[governance] [bestbits] Call for making the IGF permanent

Suresh Ramasubramanian suresh at hserus.net
Mon Sep 1 11:00:04 EDT 2014


Fully agreed.

Also - for some on this thread - it might be appropriate to constructively
engage with ICANN rather than disparage and belittle it with one breath and
demand "a constitutional framework" for it to fund the IGF with the next
breath ..

suresh

George Sadowsky [01/09/14 10:54 -0400]:
>All,
>
>There is an issue that has not been mentioned in this thread.  The UN is not totally representative of the world's population, and decisions regarding who is a members state and who is not are political decisions made by the UN General Assembly.
>
>Case in point: no one from Taiwan is allowed to participate, even as a non-speaking participant, in the IGF.  There was a rumor in Athens (2006) that a Taiwanese was planning to come, and those of us on the MAG at the time who were working the event were told to let management know if he showed up so that he could be denied admission.
>
>Another case, in the opposite direction, is that of Palestine.  It was finally allowed UN status in the 1990s only when Israel was unable to further block its entry, and then it was given 'observer status.'  This delayed providing it with a country code, and therefore a country code TLD to be used in the territory and to be included in the DNS root zone.
>
>I speak from personal involvement in both of those events.  There are probably others which are similar and which I am not aware of.
>
>So any move to unite the IGF and the UN can have consequences that are not foreseen, and and may well not be in the interests of democratic, bottom up, participatory activity.  Please, in your enthusiasm, do not increase -- and decrease if possible  --  your reliance upon UN administration/control/funding of future IGFs.
>
>George
>
>
>
>
>On Sep 1, 2014, at 10:00 AM, Carlos A. Afonso <ca at cafonso.ca> wrote:
>
>> If it has to become a formal body, I would not like to see it becoming a sort of UN agency. If it is not a UN agency, funding should come from other sources.
>>
>> --c.a.
>>
>> On 09/01/2014 09:27 AM, parminder wrote:
>>> I support the call.
>>>
>>> It should be accompanied with the UN providing permanent institutional
>>> funding for it.  Nothing can be permanent and stable without clear and
>>> stable source of funding.
>>>
>>> BTW, the IGF is right now a 'project' of UNDESA, and projects normally
>>> are not permanent. For being permanent it has to be an incorporated body
>>> with institutional funding.
>>>
>>> Anne, in the CSTD WG on IGF improvements,  IT for Change and some
>>> developing country asked for a part of domain names tax collected by
>>> ICANN to be dedicated to IGF funding. This has to be done in a
>>> statutory/ constitutional manner and not as ad hoc, upto ICANN, measure.
>>>
>>> parminder
>>>
>>> On Monday 01 September 2014 02:13 PM, Anne Jellema wrote:
>>>> Actually the point about stable and predictable funding - and I would
>>>> add to that, transparent and accountable financial management - seems
>>>> just as important as (and closely linked to) the permanent mandate.
>>>>
>>>> WF continues to advocate that a % of gTLD revenues be set aside for
>>>> this purpose, as well as for other public benefit purposes, but if it
>>>> is considered unwise to mix ICANN issues with IGF issues then perhaps
>>>> it's enough just to reference the need for expanded, predictable
>>>> funding that is transparently accounted for.
>>>>
>>>> cheers
>>>> Anne
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Mon, Sep 1, 2014 at 10:00 AM, Eduardo Bertoni
>>>> <ebertoni at alumni.gwu.edu <mailto:ebertoni at alumni.gwu.edu>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>    I support Joana´s idea re taking into account what the NetMundial
>>>>    final declaration says. I would only add that the "next" IGF
>>>>    should do better in linking its agenda and wok with the regional
>>>>    IGFs.
>>>>
>>>>    e
>>>>
>>>>    Eduardo
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>    On Mon, Sep 1, 2014 at 10:53 AM, Joana Varon
>>>>    <joana at varonferraz.com <mailto:joana at varonferraz.com>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>        Agree.
>>>>
>>>>        At NETMundial final statement, this is what we have on IGF:
>>>>
>>>>        "There is a need for a strengthened Internet Governance Forum
>>>>        (IGF). Important recommendations to that end were made by the
>>>>        UN CSTD working group on IGF improvements. It is suggested
>>>>        that these recommendations will be
>>>>        implemented by the end of 2015. Improvements should include
