On NN workshop RE: Re: [governance] Three IGC workshops ) NN FYI DIPLO

Mon Apr 11 17:04:45 EDT 2011

Janna, Jeremy, Parminder, colleagues,

Let me reflect briefly on NN proposal. 

Searching for common sets of norms is the right next step, I agree.
Summarising the discussion of previous years, and especially of the latest
workshop at the IGF in Vilnius, there are two major open issues related to
such a common set of norms:

1)       Format of the "document", if any: 

*         business is inclined to support "ex post" (case-by-case) rather
than "ex ante" regulation, justifying it with competition and need for space
for innovations in business models; 

*         users are inclined to ask for a more formal "safeguards" from the
big telco business, not trusting the market only (esp. after the economic
crises); 

*         regulators (some of them - like Norway) work towards
"collaborative regulation" with finding the win-win approach for all sides
and formulising it in the "guidelines"/"recommendations" format, yet leaving
the option of the "stick" to move it to "hard law" if needed

2)       "Exceptions" from these norms

*         business presents the challenges in broadband delivery and qos -
especially with wireless internet - in light of "next billion users" and new
high-bandwidth services that are still to come; they argue that, while NN
for "Internet as we know it" is fine, space should be given to "new
services" (and they/we don't know yet what these will be) to develop without
limitations - therefore allowing the "exceptions"

*         users are eager to hear more on what these services will really be
and if there is really a need for exceptions - especially in developing
countries where it is expected the next billion users will start using "the
new services" immediately as well

*         regulators are cautious - on one hand they need to assure
consumers protection and innovations at ends, while on the other hand they
need to create the environment to business for further investments and
possible innovations in business models as well

Based on these two components, the discussion on possible effects of NN set
of norms on business and users - especially on developing countries - can be
analysed.

Diplo supports this workshop and will be happy to co-sponsor it and assist
with preparations. 

Since we will likely again bring number of successful participants of our
capacity building programmes from developing countries - from governments,
regulators, civil society... - to the IGF, we may get them involved directly
as well.

Best!

            Vlada

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Vladimir Radunovic

Coordinator

Internet Governance Programmes

DiploFoundation

email: vladar at diplomacy.edu

web: www.diplomacy.edu/ig 

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-------- Original Message -------- 

Subject: 

Re: [governance] Three IGC workshops (summary)

Date: 

Mon, 11 Apr 2011 12:07:46 -0400

From: 

Janna Anderson  <mailto:andersj at elon.edu> <andersj at elon.edu>

Reply-To: 

governance at lists.cpsr.org,Janna Anderson  <mailto:andersj at elon.edu>
<andersj at elon.edu>

To: 

 <mailto:governance at lists.cpsr.org> <governance at lists.cpsr.org>, Jeremy
Malcolm  <mailto:jeremy at ciroap.org> <jeremy at ciroap.org>

Jeremy,

Thanks for all of your work; as usual wonderful at all levels.

If you need a co-sponsor to list for any of these if you think Imagining the
Internet may be helpful to list, please do so. I will try to provide
assistance as is possible. I'm not completely certain that we are funded for
the Nairobi journey, but I hope and expect that I or another faculty leader
from Imagining the Internet will be there with as many as three or four
students to do documentary coverage and provide support in any way we can
for all at IGF and the IGC.

I want to add that Diplo Foundation has been leading net neutrality
discussions at the past two IGFs. I do not know if Vladimir Radinovich and
the others want to be involved or not, but I thought I would pass that along
to you. You or Ginger might want to contact them directly, so this can be
value-added work.

Janna

On 4/11/11 1:11 AM, "Jeremy Malcolm"  <mailto:jeremy at ciroap.org>
<jeremy at ciroap.org> wrote:

> 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

-- 
Janna Quitney Anderson
Director of Imagining the Internet
www.imaginingtheinternet.org

Associate Professor of Communications
Director of Internet Projects
School of Communications
Elon University
andersj at elon.edu
(336) 278-5733 (o)

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