SV: [governance] Brief report Re: Civil society representation at WSIS+10 in Paris

Fri Feb 22 11:07:59 EST 2013

Thanks for all the support everyone.  And thanks for the inputs so far.

Michael.. not sure when you and I will find time to organised our 
thoughts and everyone's inputs :) But lets try. Many useful comments 
have come in. AlonBar's input sent to the IRP list also very useful.

By some kind of 'research coincidence' I found this text on - APC's 
positions going into Tunis - today on Wikipedia. Pasted below. I have no 
idea who put there, but it was really quite amazing to read it, and to 
remember suddenly the exact time and place when we drafted this text. I 
also remember when many of us still in this space drafted the Geneva 
statement"shaping information societies for humanneeds"(and that 
includes you Tracey!)

The only proposal below that we have 'paused' is the idea of a 
'multi-stakeholder' convention. We paused because we feared that any 
convention that could be negotiated would at the lowest common 
denominator level and mightdo more harm than good. It would be good to 
see what comes out of serious discussions on principles for internet 
governance and then reassess this.

Anriette

The second phase took place 2005-11-16 to 2005-11-18 in Tunis, Tunisia 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunis,_Tunisia>. It resulted in agreement 
on the Tunis Commitment <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunis_Commitment> 
and the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunis_Agenda_for_the_Information_Society>, 
and the creation of the Internet Governance Forum 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Governance_Forum>.

Just on the eve of the November 2005 Tunis event, the Association for 
Progressive Communications 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_for_Progressive_Communications> came 
out with its stand. (APC is an international network of civil society 
organizations – whose goal is to empower and support groups and 
individuals working for peace, human rights, development and protection 
of the environment, through the strategic use of information and 
communication technologies (ICTs), including the internet).

APC said it had participated extensively in the internet governance 
process at the World Summit on Information Society. It says: Out of this 
participation and in collaboration with other partners, including 
members of the WSIS civil society internet governance caucus, APC has 
crystallized a set of recommendations with regard to internet governance 
ahead of the final Summit in Tunis in November 2005. APC proposed 
specific actions in each of the following five areas:

  * The establishment of an Internet Governance Forum
    <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Governance_Forum>;
  * The transformation of ICANN <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICANN>
    into a global body with full authority over DNS
    <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_Name_System> management, and an
    appropriate form of accountability to its stakeholders in
    government, private sector and civil society;
  * The initiation of a multi-stakeholder convention on internet
    governance and universal human rights that will codify the basic
    rights applicable to the internet, which will be legally binding in
    international law with particular emphasis on clauses in the
    universal declaration of human rights specifically relevant to the
    internet, such as rights to freedom of expression, freedom of
    association and privacy.
  * Ensuring internet access is universal and affordable. APC argued:
    "The internet is a global public space that should be open and
    accessible to all on a non-discriminatory basis. The internet,
    therefore, must be seen as a global public infrastructure. In this
    regard we recognize the internet to be a global public good
    <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_public_good> related to the
    concept of the common heritage of humanity
    <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_heritage_of_humanity> and
    access to it is in the public interest, and must be provided as a
    global public commitment to equality."^[7]
    <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Summit_on_the_Information_Society#cite_note-7>

  * Measures to promote capacity building in "developing" countries with
    regard to increasing "developing" country participation in global
    public policy forums on internet governance.

On 21/02/2013 05:22, Tracey Naughton wrote:
> Excellent choices!
>
> Tracey Naughton
>
> On 21 Feb 2013, at 3:36 AM, "Kleinwächter, Wolfgang" <wolfgang.kleinwaechter at medienkomm.uni-halle.de> wrote:
>
> This has my full support.
>
> wolfgang
>
> ________________________________
>
> Fra: governance-request at lists.igcaucus.org på vegne af Norbert Bollow
> Sendt: on 20-02-2013 11:19
> Til: IGC
> Emne: [governance] Brief report Re: Civil society representation at WSIS+10 in Paris
>
>
>
> Dear all
>
> As I mentioned before, Janis Karklins of UNESCO requested Marianne
> Franklin (one of two co-chairs of the Internet Rights and Principles
> Coalition) and myself to suggest speakers for the Paris WSIS+10 main
> sessions to represent civil society. In the absence of any really
> convincing answer to the question of who else should do this :-) we
> have done so.
>
> By necessity my participation in this process was not a formal
> nomination activity of the Caucus, which would have required a NomCom,
> and without a standing NomCom available for any tasks that might come
> up, there was simply not enough time for initiating a NomCom
> process.
>
> First there was the request regarding the opening session, and very
> recently the request regarding the other sessions. In each case a
> reasonably quick response was expected.
>
> I recommend that for future major events, a NomCom should be set up well
> in advance, and it should prepare well in advance with thoughts on
> potential nominees and selection criteria.
>
> For the current WSIS+10 event, a very much ad hoc process was used,
> where I have done my best to take into account the responses to the call
> for expressions of interest that I posted here on the list.
>
> I believe that we have a very good end result:
>
>
> Opening session:
>   Grace Githaiga
>
> "High level" session on Monday afternoon:
>   Anriette Esterhuysen and Michael Gurstein
>
> Closing:
>   Anita Gurumurthy
>
>
> I have also encouraged these civil society representatives to consult
> widely, as per the email message pasted below.
>
> Greetings,
> Norbert
>
>
> --snip------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Janis Karklins <j.karklins at unesco.org> wrote:
>
>> I am writing to you with proposal to take the floor on behalf of the
>> civil society
> Dear Anita, Anriette, Grace and Michael (the civil society
> representatives at the plenaries of WSIS+10)
>
> As you probably know, Janis Karklins of UNESCO had requested Marianne
> and myself to suggest speakers for the WSIS+10 main sessions to
> represent civil society. In the absence of any really convincing answer
> to the question of who else should do this :-) we have done so.
>
> Speaking just from my personal perspective right now, I would like to
> encourage all of you to consult widely on what are important points to
> make, using the mailing lists of the Internet Governance Caucus and the
> Internet Rights and Principles coalition and whatever other networks
> you're active in.
>
> Of course if you do that, given the great breadth and diversity of
> civil society, you're going to get more suggestions than you can use,
> and it's of course each panelist's discretion to select which of the
> points you want to mention and which of them you want to specifically
> emphasize and how much you want to add from your personal perspective -
> also taking into account what in your view may have been
> underemphasized by other civil society speakers.
>
> Overall (and I emphasize again that I'm speaking just from my personal
> perspective here), I think that it is particularly important to clearly
> draw attention to important points that have so far been largely
> overlooked or ignored in the IGF process and other WSIS followup
> processes.
>
> Greetings,
> Norbert
>
>
>
>
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-- 
------------------------------------------------------
anriette esterhuysen anriette at apc.org
executive director, association for progressive communications
www.apc.org
po box 29755, melville 2109
south africa
tel/fax +27 11 726 1692

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