>>>>        inter-alia:
>>>>        a.Improved outcomes: Improvements can be implemented including
>>>>        creative
>>>>        ways of providing outcomes/recommendations and the analysis of
>>>>        policy options;
>>>>        b.Extending the IGF mandate beyond five-year terms;
>>>>        c. Ensuring guaranteed stable and predictable funding for the
>>>>        IGF, including
>>>>        through a broadened donor base, is essential;
>>>>        d. The IGF should adopt mechanisms to promote worldwide
>>>>        discussions
>>>>        between meetings through intersessional dialogues.
>>>>        A strengthened IGF could better serve as a platform for
>>>>        discussing both long
>>>>        standing and emerging issues with a view to contributing to
>>>>        the identification of
>>>>        possible ways to address them."
>>>>
>>>>        We could departure from that and add "ask the UN to make the
>>>>        IGF a permanent body instead of renewing its mandate for
>>>>        another limited term of 5 or 10 years."
>>>>
>>>>        1Net could also be a platform to facilitate this.
>>>>
>>>>        best
>>>>
>>>>        joana
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>        On Mon, Sep 1, 2014 at 4:48 AM, João Carlos R. Caribé
>>>>        <joao.caribe at me.com <mailto:joao.caribe at me.com>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>            Unfortunately I missed that meeting, so I full support
>>>>            this idea count me on to support as I can.
>>>>
>>>>            _
>>>>            João Carlos Caribé
>>>>            (021) 8761 1967
>>>>            (021) 4042 7727
>>>>            Skype joaocaribe
>>>>            Enviado via iPad
>>>>
>>>>            > Em 01/09/2014, às 11:33, Jeanette Hofmann
>>>>            <jeanette at wzb.eu <mailto:jeanette at wzb.eu>> escreveu:
>>>>            >
>>>>            > Hi all,
>>>>            >
>>>>            > at the BB meeting yesterday we discussed the idea of a
>>>>            BB statement that would ask the UN to make the IGF a
>>>>            permanent body instead of renewing its mandate for another
>>>>            limited term of 5 or 10 years.
>>>>            > This idea found broad support among the attendees of the
>>>>            BB meeting.
>>>>            >
>>>>            > Later on I discussed the content of such a statement
>>>>            with other stakeholders at the IGF and I got the
>>>>            impression that we might be able to draft a
>>>>            cross-stakeholder statement together with the technical
>>>>            community and the private sector. (Individual governments
>>>>            support such a statement too but I am not sure it would be
>>>>            possible within the few days available to coordiante
>>>>            enough signatures by governments to make this an all
>>>>            inclusive statement.)
>>>>            >
>>>>            > Right now, a multi-stakeholder statement coming out of
>>>>            this IGF is only an idea that needs further exploration
>>>>            within the respective groups. So, with this email to the
>>>>            bb list and the IGC list I am asking for your opinions to
>>>>            find out if such a cross-stakeholder statement would find
>>>>            support in civil society.
>>>>            >
>>>>            > jeanette
>>>>            >
>>>>            > P.S. Lately, I have been unable to post to the IGC list.
>>>>            If this email does not appear on the IGC list, would
>>>>            someone be so kind to forward it?
>>>>            >
>>>> ____________________________________________________________
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>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>        --         --
>>>>        Joana Varon Ferraz
>>>>        @joana_varon
>>>>        PGP 0x016B8E73
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>>
>>>>
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>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Anne Jellema
>>>> CEO
>>>> +27 061 36 9352 (ZA)
>>>> +1 202 684 6885 (US)
>>>> @afjellema
>>>> *
>>>> *
>>>> *World Wide Web Foundation | 1110 Vermont Ave NW, Suite 500,
>>>> Washington DC, 20005, USA | www.webfoundation.org
>>>> <http://www.webfoundation.org/> | Twitter: @webfoundation*
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ____________________________________________________________
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>>
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>

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