[governance] Aug. 15 deadline for inputs on IGF 2009 agenda

[Anja Kovacs]

Thank you to all those who responded to my question.

As time is indeed short, I would like to take up Ginger's suggestion,
and have drafted a brief statement, which you can find below.  If you
and/or your organisation would like to sign this, please let me know by
the end of today, 15 August (whatever your time zone), and I will make
sure it reaches the IGF Secretariat.
 
Below the proposed statement, I have also pasted the statement that the
IGC submitted in April.  A few other submissions, made around that time
by various groups and individuals can be found here:
http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/index.php/discussionspace?func=view&catid=5&id=14

Thanks,
Anja

Suggested statement: 

The undersigned would like to express their surprise and disappointment
that Internet Rights and Principles was not retained as an item on the
agenda of the 2009 IGF in any way. Although this topic was suggested as
a theme for this year's IGF or for a main session by a range of actors
during and in the run-up to May's Open Consultations, this widespread
support is not reflected in the Draft Programme Paper, which does not
include Internet Rights and Principles even as a sub-topic of any of the
main sessions. The WSIS Declaration of Principles, 2003, and the Tunis
Agenda, 2005, explicitly reaffirmed the centrality of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights to an inclusive information society. To make
these commitments meaningful, it is of great importance that a beginning
is made to explicitly building understanding and consensus around the
meaning of Internet Rights and Principles at the earliest. We recommend
that the Agenda of the 2009 IGF provide the space to do so.

IGC Submission - April 2009:

The following statement is submitted on behalf of the Civil Society
Internet Governance Caucus.

The Internet Governance Caucus continues to support "Internet Rights and
Principles" as a major theme for IGF-4 in Egypt. This should lead to
discourse at the IGF meetings moving towards the definition and
clarification of rights in relation to the Internet, and how they relate
to pre-existing definitions of human rights. It also includes a space
for discussions about the responsibilities of all parties.

The concept of "rights" continues to stress the importance of openness
and universal access. This framework will continue to emphasize the
importance of access to knowledge and development in Internet
governance, while adding to it the basic right of individuals to access
the content and applications of their choice. This is in keeping with
current debates regarding an “open Internet”, and relevant aspects of
the often confusing network neutrality discussions.

The inclusion of "principles" allows for wide discussion of the
responsibilities that the different stakeholders have to each other. It
allows for open examination of the principles that should govern the
Internet, particularly in its commercial facets.


On Fri, 2009-08-14 at 19:15 -0430, Ginger Paque wrote:

> Hi Anja,
> I agree with your concern. However, I do not think there is time for
> the list to reach consensus on a substantive statement.
> 
> If you write a statement, could you post it to the list, so that those
> who want to sign with you can email you directly, so you can add names
> before you send it in?
> 
> Best,
> Ginger
> 
> Anja Kovacs wrote: 
> 
> > Dear all,
> > 
> > As Ginger noted, tomorrow is the last day for comments on the Draft
> > Programme Paper. What continues to strike me as I read this paper is the
> > complete absence of attention for Internet rights and principles - in
> > fact the word 'rights' is not mentioned even once - despite Internet
> > rights and principles being raised as a theme or a topic for a main
> > session repeatedly by a range of players (including the IGC, the IRP DC
> > and the Gender DC) during and in the run-up to May's Open Consultations.
> > Although I realise that there is little chance of it being included as a
> > main session at this point, I think it is important for us to at least
> > comment on this glaring absence.  Would it be possible for the IGC to
> > express, by tomorrow, its disappointment in this regard? (we could use
> > some of the wording of the April submission)  
> > 
> > For those of you with whom I have had the pleasure to interact before, I
> > also would like to share that I have now joined the Centre for Internet
> > and Society, Bangalore.  
> > 
> > I look forward to continuing to engage with you all on Internet
> > Governance issues.
> > 
> > Anja
> > 
> > 
> > Dr. Anja Kovacs
> > Fellow
> > Centre for Internet and Society
> > T: +91 80 4092 6283
> > www.cis-india.org 
> > 
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> >   
> 
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Dr. Anja Kovacs
Fellow
Centre for Internet and Society
T: +91 80 4092 6283
www.cis-india.org 
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