[IRPCoalition] EC "Internet Policy and Governance" & UK IGF
Marianne Franklin
m.i.franklin at gold.ac.uk
Mon Feb 24 19:05:18 EET 2014
Dear Andrea, and all
Here are some brief, and rather belated thoughts and observations from
the 2014 UK IGF (http://ukigf.org.uk/events/) and the workshop session
in IG Principles where the EC "Internet Policy and Governance - Europe's
role in shaping the future of Internet governance" (COM(2014) 72/4) was
on the table for responses:
First, on the plenary session where Ed Vaizey, the Minister for Culture,
Communications and the Creative Industries, gave a keynote. The Q&A
pivoted on the implications of Snowden's revelations on UK government's
approach to Internet Governance, especially the focus on forging a set
of universal principles and along with that the prospects for
multistakeholder participatory models. His response to one of the final
questions, on how "to keep politics out of it" was that this was
impossible. He went on to note that the West does not have all the
answers, and moreover (and here I am quoting from my notes) that "it is
a myth that America runs, or wants to run the internet. ... the US is a
benign force in Internet Governance".
The full transcript should be on the UK IGF website, as it was a short
speech.
Second, the session on IG Principles; line up was as follows: ·Matthew
McDermott, Access Partnership (Moderator);·Paul Blaker, DCMS;·Marianne
Franklin, IRPC/ Goldsmiths (University of London);·Nigel Hickson,
ICANN;·Jean-Jacques Sahel, Microsoft; Matthew Shears, Center for
Democracy and Technology
We had a full discussion of the various positions on what sort of IG
Principles should be agreed upon, by whom, and moreover from what pool
of already existing principles. IRPC members are well aware of how the
coalition sees this discussion in terms of the IRP Charter as an
articulation of human rights and principles of the Internet in the
round. So I will just note some comments from Paul Blaker representing
Ed Vaizey's department, Jean-Jacques Sahel from Skype-Microsoft, and
Nigel Hickson from ICANN. Reason being that this meeting was an
opportunity to hear what UK government officials and technical community
members had to say on these points (there were academics and some civil
society folk there but it was mainly government and business, if I am
not mistaken).
The main distinction was about whether pursuing a single set of
principles, with the objective of the upcoming Net Mundial in mind, or
whether it is preferable to work with the "open, competitive market in
principles" (Blakey) that already exists. Blakey noted some concern from
the UK governmental view that pursuing one single set of principles
"could be dangerous". Mr Sahel concurred in that from an industry view,
the question was whether there is a need for one single set of
principles; would not several sets be more practicable. The panel then
considered definitional issues around internet governance and where all
stakeholders have or can play a formative rather than a nominal role;
here the notion or rather lack of trust was a theme that we all
concurred on. Mathew Shears (CDT) stressed how the principles discussion
converges on shared points around IG as a process, whilst we all
differed on the more substantive matters e.g. which principles and/as
human rights count for the exercise. The panel ended with a round of
participants considering what makes a good principle (definitional
matters notwithstanding): The outcome of this brainstorm was the
following: a "good IG Principle" whatever it is needs to be
- future proof
- respecting all human rights
- aware of provenance and diversity (i.e. the need for cultural
sensitivity and openness)
- agreed by all across geographies and by governments
- agree to key concepts as baselines.
So, here we see that this panel moved up a level of abstraction from the
level aspired to by the Net Mundial meeting. Which led to a question
from the moderator about whether a truly global set of principles is
possible. Nigel Hickson (ICANN) noted that his preference would be to
start top down, and then "go down to details"; I argued that the Charter
has already gone a long way, and includes a number of rights and
principles that are being overlooked in the current post-Snowden climate
(e.g. development, women's rights, children, disability, education,
cultural diversity). Our moderator, Matthew McDermott, summed it all up
by noting that the sum total of these deliberations was the "IG
principles should enable better IG Principles". I then took the
opportunity to present copies (the last as it happens of the first print
run) of the Charter Booklet to Messrs Blaney and Sahel who have yet to
get their own copy.
Third, turning to the EC Communication. We all welcomed it in principle.
But there is one section that would be good to have some elucidation on.
