[governance] Report on IGF MAG meeting (EPIC newsletter)

Tue May 26 17:06:25 EDT 2009

Excerpt from last issue of EPIC newsletter: Volume 16.10, May 26, 2009.
Published by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC),
Washington, D.C. http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_16.10.html

==========================================
[3] Multi-stakeholder Advisory Group to the UN IGF Meet in Geneva
==========================================

With the proposed slogan "Internet Governance : Creating Opportunities
for All", the fourth annual meeting of the United Nations Internet
Governance Forum will take place at Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt on November
15-18, 2009.

The IGF was formed to support the United Nations Secretary-General in
carrying out the mandate from the World Summit on the Information
Society with regard to convening a new multi-stakeholder policy
dialogue forum to discuss issues related to key elements of Internet
governance. The IGF was established in July 2006 and since then three
annual forums have been organized.

On May 14-15, 2009, the United Nations Multi-stakeholder Advisory
Group to the Internet Governance Secretariat met in Geneva to discuss
the preparation of the Sharm el-Sheikh meeting.

Comments on the Substantive Program Agenda were one of the main topics
of discussion. "Internet governance ñ creating opportunities for all"
was chosen as the overall title.

The proposed agenda for the 2009 meeting will be as follows:

	- Managing critical Internet resources
	- Security, openness and privacy
	- Access and diversity
	- Internet governance in the light of WSIS principles
	- Emerging issues: Social Networks
	- Taking stock and the way forward : on the desirability of
	  the continuation of the Forum.

Many members of civil society, who are part of the Multi-stakeholder
Advisory Group to the Internet Governance Secretariat, proposed the
inclusion of human rights and principles in the information society as
an overall theme; however, this proposal did not reach consensus.

It is important to highlight that in December 2003, the final
Declaration and Plan of Action of the World Summit of Information
Society, incorporated references to the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights as well as to the Vienna Declaration and the UN Charter.
The document also included the full extent of Article 19 of the UDHR.
This means that there might be a possibility to discuss those topics
in the main session on "Internet governance in the light of WSIS
principles."

For the first time, one of the main sessions will be "Security,
Openness and Privacy," though the specific details of the panel are
still unclear. Some clusters were identified, among others: "secure
the network (e.g. to fight spam)." Issues to be discussed in this
cluster might include the respect for privacy as a business advantage
and issues such as identity theft, identity fraud, and information
leakage. Another cluster includes "Web 2.0, social networks, cloud
computing and privacy, e.g. control of one's own personal data and
data retention." Some issues pertaining to openness were also
addressed, including ensuring the open architecture of the Internet
and Net Neutrality.

The last substantive session of the 2009 IGF meeting will be devoted to
emerging issues. The impact of social networks was chosen as the theme
for this session. It will be a forward-looking session with a focus on
policy instead of technology. Hopefully, those sessions tackle one of
the key privacy debates in social networks: Profiling and Behavioral
Targeted Advertising.

In the 2007 IGF meeting, privacy was subsumed under the main session
of "security" and other controversial topics including human rights
were avoided.

In 2008, the right of privacy was discussed under the main title
"Promoting cyber-security and trust," where two panels were held.
The Chairman report of the second panel of this session "Fostering
Security, Privacy and Openness," highlighted that "[t]he increased
awareness of the importance of data protection was mentioned as
regards not only the protection of the private sphere of individuals,
but their very freedom." The first panel on the "Dimensions of
Cyber-Security and Cyber-crime" addressed problems concerning
jurisdiction and geographical boundaries that law enforcement
agencies face because of the borderless nature of the Internet.
However, the discussions did not address any public accountability
measures to oversee the legality and limit the use of the surveillance
in communications. There was no mention of the wiretapping abuses that
have been revealed around the world, sometimes involving thousands of
illegal wiretaps.

At the Human Right Caucus reported in 2003, "much of the [WSIS]
Declaration focused on the creation of a "global culture of cyber-
security". The Caucus said in 2003, "the discussion around security
would have been enhanced by a clear understanding that true security
can only be achieved by measures that are fully compatible with
international human rights and particularly the right to privacy."

In 2010, the United Nations General Assembly will decide if it
should extend the IGF's initial five-year mandate, based on a review
of its work as well as its achievements.

Internet Governance Forum:
      http://www.intgovforum.org/

Submitted proposals for workshops sessions for the 2009 IGF meeting:
      http://epic.org/redirect/052609_IGF_2009_sub_proposals.html

The WSIS Declaration of Principles and Plan of Action:
      http://www.itu.int/wsis/

Summary Report of the Multistakeholder Advisory Group MeetingñMay 2009:
      http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/AGD/MAG.Summary.18.05.2009.rtf

IGF 2008 Chairman's Summary (pdf):
      http://epic.org/redirect/122208_IGF_Chairman.html

IGF "Promoting Cyber-Security and Trust" transcripts:
      http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/index.php/hyderabadprogramme

Comments on the Political Chapeau and the Operational Part Human Rights
Caucus Contribution to the Work of the Group of the Friends of the
Chair (March 4th, 2005):
      http://www.itu.int/wsis/docs2/pc3/contributions/co2.doc

The Public Voice:
      http://www.thepublicvoice.org
==========================================
____________________________________________________________
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