[governance] Three IGC workshops (summary)

[Jeremy Malcolm]

I'm not proposing to do an actual consensus call poll over the three IGC
workshops, since they are not in the nature of statements and there is
room for many viewpoints within all of them, but this is a summary of
the status of our three workshop proposals so far, to which any more
suggestions or serious objections are invited.  We also need volunteers
to co-organise and to serve as remote moderators as noted below.

These are listed here in the order they were proposed.  We will be
submitting the workshop proposals by this Friday.

1. Reflection on the Indian proposal towards an IGF 2.0

        As a participant in the CSTD's Working Group on Improvements to
        the IGF, the Government of India recently provided a set of
        "Proposed Improvements to IGF Outcomes, in Keeping with the UN
        General Assembly Mandate".  Although there was no consensus
        around this proposal, the ten suggested improvements reflect
        proposals that some other countries and other stakeholder groups
        have also previously aired. It is also one of the only
        relatively comprehensive written proposals on IGF outcomes to
        emerge from the Working Group, and therefore provides a
        convenient starting point for further discussion.
        
        It was suggested in the proposal that the MAG identify key
        questions for the IGF to deliberate upon, that a Working Group
        for each issue develop background material on it, to be
        considered by the IGF through workshops, a roundtable
        discussion, and possible inter-sessional meetings, and that
        discussion at the plenary level would result in an IGF report on
        each issue that would be transmitted to the CSTD and other
        relevant bodies for their action and feedback.
        
        Since it was not possible for the CSTD Working Group to fully
        discuss these suggestions, this workshop is intended to provide
        a space to do so more fully. The workshop will provide an
        opportunity for all stakeholders to consider the merits of the
        proposals as well as their shortcomings, and consider whether
        and how to take such proposals forward.
        
   Sponsors: IGC, others TBC (possibly ISOC Chennai)

   Organisers for IGC: Jeremy Malcolm and Marilia Maciel

   Remote moderator: TBC (volunteer needed!)

   Speakers: TBC

2. Mapping Internet Governance

        This workshop will explore where and how Internet Governance
        decisions are currently taken. What are the relevant fora and
        decision-making bodies? In what topic areas do they make
        decisions and with what kinds of impacts? How can individuals
        and stakeholder organizations make sure that their viewpoints
        and concerns are appropriately taken into consideration?
        
        Besides having a discussion of these topics in Nairobi, the
        workshop aims at initiating a multistakeholder process for
        creating a document "Map of Internet Governance" which addresses
        these questions, and for thereafter keeping this document
        up-to-date.
        
   Sponsors: IGC, others TBC

   Organisers for IGC: Nobert Bollow (another needed!)

   Remote moderator: TBC (volunteer needed!)

   Speakers: TBC

3. A possible framework for global Net Neutrality

        Network Neutrality has been one of the hottest Internet public
        policy issues in many countries, over the last year; US's
        Federal Communications Commission came out with NN guidelines
        that built over an agreement between two principal corporate
        players in the area, EU has bene conducting a pulbic hearing on
        the issue, French telecom regulatory authority have come out
        with a set of NN proposals and recommendations, Brazil a
        drafting a new civil rights framework for the Internet of which
        NN is an important issue. Earlier, in 2009, Norway came out with
        a much acclaimed set of NN guidelines. 
                
        In the background, since Internet is essentially a global
        network and finally there must be common global norms on whether
        content can be prioritised across global digital highways
        including across global interconnection points) on payments by
        the content providers or not. Interesting, cross border network
        neutrality is a subject being dealt with by an experts committee
        on the Council of Europe. If we do not start talking about
        global norms, taking into consideration the interests and
        viewpoints of all involved, we will eventually be faced by a
        default regime of global traffic flows which will be whatever
        gets decided by the key economic powers. This is undemocratic
        way of subjecting the global public to the political choices of
        a few, most powerful. On the other hand, it is also true that
        even in the more powerful nations, policy making in this area
        may become hostage to the interests of multinational digital
        corporations at the cost of the national public interest. It it
        therefore of considerable value even for the more powerful
        countries to seek global norms on NN. 
                
        The proposed workshop will explore the emerging progressive
        regimes in different countries and explore the possibility of
        coming up with a common set of global norms on NN. 

   Sponsors: IGC, IT for Change (I presume), others TBC

   Organisers for IGC: Parminder Jeet Singh

   Remote moderator: TBC (volunteer needed!)

   Speakers: TBC

-- 
Dr Jeremy Malcolm
Project Coordinator
Consumers International
Kuala Lumpur Office for Asia-Pacific and the Middle East
Lot 5-1 Wisma WIM, 7 Jalan Abang Haji Openg, TTDI, 60000 Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia
Tel: +60 3 7726 1599

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