ITU and ICANN - a loveless forced marriage Re: [governance]

Sun Nov 9 13:19:14 EST 2008

Hello Jenette Hofmann,

On Sun, Nov 9, 2008 at 11:34 PM, Jeanette Hofmann <jeanette at wzb.eu> wrote:

>
>
> Ian Peter wrote:
>
>> The telling statement from ITU being "I am personally of the opinion that
>> the IGF is continuously going round in circles and avoiding issues – it is
>> becoming more and more a waste of time."
>>
>
> This is a surprisingly rude remark for a diplomat. As if not all UN
> organizations shared (and suffered from) the problem of "going round in
> circles" and wasting time. Probably this has to be read in the context of
> the IGF's upcoming evaluation?
> jeanette

Even if undiplomatic or somewhat offensive, it is time that the responsible
participants of the IGF throughly reviewed how the IGF is "going round and
round" .  The focus needs to be on finding ways of making the IGF meaningful
and result oriented, rather than on the propriety of this comment.

Sivasubramanian Muthusamy

>
>
>>
>> Interested in analysis of how we can avoid this. Certainly some parties
>> wish to avoid meaningful discussion, and are we diplomatically sweeping
>> under the carpet all the important issues (lest anyone take offence?)
>>
>>
>> My fear here is that the outcomes if IGF doesn't succeed in addressing the
>> real issues are worse than those if it does succeed. Balkanisation or
>> globalisation? Take your pick….
>>
>>
>> Ian Peter
>>
>> PO Box 429
>>
>> Bangalow NSW 2479
>>
>> Australia
>>
>> Tel (+614) 1966 7772 or (+612) 6687 0773
>>
>> www.ianpeter.com
>>
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> *From:* Dr. Francis MUGUET [mailto:muguet at mdpi.net]
>> *Sent:* 09 November 2008 15:44
>> *To:* governance at lists.cpsr.org; Wolfgang
>> *Cc:* WSIS Civil Soc. WG on Information Networks Governance
>> *Subject:* ITU and ICANN – a loveless forced marriage Re: [governance] ITU
>> & ICANN in Cairo
>>
>>
>> Dear Wolfgang
>>
>> Interesting to notice a press analysis of Touré's speech, most notably
>> about the IGF.
>>
>> The statement from Touré has not been unnoticed.
>>
>> /Coming back to what we do with ICANN, we also participate actively in the
>> work of Internet Governance Forum, which was established as the result of
>> the multistakeholder deliberations at the WSIS. I personally believe that
>> the IGF is just going around and around, avoiding the topics, and becomes
>> sometimes a waste of time. We need to address issues frankly and try to
>> solve them. And that's why I thought I should be here to talk to you here,
>> so that we learn to know each other better. Next year, ITU will organize the
>> World Policy Forum, which addresses a number of Internet-related
>> public-policy issues, ranging from cybersecurity and data protection to
>> multilingualism and the ongoing development of Internet. I hope you will not
>> tell me here, "Don't talk about Internet." It's an issue for everyone./
>>
>>
>>
>> Best Francis
>>
>> ---------------------------------
>> http://www.heise-online.co.uk/news/print/111914
>>
>> 7 November 2008, 12:30
>>
>>
>>  *ITU and ICANN – a loveless forced marriage*
>>
>> ITU Secretary General Hamadoun Touré has called for better collaboration
>> between the *International Telecommunication Union[1]* (ITU) and the
>> *Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers[2]* (ICANN). "Our
>> members have unnecessarily attacked and criticised each other and I think we
>> should put an end to that," said Touré on Thursday at the 33rd ICANN meeting
>> in Cairo. According to Touré, the two organisations need to get to know each
>> other better and learn to love each other, as telecommunications and the
>> internet are ultimately condemned to a "forced marriage".
>>
>> Despite the outstretched hand, the ITU Secretary General did not spare the
>> criticism in his first appearance at an ICANN meeting. Touré made it clear
>> to the assembled experts that he saw his organisation as playing the
>> dominant role in the forced marriage and made his opinion of the other party
>> clear – provocatively describing ICANN's Governmental Advisory Committee as
>> purely cosmetic.
>>
>> The depth of the chasm between the two – the UN organisation, which has
>> its roots in the telecommunications world, and the quasi-internet-regulator
>> ICANN – was stressed by a series of further statements in the half-hour talk
>> given by the head of the ITU. Touré repeatedly spoke of the "war" between
>> the two organisations. According to Touré, who was elected in 2006, "The
>> best way to win a war, is to prevent it."
>>
>> In the course of his 'marriage proposal', he referred extensively to the
>> ITU's outstanding role. Key topics for his organisation, he noted, include
>> the internationalisation of domains, something with which ICANN is currently
>> engaged, the *transition to IPv6[3]*, standardisation for the all-IP *Next
