WSIS C2C / CàC SMSI reports

Wsis 2 -- "Unilateral globalization" model of 'Net governance is new - says Hans Klein, Internet & Public Policy Project

Thu, 24 Nov 2005 05:25:34 -0500

November 23, 2005
An Assessment of the WSIS-2/Tunis ‘05 Outcomes
Hans Klein, INternet and Public Policy Project
http://www.ip3.gatech.edu/
The outcomes of the Tunis World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) are significant -- and rather surprising. ICANN emerges from the summit both unchanged and significantly different. After WSIS it has a stronger claim to legitimacy.

ICANN emerged unchanged, in that its institutional structures – most notably its mechanisms for political oversight – were not amended. ICANN continues to operate under the formal authority of a single government, the US. Such a unilateral globalization model is a novel arrangement, quite unlike what is used in other global sectors (e.g. telephony or communication satellites.) The US continues to exercise a kind of unipolar authority it does not have in physical space.

USA delegation to Wsis Press Note ( see for Human Rights comments): Nov. 18

Wed, 23 Nov 2005 15:21:58 -0500

U.S. DELEGATION TO WSIS - PRESS NOTE
Tunis, Tunisia November 18, 2005
Press Note: Nov. 18, 2005 As the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society draws to a close, the U.S. delegation wishes to express its thanks to the Tunisian organizers and the Tunisian people for having succeeded in the considerable logistical challenges of hosting the event. The World Summit on the Information Society provided the world with an opportunity to discuss two vitally important issues – how to bring the benefits of information technology to the developing world and how to ensure a free flow of information that is critical to the success of the Internet.

Wsis Civil Society Statement Draft V3.1 - Comment today (Dec. 1,2005)

Thu, 01 Dec 2005 10:13:43 -0500

WSIS Civil Society Statement DRAFT V3.1
last change: TIME \30/11/2005 18:52 CET
I. Introduction – Our perspective after the WSIS process
The WSIS was an opportunity for a wide range of actors to work together to develop principles and prioritise actions that would lead to democratic, inclusive, participatory and development-oriented information societies; societies in which the ability to access, share and communicate information and knowledge is treated as a public good and takes place in a ways that strengthens the rich cultural diversity of our world.

Canada spoke Nov 17 at Wsis 2

Fri, 18 Nov 2005 01:30:50 -0500

The archive netcast from Wsis 2 will be posted here
http://www.itu.int/wsis/tunis/webcast/archives/index.html
Live coverage of Wsis 2 is here:
http://www.itu.int/wsis/tunis/webcast/english/index.html#

Preliminary themes
Basic motto : Let's work together!
(Fr) development, creativity and innovation, Marshall McLuhan, freedom of reception and expression, all restrictions on human rights by countries are against UN charter, and with respect to Internet prevent vitality, and frustrate creativity and diversity.

UN Human rights rapporteurs urgently call for Tunisia to respect fundamental rights and freedoms

Fri, 18 Nov 2005 01:34:48 -0500

New York, Nov 16 2005 10:00AM
On the same day that the United Nations world information summit opened in Tunisia, three UN human rights experts today urgently called on the North African county's Government to take immediate steps to respect the fundamental freedom of expression in the face of reports of serious abuses.

They urged that the holding of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Tunis serve as "an opportunity to reinforce freedom of opinion and expression in Tunisia so that human rights defenders, judges, lawyers and journalists can successfully carry out their activities in a secure, free and constructive climate."

Wsis 2 Round table topics: Action, Implementation and follow up?