I paste it in below from Page 8 where mention is made of "Mutual
interactions between technical and public policy considerations". It
would be interesting to hear more about what this would entail in
practice particularly with debates around the extent of governmental
input into IG an area for quite divergent positions within and across
those groups heading to Brazil: (FYI press release, at
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-142_en.htm and full text at
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/dae/document.cfm?doc_id=4453)
Andrea, if you want to comment please feel free. Also if I have
inadvertently misquoted or misrepresented participants' views please
feel free to correct. A report of the panel will be online at some point
in the future
thanks all
MF
On 13/02/2014 12:11, Andrea Glorioso wrote:
> Dear Marianne,
>
> thanks a lot for this information. We were not aware. I hope there
> will be a report of the discussion. :)
>
> Best,
>
> Andrea
>
>
> On Thu, Feb 13, 2014 at 10:44 AM, Marianne Franklin
> <m.i.franklin at gold.ac.uk <mailto:m.i.franklin at gold.ac.uk>> wrote:
>
> Dear Andrea
>
> Thanks for posting this. The EU statement will be part of the
> discussions today at the UK IGF
> http://ukigf.org.uk/uk-internet-governance-forum-13-february-2014/
>
> I will be representing the IRP Coalition on the afternoon panel on
> Internet Governance Principles where this announcement will be
> tabled for discussion.
>
> Am pasting in below the full agenda for the workshops. The keynote
> address before the lunch break is from Ed Vaizy, Minister for
> Culture, Communication, and the Creative Industries.
>
> best
> MF
> *
> *
>
> *Event: *UK-IGF Spring 2014
> http://ukigf.org.uk/uk-internet-governance-forum-13-february-2014/
>
> *Date: *Thursday 13^th February 2014
>
> *Location: *Central Hall, Westminster, London, SW1H 9NH
>
> *Timings:* Registration at 9am. The forum will run 9.30-5pm.
> Lunch will be provided.
>
> *Event purpose:* Nominet is pleased to be sponsoring the 2014
> spring messaging session of the UK-IGF. This event is intended to
> kick off preparations for the Global IGF which will be held on
> 2^nd -5th September in Istanbul. The topics on today's agenda
> have been identified by the UK-IGF committee. The afternoon
> workshops on Child online protection, Internet Governance
> Principles and law enforcement & Surveillance have all been
> organised by members of the community. The discussions at this
> event will feed into other global discussions, as well as the IGF
> in September.
>
> *Workshops:* There are three parallel workshop
> sessions scheduled at the UK-IGF. This will be held 2-3.30pm,
> with the session moderators reporting back to the main room at
> 3.45pm. The full agenda for the day is attached along with the
> speaker profiles.
>
> **
>
> *The workshop details are*:
>
> *a)**Is the UK setting the standards for child online protection
> or going over the top? - **Robert Perks Room (Main room)**
>
> *
>
> Panel:
>
> ·Simon Milner, Facebook (Moderator)
>
> ·Dan Butler, Virgin Media
>
> ·Will Gardner, Childnet International
>
> ·Jim Killock, Open Rights Group
>
> ·Jeremy Olivier, OfCOM
>
> *b)**Will Internet governance principles enable a better Internet?
> -- *Maurice Barnett Room**
>
> Panel
>
> ·Matthew McDermott, Access Partnership (Moderator)
>
> ·Paul Blaker, DCMS
>
> ·Marianne Franklin, Goldsmiths (University of London)
>
> ·Nigel Hickson, ICANN
>
> ·Jean-Jacques Sahel, Microsoft
>
> ·Matthew Shears, Center for Democracy and Technology
>
> *c) **Surveillance and Law Enforcement - **Dinsdale Young Room***
>
> Panel:
>
> ·Ian Fish, BCS (Moderator)
>
> ·John Doody, BCS
>
> ·David Williams, BCS
>
> I look forward to seeing you all tomorrow. Please do let me know
> if you have any questions or need any further information. My
> mobile number is below, in case of any issues on the day.
