[governance] Minutes of meeting of the Internet Governance Caucus, 26 September 2011

[Jeremy Malcolm]

Chairs: Izumi Aizu and Jeremy Malcolm
Meeting time: circa 18:45 - 20:00
Present:  approximately 35 members and observers

IGC's workshops at this IGF

The three IGC-sponsored workshops at this year's IGF were highlighted again; Mapping Internet Governance (Wednesday, 9am), Reflections on the Indian Proposal towards an IGF 2.0 (Thursday, 9am) and A Possible Framework for Global Network Neutrality (Thursday, 4:30pm).

Next coordinator elections

Jeremy indicated that he would be stepping down after the IGF meeting and calling an election for the next co-coordinator of the IGC. He invited everyone to consider nominating themselves or someone else for this position.  If anyone was not listed as a voting member on our website, they should contact him about this now.

Working groups of the IGC

It was acknowledged that the three planning, outreach and strategy working groups that we had established last year had not taken off in the way originally hoped.  For now, we will leave these working groups idle until an appropriate time to revive them.

Strategic direction for the IGC

There was discussion of whether to move towards an IGC 2.0 which could be incorporated, raise funds, perhaps retain a staff member, and seek accreditation with ECOSOC.  This would make it easier for the IGC to stay on top of issues, travel to meetings, and move our website and mailing list onto a dedicated server of our own.

Given the time and energy that would take to incorporate the IGC, an alternative proposition raised from the floor was for it to become an activity of a friendly host organisation, which could do those other things on our behalf.  It was also suggested that the logistics and substance be separated, so that perhaps the coordinators could remain as volunteers, but with a staff member to take care of logistics.

Action points on this item were for Jeremy to have some informal discussions with funders about whether this is something they would be interested in receiving a proposal on, and for the candidates for the next IGC coordinator position to address their views on the IGC's strategic direction in their statements. 

Review of the IGC charter

Jeremy indicated that after stepping down, he would chair a working group to look at review of the IGC's charter, to address limitations that have often been raised, particularly about the definition of membership of the IGC.  Another (possibly alternative) suggestion was to just add a message to the footer of mailing list emails explaining how IGC membership works.

Other Internet governance processes

There was discussion of the proliferation of new venues for Internet governance discussion outside of the IGF and CSTD.  It was suggested that more information sharing between the groups covering each area is needed, for which no adequate mechanism yet exists.  But in response it was pointed out that some of these venues don't yet have dedicated civil society networks around them, such as the IBSA proposal and the e-G8 and now the upcoming e-G20.  A partial solution at mapping these spaces and who is active in them will begin at the Mapping Internet Governance workshop.

People were encouraged to share their information on the IGC's website in the "Resources" page, even if it was just linking to useful posts on the mailing list.  The value of the historical content on the old IGC websites was also stressed.  Jeremy undertook to try to recover the content of old IGC websites and make sure they were accessible.

Migration of IGC Mailing list

There was a question about the migration of the IGC's mailing list away from the CPSR server, given that the CPSR no longer operates.  Jeremy indicated that he was in discussions with the CPSR's webmaster about this, and that it was his intention to move the mailing list and website together.  How this would be done would tie into the outcome of the question on funding of the IGC.

CSTD WG on IGF improvement

Izumi reported that there is no news on the next meeting of the CSTD Working Group on IGF Improvements.

IGF MAG inactivity – absence of IGF executive coordinator – no transparency

It was also reported with concern that the MAG had been relatively inactive of late, leaving many decisions to be made by the Secretariat in conjunction with individual stakeholders privately. Funding for MAG members to attend meetings had been dropped.

It was to be hoped that the MAG would be refreshed once a new MAG Chair and the new IGF Executive Coordinator were appointed.  It was understood that a shortlist had already been prepared, and might be announced during the IGF meeting. The transparency of this process, however, was poor.

Also noted with concern was the issue of financial support to civil society to support IGF participation.  Money contributed by countries such as Canada and Switzerland to a fund for delegates was handled by the ITU, with no transparency of how it would be applied.  In the past, such money was directed to government delegations rather than civil society.

Open letter about China/Russia/etc proposal on online code of conduct to UN SG

Some members urged the IGC to write an open letter expressing concern about the intergovernmental code of conduct proposed by China, Russia, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, and to invite other civil society groups to sign on (or alternatively, to do two statements: one of our own, and a joint one).  Others observed that it might be too late, as the proposal is to be discussed at the General Assembly this week.

Civil Society Declaration of our own principles

It was also suggested that the proliferation of statements of Internet principles should be countered by civil society drafting its own set of principles, for sign-on by other civil society groups ahead of its presentation at the e-G20 meeting.  It could later be discussed at the next IGF, with a view to forging a new multi-stakeholder framework incorporating all the other stakeholder principles documents.  Wolfgang Kleinwachter offered to chair the drafting group.  Jeremy suggested that civil society's closing address at the IGF could announce this effort.

issue of next IGF host – Azerbaijan

Concerns were also expressed about the selection of Azerbaijan as the next host of the IGF, and the suggestion made that we need another open letter to UN SG about the human rights record of Azerbaijan and the difficulty for civil society delegates to attend a meeting in that country without financial assistance.

-- 
Dr Jeremy Malcolm
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Consumers International
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