Wed, 16 Nov 2005 06:16:58 -0500

Theme of round tables
The round tables are organized around the overarching theme: "From
Commitment to Action: Implementation after Tunis".
The cluster of issues associated with the overarching theme is meant to
provide guidance for participants, thereby ensuring focus and coherence in
each session.
The following is an indicative list of topics, which the moderators will use to
help guide discussions:

Human Rights Watch: Dispatch from Tunis: A Tale of Two Press Conferences

Wed, 16 Nov 2005 10:36:58 -0500

Dispatch from Tunis: A Tale of Two Press Conferences
16 Nov 2005 00:55:21 GMT
Source: Human Rights Watch
< http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/HRW/7123fd6893fc520c944826dfb5110f62.htm >
(WSIS). The international and local reaction continued today, as diplomats fumed, some civil society organizations cancelled their events at the U.N. conference, and Human Rights Watch held two press conferences, one for journalists with WSIS badges, the other for Tunisian and international journalists and advocates who did not attend WSIS. Overnight the international press publicized the crude efforts of the Tunisian government to thwart Tunisian and international civil society organizations' plans to hold an alternate meeting to discuss Internet issues in Tunisia alongside the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). Early in the day, international NGOs that had scheduled official WSIS events but also supported the alternative Citizens Summit began to announce the cancellation of their official events at WSIS. Rather than present their prepared panels on freedom of expression or gender equity, some accredited NGOs chose instead to focus attention on the thuggish treatment by Tunisian police to advocates, journalists and diplomats who tried to meet to plan the Citizens Summit at various locations in Tunis. At a press conference in the WSIS center to announce this protest, Mouldi Mbarek, the editor of La Presse, a pro-government French language daily in Tunisia, broke into a prolonged harangue on why these groups didn't focus their energy on immigration discrimination in France, taking up the last minutes until the next event.

Internet Governance: CS Call for oversight Nov. 14

Wed, 16 Nov 2005 02:39:53 -0500

Internet Oversight: Keep the Internet Free, Innovative and Affordable
Statement by Wolfgang Kleinwächter, University of Aarhus,
on behalf of the Civil Society Internet Governance Caucus
at the 4th meeting of the Sub-Committte A of the resumed PrepCom3,
Tunis, November, 14, 2005
Thank you Mr. Chairman for giving me the floor. My name is Wolfgang Kleinwächter. I am a professor for international communication policy at the University of Aarhus. I am also a co-founder of the Civil Society Internet Governance Caucus and I was a member of UN Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG). Let me say some words on the Internet oversight function.

More bad press for Tunis: African journalists object to exclusion from Wsis 2

Wed, 16 Nov 2005 10:38:26 -0500

Complaints of difficulties in access to Wsis 2 have been made by journalists from Africa.
Proof of 'journalistic activity' is said to have been enough to receive media accreditation at the Geneva phase.
Different documentation now required by United Nations media accreditation staff is said to be one hurdle,
as well as lack of direct flights.
This report comes amid mounting concern over press freedoms, and violations of human rights. The CS Media Caucus issued a statement yesterday ( see below), but so far the African journalist concerns have not been addressed.

New Internet Governance Forum (and US Press conference in Tunis) : James Love 15 Nov. in Tunis

Tue, 15 Nov 2005 20:23:18 -0500

James Love: Notes from Tunis - the new Internet Goverance Forum
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-love/notes-from-tunis-the-n_b_10698.html

I’m in Tunis at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), where the biggest debate is over the future of "Internet Governance." The final text for this was agreed upon about 30 minutes ago.

The two quick sounds bites are that
(1) the US and the US based Internet Corporation for Domain Names and Numbers (ICANN) retain, for now, control over the most important aspects of the global Internet Domain Name System (DNS), and
(2) the conversation over this issue and a surprisingly broader governance agenda is continuing, under the United Nations.The Tunis resolution will create a new "multi-stakeholder" Internet Governance Forum (IGF). This new entity will include governments, various UN agencies, businesses and civil society. It’s first meeting will be held in Athens sometime next year. Kofi Anan has been asked to make it happen, under a fairly complex but open-ended terms of reference.

