[Privsec] IG Statement: Internet governance caucus

[karen banks]

this is the internet governance caucus statement which will be read first, 
and is intended to at least refer to the issues of gender, HR, privacy and 
media broadly.. with the latter three also reading separate statements..

karen

Statement on behalf of the Civil Society Internet Governance Caucus, 23 
February 2005, Geneva

1.	The Civil Society Internet Governance Caucus commends the Secretary 
General of the United Nations on the establishment of the Working Group on 
Internet Governance.

We would like to express our support for the Working Group's multi 
stakeholder approach. We want to stress that there is a fundamental 
difference between multilateral and multi stakeholder processes, and that 
the Summit documents were explicit in calling for the balanced 
participation of all stakeholders.  Gender balanced representation in all 
aspects of Internet Governance is vital for the process and its outcomes to 
have legitimacy.

We believe the WG is becoming a working model for multi-stakeholder 
collaboration. Now all sectors are providing expertise and contributions 
and we are satisfied that both our concerns and ideas are being taken into 
account.

We believe that legitimate and successful Internet Governance can only be 
achieved if all concerned or affected groups have an opportunity to 
influence the outcome of governance processes.

The WSIS declaration of principles states that Internet governance decision 
making should be pursued on a multi-stakeholder basis reflecting the full 
participation of civil society. The governments that agreed to this new 
international norm should now take positive steps to ensure its full 
implementation.

As a first step, conformity with this norm should be carefully assessed 
with respect to existing arrangements at intergovernmental level, like the 
ITU, WIPO, UNESCO, OECD, private sector arrangements like ICANN, the IETF 
and the NRO, and to any new emerging mechanisms. (to be added: WTO)

2. We propose that the WGIG grounds its work within the human rights and 
social development framework. The rights to freedom of expression and 
privacy are of special importance in this context. We also recommend that 
WGIG places greater emphasis on the general principles of openness and 
transparency.

The caucus believes that two outcomes of the WGIG that will add significant 
value are:
• an understanding of how governance mechanisms can further these basic 
rights and principles as well as cultural and linguistic diversity,
• an elaboration of the concept of democratic internet governance fostering 
the goals of creativity, innovation and cultural as well as linguistic 
diversity

3. We would like to point out that the extent of participation from those 
who do not have yet access to the Internet is still far from sufficient. 
This is especially true for civil society actors. We would like to suggest 
that the WGIG make appropriate recommendation to ensure the effective 
participation of ALL people. For governance mechanisms to be all-inclusive 
and transparent, women and men who are not yet connected by any 
communication technologies should be represented and heard.


4. It is important for all stakeholders to recognize the diversity of 
processes and mechanisms involved in Internet governance, including:
• decisions by individual users
• private agreements
• national policies, and,
• international and transnational bodies.

This diversity of perspectives, opinions and values should be reflected in 
the final report and any further outcomes of the WGIG.  While we support 
WGIGs efforts to establish consensus on the various issues, the report 
should go beyond consensual matters and find ways to reflect diversity.

5. Although prepcom 2 is early for substantive progress on content issues 
and definition, we wish to emphasize issues the WGIG must consider in its 
next phase of work:

•	Unilateral control of the root zone file and its effects for the name space
•	The crucial role of technical standards in the preservation of an 
interoperable global Internet
•	The impact of Internet Governance on freedom of expression and privacy
•	The impact of Internet Governance on consumer protection
•	International Intellectual property and trade rules where they intersect 
with Internet Governance
•	Access to knowledge as global commons


In addition we wish the WGIG  luck in coming to closure on a coherent and 
meaningful definition on Internet governance.

We believe that the relevance of the WGIG report lies in advancing a global 
understanding of these issues. Such global understanding constitutes the 
basis of an informed, inclusive and democratic approach to ICT governance. 
We thus look forward to progress being made on these issues and the 
opportunity to contribute further to WGIG’s work.


Regarding the follow up of WGIG's final report, negotiations must be 
conducted “in an open and inclusive process that ensures a mechanism for 
the full and active participation of governments, the private sector and 
civil society from both developing and developed countries” as stated in 
the Geneva declaration of principles. The final negotiated document MUST 
reflect and honor the multi-stakeholder process that produced it.

best regards, jeanette

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