>> Generation Network[4]* (NGN), cyber-security, the fight against online
>> terrorism and child protection online.
>>
>> Touré rejected concerns that the ITU was appointing itself as global
>> regulator of internet resources and processes, "The ITU has clear
>> boundaries. We do not perform the operative business." However, he
>> underlined the organisation's demand, set out in its *Cybersecurity
>> Agenda[5]*, to be responsible for a global framework in the fight against
>> online terrorism and criminality. He also defended the controversial *IP
>> traceback[6]* standard proposal. "There is not one country which isn't doing
>> it, it's just that each country is doing it differently," said Touré.
>>
>> Touré also rejected criticism that the ITU operates behind closed doors.
>> He stated that the organisation has around 700 sector members from the
>> telecommunications industry and also admits NGOs as members. Touré also
>> praised the ITU's openness – a nod to the *World Summit on the Information
>> Society[7]* (WSIS). The summit, organised under ITU auspices, is, according
>> to Touré, the first UN summit at which civil society has also been invited
>> to sit at the table, rather than demonstrating outside.
>>
>> In the same breath, Touré expressed strong criticism of the *Internet
>> Governance Forum[8]* (IGF), which was called into being by the WSIS, "I am
>> personally of the opinion that the IGF is continuously going round in
>> circles and avoiding issues – it is becoming more and more a waste of time."
>> Therefore, the ITU is planning a global forum for internet policy next year
>> as a rival event.
>>
>> Touré also fired a further undiplomatic broadside at the work performed by
>> governments within ICANN. "The Governmental Advisory Committee is ICANN's
>> weak point," said Touré. His criticism was directed at the advisory function
>> of the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) in developing rules for the
>> domain name system. "If someone gives me advice, I am free to take it or
>> leave it." The ICANN's GAC is therefore nothing more than "cosmetic", noted
>> Touré forthrightly.
>>
>> In a short statement following Touré's speech, the Brazilian government
>> representative on the GAC demanded, in the name of his and the Argentinian
>> government, the "strengthening of the GAC". Latvian diplomat Janis Karklins,
>> re-elected as GAC chairman, by contrast noted that the ITU and ICANN
>> operated according to very different political models, "From the viewpoint
>> of an international organisation, the ICANN model may appear weak, because
>> governments are merely advisory, whilst in an international organisation
>> they run the show." ICANN is, he opined, based on the novel idea of
>> collaboration between interested parties. He noted that both models have
>> their advantages and disadvantages, and that governments need to learn to
>> operate within both models.
>>
>> (//Monika Ermert//)
>>
>> (*lghp[9]*)
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> size=2 width="100%" align=center>
>>
>> **URL of this Article:**
>> http://www.heise-online.co.uk/news/111914
>>
>> **Links in this Article:**
>>  [1] http://www.itu.int/
>>  [2] http://www.icann.org
>>  [3]
>> http://www.heise-online.co.uk/news/OECD-member-states-throw-their-weight-behind-IPv6--/110960
>>  [4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Next_Generation_Networking
>>  [5] http://www.itu.int/osg/csd/cybersecurity/gca/
>>  [6] http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10040152-38.html
>>  [7] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WSIS
>>  [8] http://www.intgovforum.org/
>>  [9] mailto:lghp at heise-online.co.uk
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Dear friends
>>
>>
>> find attached the statement of ITU DG Toure during the recent ICANN
>> meeting in Cairo and the discussion. This was a very interesting dialogue on
>> the concept and understanding of the principle of "multistakeholderism". A
>> very good piece whith very clear and frank language which will certainly
>> provoke discussion and could be an interesting starting point for a new
>> conceptual debate on what "multistakholderism" is, why we witness a clash of
>> cultures in Internet policy development and how the old model of an
>> hierachical top down IG organisation and the new model of a network bottom
>> up MS organisation can or can not collaborate and coexist in the global
>> diplomacy of the 21st century.
>>
>> Wolfgang
>>
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>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>>
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>>
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-- 
http://www.linkedin.com/in/sivasubramanianmuthusamy
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