[governance] Fwd: [bestbits] Whether to participate in NETmundial Initiative - RFC

Tue Nov 18 05:51:11 EST 2014

Currently the issue of involvement in the Netmundial Initiative is being
hotly debated. This is Ian's summary of the arguments to date. Within the
IGC are there any particular views on the issue?

I ask myself whether civil society has been manoeuvred into a position in
which choosing not to be involved becomes not really an option?

Looking at Ian's Against list:

AGAINST INVOLVEMENT

The last thing we need is a corporate takeover of internet governance and
this could become that

(is it more likely to "become that" if civil society absents itself?)

ISOC has withdrawn

Participation is strongly opposed by some sections of civil society

This initiative has a track record of poor communication

(without civil society insistence will it become even worse?)

I don't myself have answers to these questions, but I think they need to be
asked. There is some information available at https://www.netmundial.org/

Any comments?

Deirdre
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ian Peter <ian.peter at ianpeter.com>
Date: 18 November 2014 06:31
Subject: Re: [bestbits] Whether to participate in NETmundial Initiative -
RFC
To: Jeremy Malcolm <jmalcolm at eff.org>, Best Bits <
bestbits at lists.bestbits.net>

  At this point of time discussions are going on in a number of forums as
regards participation, not just here; and it would be helpful if the debate
was about whether to participate or not, not about who said what when.

As an aid to this, and perhaps to focus discussion a little, here is a
brief summary of some of the arguments for and against that I have seen
advanced. Not a complete list, but perhaps this might help some people to
understand that other people have perspectives that differ from their own.
i would urge people to add their own perspectives to these so that an
informed decision is made.

FOR INVOLVEMENT

With ITU a governments only forum and no real will to change, and IGF as a
forum with no power to make recommendations or take decisions and again no
will to change, there is no credible venue to initiate action on non
technical issues or issues not within the remit of Istar organisations
These would include surveillance issues, human rights issues, net
neutrality issues, to name a few.

The solid commitment to NetMundial principles promised, if carried out in
practice, would create a credible and open initiative

There is a need for a representative forum capable of moving us forward on
a range of issues not covered by existing institutions

Participation is strongly supported by some sections of civil society

AGAINST INVOLVEMENT

The last thing we need is a corporate takeover of internet governance and
this could become that

ISOC has withdrawn

Participation is strongly opposed by some sections of civil society

This initiative has a track record of poor communication

Ian Peter

 *From:* Jeremy Malcolm <jmalcolm at eff.org>
*Sent:* Tuesday, November 18, 2014 2:53 PM
*To:* Best Bits <bestbits at lists.bestbits.net>
*Subject:* [bestbits] Whether to participate in NETmundial Initiative - RFC

 By now everyone will have read from previous threads that ISOC and the
Just Net Coalition (JNC) have both decided not to participate in the
NETmundial Initiative, and you may have also have read some false
information that Best Bits and other networks represented on the Civil
Society Coordination Group (CSCG) *have* decided to participate.  As Ian
Peter's clarifying message setting out the truth of the matter should have
made clear, that is *not* the case.  All that has happened is that the we
have obtained as much assurance as we can that *if* we decide to
participate, then the Secretariat (ICANN, WEF and CGI.br) will accept our
self-nomination process rather than choosing civil society representatives
independently.

Now we turn to you, our communities, to provide us with guidance about
whether to proceed further or not.  Some views have already been expressed
pro and con.  I have been (and remain) publicly critical about the
NETmundial Initiative, but on the other hand the reasoning ISOC and JNC
give for boycotting it is rather specious, because they characterise the
initiative as being something that it doesn't purport to be - ie. a single
central policy-making body for Internet governance. This is an alarmist
critique that turns the NETmundial Initiative into an exaggerated ITU-style
bogeyman.

So whilst there is certainly room for disagreement about whether we should
bestow the benefit of our participation on the Initiative (I remain deeply
conflicted about this), let's decide on the basis of factual pro and con
arguments rather than oversimplifications about the 1% taking over the
Internet.  Also note that a few civil society representatives, including
Human Rights Watch, have endorsed it already and are featured on the
carousel message on the front page of netmundial.org.

So what do people think?  If you haven't already shared your views, please
do so on this thread, within the next few days if possible.

  --
Jeremy Malcolm
Senior Global Policy Analyst
Electronic Frontier Foundation
https://eff.org
jmalcolm at eff.org

Tel: 415.436.9333 ext 161

:: Defending Your Rights in the Digital World ::

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