[governance] Appeals Team Final Report

José Félix Arias Ynche jaryn56 at gmail.com
Tue Jan 22 11:39:55 EST 2013 

Felicitaciones al Equipo de Apelaciones...buen trabajo


*Cordialmente:         José Félix Arias Ynche*
*                        Investigador Social Para El Desarrollo*


2013/1/22 Avri Doria <avri at acm.org>

>
>
> wonderful job by the Appeals Team.
> and a great email from Carlos
>
> cheers
> avri
>
> On 22 Jan 2013, at 06:53, Carlos A. Afonso wrote:
>
> > Excellent, very careful and detailed recommendations.
> >
> > Especially taking into account that in this list we have a nice mix of
> distinct cultures, and what sometimes seems innocuous for some might mean a
> big deal for others in terms of how we relate with each other.
> >
> > I recall a lunch meeting between several Brazilians and people from
> different countries from Asia at a World Bank venue many years ago.
> Brazilians as usual are a bit irreverent and tell jokes, and these jokes in
> English (for us Brazilians) sounded ok. But none of our fellow Asians found
> them funny.
> >
> > So we asked our friends from Asia to tell us some jokes -- the same
> thing happened as we did not think they qualified as jokes at all! :) But
> at the end we found some "universal" ones which passed the test unanimously.
> >
> > frt rgds
> >
> > --c.a.
> >
> > On 01/22/2013 01:09 AM, Ian Peter wrote:
> >> FINAL REPORT, FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
> >>
> >> With the comments period completed, the Appeals Team can now present
> its final report and recommendations as regards the appeal against the
> removal from the IGC list of Suresh Ramasubramanian.
> >>
> >> OUR FINDINGS ON THE APPEAL
> >>
> >> We confirm our finding is that Suresh’s removal from the IGC list was
> not in accordance with the IGC Charter, for reasons contained in our
> interim findings and repeated later in this report. We therefore request
> that Suresh be reinstated to the list immediately. (this has already taken
> place)
> >>
> >> OUR RECOMMENDATIONS
> >>
> >> We also make the following recommendations for consideration by all IGC
> members.
> >>
> >> Recommendation 1. The IGC Charter includes the following
> recommendation,. “The coordinators may, at their discretion, appoint an
> advisory team of at least three individuals to assist them in making the
> determination of when someone has breached the posting rules defined in
> this charter. While all decisions remain the coordinators' responsibility,
> any such recommendation from an advisory team will be made public at the
> time of either suspension or removal from the list.”
> >>
> >>
> >> In the case before us which took place while there was only one active
> coordinator, we think this advisory team would have been particularly
> valuable.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Recommendation 2. We recommend that in future reasons be given for any
> removal or suspension, referencing the charter provisions which were
> breached and led to the suspension. This is currently not a requirement in
> the Charter, but we feel strongly that any suspension, removal, or warning,
> should state clearly why this is so, in accordance with the IGC charter
> provisions. These are listed below and are quite broad.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Recommendation 3. We recommend that in future all removal/suspensions
> also be communicated to the list with reasons, not only to the person
> concerned. Again this is not a current Charter requirement, but we believe
> that in the interests of good communication with the list this should
> always be followed.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Recommendation 4. We recommend that, should the co-coordinators choose
> to review the situation as regards the suspension of Suresh
> Ramasubramanian, the number of days already suspended from the list prior
> to being reinstated during this appeals process should be deducted from any
> 30 day suspension.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Recommendation 5. Finally, we recommend that all list participants,
> including those who have been warned in the past, focus their contributions
> on the issues being discussed, and not the personalities. If IGC ever
> degrades to a forum which does not have a wide range of cultural
> differences, political opinions, perspectives, interests,sensitivities, and
> differing interests in the broad field of internet governance, it would be
> a great pity. However, within this diverse group, all members have a right
> to discuss what they feel is pertinent, and all members have a right to
> disagree. But none of this should include statements which could be
> construed by a reasonable person as being outside of the IGC Charter’s
> definition of reasonable conduct, which includes (to quote from the charter)
> >>
> >>
> >> The messages must observe a minimum of decorum, including:
> >> · refrain from personal attacks, insults or slander
> >> · refrain from offensive or discriminating language
> >> · refrain from threats , including threats of legal action, on list or
> off list
> >> · refrain from excessive and repetitive posting
> >>
> >> Inappropriate postings to the IGC list include
> >> · Unsolicited bulk e-mail
> >> · Discussion of subjects unrelated to the IGC mission and objectives
> >> · Unprofessional or discourteous commentary, regardless of the general
> subject
> >> · Sequences of messages by one or more participants that cause an IGC
> list to become a hostile environment
> >>
> >>
> >> It is only appropriate that action should be taken, should co -
> coordinators in their best judgement (and where appropriate with
> consultation) feel that participants are acting outside of these
> guidelines. As members of this list, we feel that there have been a number
> of cases recently, involving not only those who have been warned but cases
> where people have not been warned, where these guidelines have been broken.
> It is in the interests of what we are trying to achieve as civil society
> that our discourse remains civil, polite, and courteous. We reject the
> notion that, because other lists do not closely moderate or demand
> reasonable behaviour, this list should not pursue the standards set in its
> charter.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Lastly, we wish to record our thanks to Salanieta Tamanikaiwaimaro for
> her patience and co-operation during this appeal period, and her dedication
> to keeping the Internet Governance Caucus functioning during a difficult
> time. We trust that our recommendations are useful in assisting future
> co-coordinators in dealing with such situations, and in clarifying the
> behaviour that can reasonably be expected from all participants on this
> mailing list.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Thanks also to those who submitted comments. This appeal is now closed.
> The Appeals Team will not be responding formally to any further comments on
> this particular matter.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> The Appeals Team
> >>
> >>
> >> Shaila Mistry, Ginger Paque, Roland Perry , Ian Peter and Deidre
> Williams
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> BACKGROUND INFORMATION
> >>
> >>
> >> Reasons for our finding.
> >>
> >>
> >> The Charter outlines a specific process that must take place before
> removal on any person from the list, as follows
> >>
> >> Suspension of posting rights
> >>
> >> Failure to abide by posting rules may result in suspension or removal
> from the IGC list according to the following process:
> >>
> >> · The coordinators will first warn a subscriber privately of the problem
> >> · If the problem persists the coordinators will notify the subscriber
> publicly on the list of impending suspension from the list. Suspension will
> include only posting rights.
> >> · If the problem persists the subscriber's posting rights will be
> suspended for one (1) month.
> >> · Once the subscriber's posting rights are restored, any further
> problem will result in another public warning.
> >> · If the problem continues to persist after suspension and a second
> public warning, the coordinators will be permitted to either suspend the
> posting rights for three (3) months or to remove the subscriber from the
> list.
> >> · Any decision for suspension can be appealed. Any decision to remove
> someone from the list will call for an automatic appeal by the appeals team.
> >>
> >> In this case, the previous private and public warnings given to Suresh
> needed to be followed by a one month suspension, not removal from the list.
> It has been confirmed in correspondence with both the Coordinator and with
> the person removed from the list that the word used in the private letter
> advising removal was “removal”, and this was confirmed by the co ordinator
> as being the intention. It was this action outside of the process outlined
> in the IGC Charter that led to our decision.
> >>
> >
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>
>
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