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participants</title></head><body>
<div><font face="Geneva" size="+4" color="#000000">United Nations
Nations Unies<br>
</font><font face="Geneva" size="+1" color="#000000">INFORMATION AND
COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES TASK FORCE<br>
</font><font face="Geneva" color="#000000">SECRETARIAT<br>
<font size="+1">Room DC1-1464, One UN Plaza, New York, N.Y. 10017<br>
Telephone: (1-212) 963-5796 Fax: (1-917) 367-4340 or ((1-212)
963-2812<br>
e-mail address:</font></font><font face="Geneva" size="+1"
color="#800080"> icttaskforce@un.org</font><font face="Geneva"
size="+1" color="#000000"> Website address:</font><font face="Geneva"
size="+1" color="#0000FF"> www.unicttaskforce.org</font></div>
<div><font face="Geneva" size="+1" color="#0000FF"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Geneva" size="+1" color="#0000FF"><br>
</font><font face="Geneva" size="+1" color="#000000">6 April
2004</font></div>
<div><font face="Geneva" size="+1" color="#000000"><br>
Dear Global Forum Participant,</font></div>
<div><font face="Geneva" size="+1" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Geneva" size="+1" color="#000000">On behalf of the
United Nations Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Task
Force, we</font></div>
<div><font face="Geneva" size="+1" color="#000000">would like to
extend our deep appreciation for your valuable contribution to the
Global Forum on Internet Governance. More than 300 participants -
Task Force members, leaders of the Internet community, government
officials and representatives of the private sector, civil society and
academia - engaged in an open and inclusive dialogue, sharing their
perspectives, concerns and vision for the Information Society of the
future.</font></div>
<div><font face="Geneva" size="+1" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Geneva" size="+1" color="#000000">The feedback that
we received from many participants indicates broad satisfaction with
the Forum as a useful and productive event. The discussions were free
and open and there was respect for the diversity of views expressed by
various stakeholders. There was also genuine dialogue and a
willingness to find common ground and areas of agreement, in order to
move forward on this difficult issue. The Forum, thus, provided an
important opportunity to enhance our understanding of the many issues
that fall under the rubric of Internet governance, to clarify the
positions of the many stakeholder groups and to discover and broaden
common ground among them.</font></div>
<div><font face="Geneva" size="+1" color="#000000"><br>
We detected broad support for a number of baseline principles that
should guide the evolution of</font></div>
<div><font face="Geneva" size="+1" color="#000000">governance
arrangements. Some issues were also identified on which international
cooperation is required and there was general recognition of the need
for effective participation of developing countries and civil society
in governance arrangements. The Task Force was asked to undertake
several tasks, including capacity-building and education and
awareness-raising. It was also requested to develop a matrix of the
current status of governance of non-technical issues.</font></div>
<div><font face="Geneva" size="+1" color="#000000"><br>
We would like to assure you that all statements and interventions
during the Plenary sessions and the</font></div>
<div><font face="Geneva" size="+1" color="#000000">thematic break-out
discussions were carefully noted and the full range of views expressed
will be reflected in the summaries of the proceedings. The Forum will
constitute an important contribution to the Secretary-General's
consultations on Internet governance, leading up to the formation of a
Working Group on the subject.</font></div>
<div><font face="Geneva" size="+1" color="#000000"><br>
The UN ICT Task Force intends to continue to contribute to the
consultation process, including</font></div>
<div><font face="Geneva" size="+1" color="#000000">through its
regional networks, to ensure that the overall outcome preserves the
freedom, openness, security and stability of the Internet and, as the
Secretary-General urged in his opening statement, makes the medium
"accessible and responsive to the needs of all the world's
people".</font></div>
<div><font face="Geneva" size="+1" color="#000000"><br>
We encourage you to remain engaged in this process and to continue to
build on a good beginning to<br>
ensure that the Internet remains a vital, dynamic medium for promoting
human development.</font></div>
<div><font face="Geneva" size="+1" color="#000000"><br>
</font><font face="Geneva" size="+2" color="#000000">With our best
regards.</font></div>
<div><font face="Geneva" size="+2" color="#000000"><br>
</font><font face="Geneva" size="+1" color="#000000">José-Maria
Figueres-Olsen<br>
Chairman</font></div>
<div><font face="Geneva" size="+1" color="#000000"><br>
Sarbuland Khan<br>
Executive Coordinator</font></div>
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Frannie Wellings<br>
Policy Analyst, Electronic Privacy Information Center<br>
Coordinator, The Public Voice<br>
1718 Connecticut Ave. N.W., Suite 200 <br>
Washington, D.C. 20009 USA <br>
wellings@epic.org<br>
+1 202 483 1140 extension 107 (telephone)<br>
+1 202 483 1248 (fax)<br>
http://www.epic.org<br>
http://www.thepublicvoice.org<br>
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