[governance] IGF delhi format

[Milton L Mueller]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jeanette Hofmann [mailto:jeanette at wzb.eu]
> 
> I very much agree with that. It is not easy to enforce though. How
would
> you prove that workshop organizers invited only token stakeholders of
> the other camps? 

It's actually easy to detect if one knows anything about the issues
involved. The child pornography panels I attended in Rio were just
ridiculously one-sided, as were the panels organized by the free
expression advocates. This was immediately evident simply by looking at
who the speakers were, what organizations they came from and what
positions those orgs advocate. Likewise, the ICANN panel was completely
one-sided and then its organizers had the temerity to complain about
ICANN critics not showing up to engage with them. These are all obvious
cases. All it would take is to slap down a few of those and the message
would get out and behavior would change.

> What is more, if people are not sympathetic to your
> issue or approach, they may boycott it by refusing to co-organize or
> participate. 

IGP has some experience in attempting, and often succeeding, in luring
people into balanced discussions of controversial issues. We did it with
both the DNSSEC panel and the "public policy" panel in Rio. We did it
with the root panel in Athens. It can be done. 

Anyway, if a clueful MAG or IGF Secretariat was willing to challenge
powerful organizations to enter into the spirit of the Forum it would
not be difficult to nip in the bud any attempts to boycott. Let's say
WIPO refuses to participate in a controversial panel about global IPR
governance and the role of WIPO. They should get a call from the
Secretariat who says, "hey, what's up with that? You should be on this
panel, its about your issues." That scenario doesn't seem unrealistic to
me. The Secretariat should have the knowledge and the cojones to do
that. Long term it would increase respect for the IGF. 

Far too much emphasis has been placed on multistakeholder "sponsorship"
or co-organization of workshops, and far too little attention paid to
diversity of viewpoints and substantive engagement within the panels. As
we both know, Jeanette, people waste a lot of time grabbing co-sponsors
who add little value simply because that is all the IGF Secretariat
looks at in the critical early stages when it is rationing workshop
slots. 

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