[governance] Post WCIT Sign On Letter

[michael gurstein]

Would there be any disagreement with a post-WCIT signon letter updating and
re-contextualizing (post-WCIT) the BestBits statement?

 

Statement of civil society members and groups participating in the "Best
Bits" pre-IGF meeting at Baku in 2012

 

We thank the Secretariat of the ITU for making the opportunity to submit our
views.

 

Nevertheless, the process of the revision of the International
Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs) has not been sufficiently inclusive and
transparent, despite some recent efforts to facilitate public participation.
Fundamental to the framing of public policy must be the pursuit of the
public interest and fundamental human rights, and we urge Member States to
uphold and protect these values.

 

We as civil society organizations wish to engage with the World Conference
on International Telecommunication (WCIT) process in this spirit. Member
States, in most cases, have not held open, broad-based, public consultations
in the lead up to the WCIT, nor have they indicated such a process for the
WCIT itself.

 

In order to address this deficiency, and at a minimum, we would urge:

 

    All Member States and regional groups to make their proposals available
to the public in sufficient time to allow for meaningful public
participation;

    All delegates to support proposals to open sessions of the WCIT meeting
to the public;

    The ITU Secretariat to increase transparency of the WCIT including live
webcast with the video, audio, and text transcripts, as far as possible, to
enable participation by all, including persons with disabilities;

    The ITU Secretariat, Member States, and regional groups to make as much
documentation publicly available as possible on the ITU's website, so that
civil society can provide substantive input on proposals as they are made
available;

    Member States to encourage and facilitate civil society participation in
their national delegations;

    The ITU to create spaces during the WCIT for civil society to express
their views, as was done during the WSIS process.

 

Given the uncertainty about the nature of final proposals that will be
presented, we urge delegates that the following criteria be applied to any
proposed revisions of the ITRs:

 

    That any proposed revisions are confined to the traditional scope of the
ITRs, where international regulation is required around technical issues is
limited to telecommunications networks and interoperability standards.

    There should be no revisions to the ITRs that involve regulation of the
Internet Protocol and the layers above.

    There should be no revisions that could have a negative impact on
affordable access to the Internet or the public's rights to privacy and
freedom of expression.

 

More generally we call upon the ITU to promote principles of net neutrality,
open standards, affordable access and universal service, and effective
competition.

 

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