[IRP] Summary of APrIGF side meeting on Internet governance and principles and plans for bigger gathering

[Jeremy Malcolm]

Thanks Dixie.  Also, it's time for me to provide an important update
following on from our APrIGF side meeting.  From now on I won't spam
this long list of Cc: recipients but will just send to the mailing list
that was established to carry on this specific conversation - please
join it if you wish to remain in the loop:

http://lists.igcaucus.org/info/bestbits

So, where we had left things last month (as summarised on the pad at
http://igcaucus.org:9001/p/APrIGF-meetup, and in my last email quoted at
the bottom of this one) was that whilst a joint declaration or
constitution for the Internet amongst such a broad group would be too
much to expect, there is still a lot of room to work together,
evangelise and broaden participation in several of the individual
efforts (including but not limited to the Declaration of Internet
Freedom). 

This means a loose global network, and an event to kick it off.  Whilst
this is not a completely new idea, what is different this time is that
Internet governance issues are much, much higher on the public radar due
to WCIT and the mobilisation of ordinary Internet users around SOPA/PIPA
and ACTA.  So the goal would be to bring together groups that are
already working on or in specific IG-related initiatives or networks
(such as the Declaration of Internet Freedom, the Enhanced Cooperation
Task Force, the Constitution for the Internet, the Internet Defence
League, the IRP Coalition, etc) to:

  * Report on those initiatives and take advantage of the opportunity to
    broaden participation in them and/or to merge them if appropriate.
  * Share information about upcoming threats, notably WCIT, and give
    everyone a final push to contact their national delegations about
    resisting the harmful proposals.
  * Provide a milestone prior to the WCIT and the global IGF at which to
    aim to produce tangible outputs (such as the second iteration of the
    Declaration of Internet Freedom?).
  * For the future, fill the gaps in understanding about related groups,
    initiatives and issues and their political contexts, so that there
    is less duplication and na?vity and more inclusiveness.
  * Discuss how the gathering could evolve into an inclusive civil
    society network on IG issues that would be sustainable in the longer
    term.


Whilst participants would have the the opportunity to join together on
other participants' initiatives, we wouldn't expect them all to join in
support of any single initiative.  To do that would narrow the
participation down to those who are already working together anyway. 
Having said that, a joint statement to WCIT of at least some
participants is also very probable, and likewise, a civil society
statement of some participants to the IGF is widely seen as imperative,
as the only global multi-stakeholder forum.

Holding a broader, follow-up meeting of our groups to launch this in
conjunction with (preferably before) another meeting would be the most
efficient way to proceed.  There are a few options now on the table, not
all of which were discussed in Tokyo - personally, I feel that if groups
outside of North America are to feel more included, Singapore may be a
better option than Toronto:

  * International Institute of Communications conference, 8-9 October
    2012, Singapore
  * Australian IGF 11-12 October 2012, Canberra
  * ICANN 14-19 October 2012, Toronto
  * IGF 6-9 November 2012, Baku (would need to be held at least /two/
    days before)


*Please send your thoughts on that to the list.*  (I've set the
follow-up header appropriately, but you must join the list before you
can post to it.)

Google has expressed some interest in funding such a meeting.  Speaking
for my employer Consumers International, we can't accept money from
Google.  So is there another one or more of you that /can/ accept money
from Google that would be interested in putting together a more formal
proposal in your name/s?  I intend that we will also approach another
funder for supplementary travel funds.  You may also have your own
budgets from which a contribution could be made to this gathering. 
*Please post your thoughts on that too.*

As the next step, work needs to begin right away to put together a
proposal that would identify the expected outcomes and impacts from the
meeting, in terms that are as concrete as possible.  So if you want to
see this happen, *please contact me on the list or privately* and we can
get something into shape within the next week or so, and submit it to
Google and other funders.

Thanks, and I look forward to hearing from those of you who are
interested in taking this forward.

