[kictanet] Fwd: CSTD Working Group on IGF Improvements Now to Include Stakeholders

waudo siganga emailsignet at mailcan.com
Wed Dec 22 09:46:26 EAT 2010 

----- Original message -----
From: "Anders Halvorsen" <ahalvorsen at witsa.org>
To: "Jim Poisant" <jpoisant at witsa.org>
Date: Tue, 21 Dec 2010 15:36:36 -0500
Subject: CSTD Working Group on IGF Improvements Now to Include
Stakeholders

December 21, 2010


TO:         Members of the World Information Technology and
Services Alliance

FR:          Anders Halvorsen, Public Policy Director

RE:          CSTD Working Group on IGF Improvements Now to
Include Stakeholders

_________________________________________________________________
___


Dear Colleagues,


We are pleased to report that the United Nations Commission on
Science and Technology for Development (CSTD) late last Friday
changed course and will allow participation by stakeholders,
including from business, civil society, the technical and
academic community, and intergovernmental organizations. Even
though the stakeholder groups will be limited to five rather than
the originally anticipated twelve representatives each, this can
be seen as a clear victory for the multistakeholder approach. We
would like to thank all members who filled out the online
petition and/or forwarded the WITSA letter circulated on December
13^th (ref. below) to their government representatives for follow
up. Many government delegates in Geneva were fully supportive of
opening the working group to all stakeholders, and in
particular EU, Chile, UK, Mexico, Portugal, Canada, US, France,
Germany, Belgium and Greece. We also had some great support from
industry at the December 17^th open consultation through the
participation of Ms. Marilyn Cade (mCADE, LLC) and Jonathan Zuck
of the Association for Competitive Technologies)


The working group will meet physically at least twice in Geneva,
Switzerland; in February and May 2011, following which they will
then produce a consensus report to the CSTD.


To date, the Internet has grown in a largely unregulated
environment, and has shown an ability to thrive in a wide variety
of market environments under competitive conditions. This freedom
from centralized and heavy regulations has produced impressive
results over a relatively short period of time, delivering
innovation, productivity and opportunity to a growing numbers of
users in all parts of the world. Notably, the Internet has grown
fastest in markets where there is competition for the provision
of underlying telecommunications facilities, as well as for
access and related services. Today, policy makers at both
national and global levels are considering a wide number of
regulatory approaches to dealing with the issues of Internet
governance, including cyber security, access, management of spam
and malware, protection of intellectual property and other
issues.


We therefore find ourselves at a critical point in time. With the
recent renewal of the mandate for the IGF (but with an uncertain
outlook for how the new IGF will function), coupled with the
United Nations’ new focus on the enhanced cooperation clauses
(dating back to the 2005 World Summit on the Information Society
(WSIS) Tunis Agenda) and the movement towards independence of the
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
through last year’s Affirmation of Commitments (AOC), industry
must remain vigilant in defending the multistakeholder approach
to Internet governance. In that regard, WITSA will continue to
appeal to governments and international institutions to make
their Internet policy related and decision-making activities more
open and inclusive of all stakeholders. Governments, regional and
international organizations that have been more open, and that
have shown a commitment to cooperation have proven to be more
effective in their work. As industry, we not only welcome but
demand opportunities to participate in the policy development
process at all levels.


For your information, please find below the language that was
agreed late last Friday:


-----------------------------------------------------------------
---

Language agreed (CSTD Chapeau Statement):


The Chair of the CSTD establishes a Working Group of 15 member
states, plus the five member states which hosted the IGF meetings
plus the two member states which hosted WSIS. This Working group
will seek, compile, and review inputs from all member states and
all other stakeholders on improvement of the Internet Governance
Forum, in an open and inclusive manner throughout the process.


The Chair invites the following stakeholders to interactively
participate in the Working Group, bearing in mind the established
rules of procedure of the ECOSOC, who will remain fully engaged
throughout the process. [this means that the Stakeholders will
remain fully engaged].


·      5 business  community

·      5 civil society

·      5 technical and academic community

·      5 Intergovernmental organizations


Pursuant to the ECOSOC decisions 2010/226; 2010/227, and
2010/228, maximum possible assistance, the diversity of ideas and
the equal representation of stakeholders from developing and
developed countries in the Working Group should be ensured, in
consultation with the stakeholders.


The Report of this Working Group will be adopted by consensus.


-----------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------


December 13, 2010


TO:         Members of the World Information Technology and
Services Alliance (WITSA)

FR:          Anders Halvorsen, Public Policy Director

RE:          Concern over Composition of CSTD Working Group on
IGF Improvements – Call to Action

_________________________________________________________________
_________________


Dear Colleagues.


WITSA Public Policy Chairman John Higgins today sent a letter to
the Vice Chair of the United Nations Commission on Science and
Technology for Development (CSTD) today, expressing
disappointment over its recent decision to exclude industry and
other stakeholders from participating in the new Working Group on
Improvements to the Internet Governance Forum
(ref. [1]http://www.unctad.org/Templates/Page.asp?intItemID=5755&
lang=1).  The letter can be viewed
at [2]http://www.witsa.org/IGF/CSTD_ltr.pdf.  WITSA believes the
decision goes against the mandate for establishing the working
group, as provided by the U.N. Economic and Social Council
(ECOSOC) last May. The mandate calls for the establishment of a
“a working group to seek, compile and review inputs from all
Member States and all other stakeholders on improvements to the
Internet Governance Forum (IGF), in line with the mandate set out
in the Tunis Agenda". It should also be noted that WITSA has been
seeking member representation on the said working group.


ACTION REQUESTED

The CSTD will launch an open consultation of the Working Group in
Geneva on December 17. Members are encouraged to sign the
petition at [3]http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/igf/ which
already has a number of signatures and to send this letter to the
appropriate national government contacts with a request that they
send this letter to their Geneva mission urgently.


Best regards,

Anders

References

1. http://www.unctad.org/Templates/Page.asp?intItemID=5755&lang=1
2. http://www.witsa.org/IGF/CSTD_ltr.pdf
3. http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/igf/
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