Consensus on Internet Governance Forum and - almost - ICANN oversight - Heinrich Boell Foundation

Tue, 15 Nov 2005 19:50:16 -0500

Negotiations closer to agreement
Consensus on Internet Governance Forum and - almost - ICANN oversight
This is a document of the Heinrich-Böll-Foundation
15 November 2005. The PrepCom negotiations today have led to important steps forward an agreement. While governments are still struggling about the question of who gets political oversight over the technical core of the Internet, there is consensus now on the establishment of an “Internet Governance Forum”.
< http://www.worldsummit2005.de/en/web/825.htm >

Internet Governance Forum
The Internet Governance negotiations got into rough seas yesterday, when the United States government tried to open another battleground, obviously in an attempt to distract from the core issues. As had already become clear during PrepCom3 [ the first round of PrepCom 3] in September, most governments agreed on the establishment of an “Internet Governance Forum”. This forum had been suggested by the UN Working Group on Internet Governance in June, and the idea had originated in civil society over a year ago. The main function would be to ensure an open and inclusive discussion on existing and emerging Internet governance issues that ensures participation of all stakeholders. The United States now suggested having it hosted by the Internet Society (ISOC), which formally is an NGO including large parts of the technical community, but in the last few years has been mostly taken over by the private sector. This was unacceptable to many governments, of course, as to civil society. It still took almost a day to convince the US that this forum, especially if decided by a UN world summit, has to be somehow located in the United Nations context. The agreement taken today is asking the UN secretary general to come up with a proposal for the structure and working procedures of the Forum next year. The subcommittee also agreed that the Forum has to be set up “"in an open and inclusive process", and they changed the world "multilateral" into "multistakeholder", which both ensures that civil society and all interested parties can participate.

Internet Governance: Proposal for the IG Forum

Tue, 15 Nov 2005 13:48:12 -0500

Subcomite subgroup A chaired by Singapore / subgrupo Forum (76 a 79)
On the Forum:
[ Please do Not worry about not understanding this if you are a newcomer to Wsis. This is language under discussion on Internet Governance. The question of an Internet Governance Forum is a big deal, and MAY make a difference to the future of the Internet. -- If you are interested, there is lots of background on this web site, on the official wsis web sites, and google is a good start. Just find items of interest to you, and you will get the hang of it, or post a query in the Witness 2 Wsis forums. This is a place to try and make sense of events that are taking place now at Wsis 2. No one will find your comment silly; no one has all the answers. We are posting the inside track hot off the 'net because some of us have been following these developments, and want to know what is happening, as it happens, so we can share our understanding and cooperatively make some sense of Wsis events. ]

Internet Governance: PrepCom 3: 15 Nov. 9 - 12 H Subcommittee A: Dispatches

Tue, 15 Nov 2005 12:41:56 -0500

SubCommittee A, 15 November 9:00-12:00
Minutes by Jette Madsen, CONGO
Third reading of document DT15-E
(I missed the interventions by stakeholders and Internet Society (ISOC))

Ghana (African Group): small delegations have not been able to particiate
effectively in drafting groups yesterday. Will preserve right to go back to the
previous document.

Chair: Today last 6 hours. Can see three approaches
1) we do not get anywhere and stop negotiations at noon
2) divide into small groups to reach compromises
3) success is not reflection of your own views, but to find common ground
(chair’s favoured approach)

Journalists, others at World Summit on the Information Society attacked by authorities - Media Caucus @ Wsis 2

Mon, 14 Nov 2005 21:14:33 -0500

http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/70466/
Journalists, others at World Summit on the Information Society attacked by authorities
Date: 14 November 2005
(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) - The following press release has been distributed by ARTICLE 19 on behalf of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Civil Society's Media Caucus:
Civil Society's Media Caucus at WSIS expresses its indignation over a series of incidents in which Tunisian authorities have hampered the freedom of expression of journalists and their freedom of association as well as that of others attending the Tunis phase of the World Summit on the Information Society.

Internet Governance Wsis 2: Canadian proposal Nov 14

Mon, 14 Nov 2005 14:24:08 -0500

[Civil Society eye witnesses report: Mechanism/framework for Internet Governance:]
Canada's proposal presented morning of Nov 14 in subcommittee A:
Canada, Australia and (likely) USA support this Forum idea as a way to resolve the gridlock on Internet Governance at wsis 2:

" The Forum should be focussed on capacity building and development. This
Forum:
1. should be constituted as a neutral, non-duplicative and non-binding