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11 Dec 2010
A number of internet groups are petitioning the United Nations over plans for the Internet Governance Forum (IGF).
The group, which includes the Internet Coalition for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann), the Internet Society (ISOC) and the Internet Chamber of Commerce all asked the IGF to abandon a model which limits its governing group to member states.
The groups said in a letter that the plans laid out by the Commission on Science and Technology for Development were "deeply concerning".
The letter argues that a 7 December decision on the composition of the group is contrary to earlier UN resolutions which suggested that the governing boards should be comprised of not only governments, but also public and private sector groups.
"We ask the secretary-general of the United Nations to set up a working group on internet governance, 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, involving relevant intergovernmental and international organisations and forums, to investigate and make proposals for action," the groups wrote.
The move is not the first time government control and the IGF have been brought to the forefront by internet organisations.
Earlier this year Icann president Rod Beckstrom warned the public against adopting internet governance groups that did not include input from both the private and public sectors.
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The article makes a confusion and should be retitled/reworded
The article actually misinterprets the letter that was signed by several organizations, including ISOC, ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, not the "Coalition") and the International Chamber of Commerce (not the Internet Chamber of Commerce as incorrectly stated in the post). These actors are strong supporters of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), a truly multi-stakeholder platform for policy dialogue on Internet issues. What they protest against is the decision of a different UN body, the Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD) to set up a group composed only of governments to discuss the future of the IGF and its possible improvements. The titles therefore should rather read : Online groups try to protect the Internet Governance Forum UN commission gets the cold shoulder for trying to impose government control over the IGF and the first paragraph modified to read : "The group, which includes the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann), the Internet Society (ISOC) and the International Chamber of Commerce want to protect the unique multi-stakeholder model of the IGF and ensure that the IGF evolution is not discussed only by governments as currently proposed by the UN Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD)." Finally, the quote in the fifth paragraph comes from the world summit on the Information society in 2003 (WSIS) when it created the working group on Internet governance (WGIG). This was included in the letter only as reference to a process that went well in terms of forming a multi-stakeholder group. the WGIG actually led to the creation of the IGF itself. I suggest you preface the quote by : The petitioners want the group that will be established by the CSTD to follow the positive model used during the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in 2003 when it created a Working Group on Internet governance (or WGIG) that led to the creation of the IGF itself. The text that established the WGIG read : (then the quote). I hope this helps.
Posted by: B de la chapelle 17 Dec 2010