discuss the policy issues and policy
making processes in these institutions. In particular, ICANN's  status
as an international organization, its representation of individual
users, and the changing role of the  GAC within ICANN should be
discussed. 


(3) Global Internet policies impacting access to and effective use of the
Internet by disadvantage people and groups - The development agenda in IG

"Under the general theme of access, we would like to have a plenary session
devoted to the topic, how can global Internet governance policies and
practices have an impact on disadvantaged peoples' access to, and effective
use of, the Internet and their access to knowledge? This panel would try to
identify and explore the specific policies, institutional mechanisms,
resource allocation processes, property rights regimes and financing
mechanisms that are international in scope and can have a real affect on
access to, and effective use of, the Internet."


(4) role and mandate of IGF

The Tunis Agenda mandated that the IGF should, inter alia, facilitate
discourse between bodies dealing with different cross-cutting international
public policies and issues that do not fall within the scope of any existing
body; interface with appropriate inter-governmental organizations and other
institutions on matters under their purview;  identify emerging issues,
bring them to the attention of the relevant bodies and the general public,
and, where appropriate, make recommendations; and promote and assess, on an
ongoing basis, the embodiment of WSIS principles in Internet governance
processes. Since these critically important, value-adding functions cannot
be performed by any existing Internet governance mechanism, nor by annual
conferences built around plenary presentations from invited speakers, the
purpose of this panel would be to foster an open and inclusive dialogue on
how the IGF could fulfill these and other elements of its mandate.



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