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Laura Hutchison
> Policy Executive
>
> T: +44 (0) 1865 332242 <tel:%2B44%20%280%29%201865%20332242>
> M: +44 (0)7931 384082 <tel:%2B44%20%280%297931%20384082>
> E: laurah at nominet.org.uk <mailto:laurah at nominet.org.uk>
> W: www.nominet.org.uk <http://www.nominet.org.uk/>
>
> Nominet UK is a company limited by guarantee and registered in
> England under No. 3203859. Our registered office is Minerva House,
> Edmund Halley Road, Oxford Science Park, Oxford, OX4 4DQ, England.
>
>
>
>
> On 12/02/2014 15:08, Andrea Glorioso wrote:
>> [ Apologies for cross-posting. Please share as you deem appropriate ]
>>
>> Dear all,
>>
>> I would like to let you know that today (12 February 2013) the
>> European Commission has adopted its formal policy position on
>> Internet governance, via a Communication to the European
>> Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social
>> Committee and the Committee of the Regions: "Internet Policy and
>> Governance - Europe's role in shaping the future of Internet
>> governance" (COM(2014) 72/4).
>>
>> The press release of the adoption is available at
>> http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-142_en.htm .
>>
>> The text of the Communication is available at
>> http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/dae/document.cfm?doc_id=4453
>> .
>>
>> The statement by Neelie Kroes, Vice-President of the European
>> Commission and Commissioner for the Digital Agenda, is available
>> at http://ec.europa.eu/avservices/video/player.cfm?ref=I086325 .
>>
>> I hope you find this information useful and the content of the
>> Communication interesting.
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> Andrea
>>
>> --
>> I speak only for myself. Sometimes I do not even agree with
>> myself. Keep it in mind.
>> Twitter: @andreaglorioso
>> Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andrea.glorioso
>> LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=1749288&trk=tab_pro
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> IRP mailing list
>> IRP at lists.internetrightsandprinciples.org <mailto:IRP at lists.internetrightsandprinciples.org>
>> http://lists.internetrightsandprinciples.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/irp
>
> --
> Dr Marianne Franklin
> Professor of Global Media and Politics
> Convener: Global Media & Transnational Communications Program
> Goldsmiths (University of London)
> Department of Media & Communications
> New Cross, London SE14 6NW
> Tel:+44 20 7919 7072 <tel:%2B44%2020%207919%207072>
> <m.i.franklin at gold.ac.uk> <mailto:m.i.franklin at gold.ac.uk>
> @GloComm
> https://twitter.com/GloComm
> http://www.gold.ac.uk/media-communications/staff/franklin/
> https://www.gold.ac.uk/pg/ma-global-media-transnational-communications/
> Co-Chair Internet Rights & Principles Coalition (UN IGF)
> www.internetrightsandprinciples.org <http://www.internetrightsandprinciples.org>
> @netrights
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> IRP mailing list
> IRP at lists.internetrightsandprinciples.org
> <mailto:IRP at lists.internetrightsandprinciples.org>
> http://lists.internetrightsandprinciples.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/irp
>
>
>
>
> --
>
> --
> I speak only for myself. Sometimes I do not even agree with myself.
> Keep it in mind.
> Twitter: @andreaglorioso
> Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andrea.glorioso
> LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=1749288&trk=tab_pro
--
Dr Marianne Franklin
Professor of Global Media and Politics
Convener: Global Media & Transnational Communications Program
Goldsmiths (University of London)
Department of Media & Communications
New Cross, London SE14 6NW
Tel: +44 20 7919 7072
<m.i.franklin at gold.ac.uk>
@GloComm
https://twitter.com/GloComm
http://www.gold.ac.uk/media-communications/staff/franklin/
https://www.gold.ac.uk/pg/ma-global-media-transnational-communications/
Co-Chair Internet Rights & Principles Coalition (UN IGF)
www.internetrightsandprinciples.org
@netrights
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.internetrightsandprinciples.org/cgi-bin/mailman/private/irp/attachments/20140224/69c36b58/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: cihafhag.png
Type: image/png
Size: 47157 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.internetrightsandprinciples.org/cgi-bin/mailman/private/irp/attachments/20140224/69c36b58/attachment.png>
More information about the IRP
mailing list