On 03/08/12 00:15, Dixie Hawtin wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
>  
>
> I just want to share with you all this statement by a diverse range of
> African civil society organizations from the human rights, media and
> ICT policy sectors. The organisations met last week in Nairobi to
> discuss internet issues. The statement contains, amongst other things,
> references to the ITU:
>
>  
>
> "...
>
> *We call upon all global governance institutions, inter-governmental
> organizations and standard setting bodies that deal with
> Internet-related issues:*
>
>  
>
> ?          To facilitate the effective and continuous participation of
> civil society in all their decision-making processes;
>
>  
>
> ?          To ensure transparency of and access to information related
> to these decision-making processes;
>
>  
>
> ?         In particular, we call on the International
> Telecommunication Union (ITU) in the process of discussions reviewing
> of the International Telecommunications Regulations to ensure and
> facilitate the involvement of civil society and make relevant
> information publicly available in the process leading up the World
> Conference on International Telecommunications. "
>
>  
>
> Read the full statement here:
> http://global-partners.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Final-Statement-of-the-Pan-African-CS-Workshop-on-Who-Controls-the-Internet_02082012.pdf
>
> Very best,
>
> Dixie
>
>  
>
> *From:*Jeremy Malcolm [mailto:jeremy at ciroap.org]
> *Sent:* 19 July 2012 04:03
> *To:* Pablo Hinojosa; Paul Wilson; Cheryl Langdon-Orr; Rajnesh Singh;
> Phet Sayo; Shahzad Ahmad; Rafik Dammak; Keith Davidson; Hong Xue;
> Izumi AIZU; Sunil Abraham; William Drake; William Fitzgerald; Cynthia
> Wong; Kevin Bankston; Steve Anderson; Katitza Rodriguez Pereda; Jeremy
> Malcolm; Dixie Hawtin; Norbert Bollow; Wolfgang Kleinw?chter; Brett
> Solomon; parminder; Anriette Esterhuysen; Tamir Israel; Joe McNamee;
> Meryem Marzouki; Samuel Klein; Josh Levy; Slater Derek; Gene Kimmleman
> (external); Iarla Flynn
> *Subject:* Summary of APrIGF side meeting on Internet governance and
> principles and plans for bigger gathering
>
>  
>
> Hello all,
>
>  
>
> Our discussion went ahead this morning and was very useful.  Thanks to
> those who could make it, and sorry to those who couldn't due to
> technical trouble or timezone.  Here are the summary minutes of the
> meeting as they currently stand on the pad
> (http://igcaucus.org:9001/p/APrIGF-meetup):
>
>  
>
>     The meeting began by introducing the participants and the various
>     relevant initiatives that they (and others) are working on,
>     including statements and declarations such as the Declaration of
>     Internet Freedom, enhanced cooperation initiatives such as the
>     Enhanced Cooperation Task Force, and engagement around the ITU's
>     WCIT and the IGFs.  Several participants acknowledged the value of
>     a longer-term framework for mobilisation around Internet
>     governance and principles.  In this context we discussed whether
>     our groups and networks could come together behind a single
>     initiative, such as a document, process or organisation.  It was
>     concluded that for now this is too much to ask, and that diversity
>     can be seen as a feature not a bug.  However at the same time it
>     was seen as valuable to have a "big tent" gathering at which we
>     could highlight the "best bits" of our various initiatives, and to
>     provide the opportunity for broaden engagement in those.  It would
>     be most sensible to hold this alongside another gathering, ahead
>     of WCIT and the IGF.
>
>  
>
> If this is not an adequate summary, then please feel free to improve
> it yourself.  Also added to the pad are some action points that I have
> suggested (feel free to add to or amend these too):
>
>   * Decide on an event to co-host with: ICANN meeting in Toronto,
>     14-19 October?  Other ideas?
>
>   * Decide on a name: Is "Best Bits" already taken?  This was a phrase
>     that came up in the call, and is a cute pun.
>
>   * Keep a Skype chat open and add others to it on request(email
>     Jeremy to be added).
>
>   * Suggested to create a mailing list as a counterpart to the pad and
>     Skype: now see http://lists.igcaucus.org/info/bestbits.
>
>   * Follow up about sponsorship.
>
> As you'll see from the above, in response to one of the suggestions at
> the meeting, I've created a mailing list "bestbits" on which we can
> continue this discussion, rather than carrying on ccing everyone.  If
> you want to stay involved and informed, please add yourself to that by
> visiting http://lists.igcaucus.org/info/bestbits and hitting
> subscribe.  But another suggestion that was that we maintain and add
> to the Skype chat, and the pad, so those will remain open too.
>
>  
>
-- 

*Dr Jeremy Malcolm
Senior Policy Officer
Consumers International | the global campaigning voice for consumers*
Office for Asia-Pacific and the Middle East
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