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

[Shahzad Ahmad]

Dear Anja,

Add my name too and Bytesforall, Pakistan.

best wishes
Shahzad

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Anja Kovacs 
  To: governance at lists.cpsr.org ; Ginger Paque 
  Sent: Saturday, August 15, 2009 12:20 PM
  Subject: Re: [governance] Aug. 15 deadline for inputs on IGF 2009 agenda


  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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Dr. Anja Kovacs
        Fellow
        Centre for Internet and Society
        T: +91 80 4092 6283
        www.cis-india.org  



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