AW: [governance] Internet G8 meeting

Mon May 9 10:13:00 EDT 2011

I would like to support Parminder's comments and overall analysis here.  

I think this issue should be put in the larger context of the broad
outsourcing of government policy making (this specific example is
particularly egregious since it isn't simply "outsourcing" but rather it
seems to be putting policy making in these crucial spheres "up for
auction").

In the Canadian and I believe other national contexts this "outsourcing of
government policy making" is a broad trend which began initially with the
destruction of government's internal capacity for research and policy
analysis on the basis of "cost-cutting".  When this proved impossible to
sustain in complex enviroments there was a broad shift to outsourcing these
requirements to private agencies -- mostly privatized think tanks to provide
this type of policy research and analysis.  Since these agencies were
directly funded by the government of the day their capacity to undertake
disinterested (or rather research and policy analysis in the "public
interest" or towards the general good) was of course fatally compromised.

Issues of truly massive financial significance and global reach such as
those involving the Internet (another example of course is the global
financial system) are of particular concern here since what is required are
global regulatory and policy making agencies sufficent to respond to the
scale and scope of the matters at hand.  

In the absence of these (as has been commented on repeatedly in this context
in this forum) the need doesn't disappear but the mode of response takes a
typical form at this stage of global development i.e. to turn to those "with
the greatest stake" -- the private corps to provide the advice and policy
direction required. The instrumentalities (including research and policy
analysis) which would allow governments individually or collectively to
undertake the required policy making simply don't exist nor do most of our
current G8 governments want them to exist for ideological reasons.

Guys (and gals) its not that the French government (or the Canadian
government in an earlier iteration) "forgot" to invite Civil Society to the
table it is that they see no need to bring CS to the table and there are no
institutions in most instances either at the naitonal level or at the global
level which are structured in such a way as to require this i.e. to support
"the public interest".

All of which is to say, the instance that Parminder is pointing to is not
isolated and it isn't accidental.

Mike

-----Original Message-----
From: governance at lists.cpsr.org [mailto:governance at lists.cpsr.org] On Behalf
Of parminder
Sent: Monday, May 09, 2011 1:13 AM
To: governance at lists.cpsr.org
Subject: Re: AW: [governance] Internet G8 meeting

On Monday 09 May 2011 01:19 PM, Ian Peter wrote: 

My only problem with the text is that it tells them what we think they
should do without telling them why it would be advantageous to do it another
way. So its not likely to draw a great deal of attention.

Thanks for your comments, Ian. In general I have no problem with
incorporating your additions, and I will leave it to others to decide on it.
However, I must assert, with the risk of looking like trying to take the
moral high-ground, that civil society's role is not just to give 'technical'
advice to others, about what is good for them or not. Our basic legitimacy
is moral and representational... Also it is never clear, to 'whom' is
something advantageous or not  - to the French President's own interest, the
narrow interests of the French state, of the states of G * together,
advantageous to whom?

So while an instrumental logic can be used to supplement our assertions,
they should not be primary, and should in any case be used with great
caution. We need to invlvoe all countries and all stakeholders not because
it is advantageous to the principal parties being addressed here, (which in
nay case they can refute by giving counter logic) but because that is the
democratic and right way to do it. Period. That is what we stand for and
struggle for. 

To this end I would add another paragraph - perhaps after the "it is also
pertinent" paragraph, along the lines of

The issues we face with internet governance and internet developments are
global in nature, and adequate solutions to the problems we face will need
to involve all countries, as well as a wide range of business, civil society
and technical interests. All of these inputs are essential to any sensible
and effective developments in this area,

Begs the question, sensible and effective for whom ?? Some things can be
quite sensible and effective to, say large incumbent businesses, or even to
narrow economic interests of a particular nation state perched at a
particular place in the global digital economy chain or network. that does
not diminish our right and effort to seek democratic participation in policy
making. Also, I dont like the terminology of 'solutions' as if there are
value- and interest- neutral solutions waiting to be found by the right
application of expertise in all policy matters. 

For the same reason, I am not in agreement with one of Avri's edits where
the call to adhere to canons or high principles of legitimate policy making
is sought to be replace by best practises in policy making. This again
suggests expertise and information-richness based policy models, but i think
this is much more 'political' than that.

Just my views, for whatever they are worth :)

Parminder 

and we urge a more holistic involvement of this wide range of key players.
Only in this way will we be able to develop adequate solutions.

Ian Peter

  _____  

From: Jeremy Malcolm <jeremy at ciroap.org>
Organization: Consumers International
Reply-To: <governance at lists.cpsr.org>, Jeremy Malcolm <jeremy at ciroap.org>
Date: Mon, 09 May 2011 12:29:14 +0800
To: <governance at lists.cpsr.org>, Avri <avri at acm.org>
Subject: Re: AW: [governance] Internet G8 meeting

   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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-- 

Parminder Jeet Singh
Executive Director
IT for Change 
NGO in Special Consultative Status with the United Nations ECOSOC
www.ITforChange.net <http://www.ITforChange.net/> 
Tel:+91-80-2665 4134, 2653 6890. Fax:+91-80-4146 1055

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