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

[Jeanette Hofmann]

William Drake wrote:
> Hi Jeanette,
> 
> Yes, it is unusual.  Imagine the SG of the WTO or WIPO standing up at an 
> international meeting and saying that another international organization 
> or UN SG-approved activity is just "a waste of time."  It's also not an 
> off the cuff comment, nor a new view.  And two sentences later, the 
> uber-inclusive ITU's WTPF is held up as a place where, in contrast, 
> things do get addressed and done.  So I agree, it has to be read in the 
> context of the IGF's upcoming evaluation, and the CS approach to the 
> evaluation has to be considered in relation to this and other positions 
> being staked out by governments etc.

Thanks Bill, this is what I meant. We need to take into consideration 
how the IGF is regarded in the context of the UN institutional 
structure. I wouldn't suggest that we should defend the IGF because of 
criticisms from other UN organizations but that it would be appropriate 
for us to go for a comparative approach: How effective, inclusive and 
accountable are international organizations and how does the IGF within 
the confines of its its mission figure in this? We need to be realistic 
about our benchmarks when we assess the IGF. (And so should the ITU...)
jeanette

> 
> Cheer
> 
> Bill
> 
> On Nov 10, 2008, at 3:04 AM, Jeanette Hofmann 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
>>>  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
>>> ____________________________________________________________
>>> You received this message as a subscriber on the list:
>>>      governance at lists.cpsr.org <mailto:governance at lists.cpsr.org>
>>> To be removed from the list, send any message to:
>>>      governance-unsubscribe at lists.cpsr.org 
>>> <mailto:governance-unsubscribe at lists.cpsr.org>
>>>  For all list information and functions, see:
>>>      http://lists.cpsr.org/lists/info/governance
>>>   --
>>>  Internal Virus Database is out of date.
>>> Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com
>>> Version: 8.0.169 / Virus Database: 270.6.21/1669 - Release Date: 
>>> 9/12/2008 2:18 PM
>> ____________________________________________________________
>> You received this message as a subscriber on the list:
>>     governance at lists.cpsr.org
>> To be removed from the list, send any message to:
>>     governance-unsubscribe at lists.cpsr.org
>>
>> For all list information and functions, see:
>>     http://lists.cpsr.org/lists/info/governance
> 
____________________________________________________________
You received this message as a subscriber on the list:
     governance at lists.cpsr.org
To be removed from the list, send any message to:
     governance-unsubscribe at lists.cpsr.org

For all list information and functions, see:
     http://lists.cpsr.org/lists/info/governance