AW: [governance] Internet G8 meeting

[Jeremy Malcolm]

Thanks Parminder and Avri.  Here's a consolidated draft with Avri's edits.

    Basic courtesy stuff.....

    We understand that the French Presidency of the G8 proposes to hold a G8
    Internet meeting, immediately prior to the G8 Summit in
........,with a view
    to prepare or influence the agenda for the G8 Summit regarding key
global
    Internet issues. We also understand that many heads of states of G 8
    countries are expected to attend this meeting. The meeting is especially
    important since in the past G 8 has set up the global agenda on many key
    issues, especially in the information society arena.

    We are very concerned about the manner in which the G 8 Internet
meeting is
    being organised which is ignoring current best practice in public
policy making.
    It also jettisons the principle of multistakeholder participation
that has evolved
    globally, especially in the area of Internet governance. It appears
that the G8
    meeting is organized by large Industry with access given only to
industry and
    government actors.  We have also understood that there is a linkage
between
    donations and invitations.

    Big businesses already have a disproportionately large influence on
    government bureaucracies. For governments to sanction a dedicated
meeting
    with top G8 leaders and officials to plan the global agenda for
Internet related
    policies is inappropriate. What is required is a discussion that
includes civil
    society actors, who will bring to the table the concerns of global
public interest
    derived from a diversity of people's, of many sections of society,
interests and
    concerns.

    It is also pertinent to state here that since the Internet is
essentially a
    global phenomenon, policies framed together by the most powerful
nations,
    quite likely, will become the default global norm. This is most true for
    architectural and economic issues, while the global impact on other
areas
    will also be substantial. It is therefore appropriate that G 8 countries
    engage with the same, and other issues, of Internet policies at the more
    democratic global forums where all countries are present at an equal
    footing. In this connection, there is the World Summit on the
Information
    Society mandated set of processes for dealing with pressing global
Internet
    related issues. Multistakeholder participation is an important part
of these global
    IG related processes. We see the proposed G 8 Interent meeting a
significant
    step backwards both for global democracy and for multistakeholder
    participation.

    We therefore request you, and other G 8 leaders, to make the
proposed G 8
    Internet meeting genuinely multistakeholder, following the model of
the UN
    IGF. We are impressed with the solid support provided by the G 8
countries
    for upholding a multistakeholder model for the IGF. The strong
support that
    many of G8 countries, including your own, have shown for full
multistakeholder
    participation makes this current decision to limit discussion to
vested interests
    of governments' industry partners is baffling and is unacceptable to
many of
    the users of the Internet.

    closing and salutations.....

-- 

*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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