January 31, 2006

The Official Website of the 1st Meeting of the Internet Governance Forum Here, you will find useful information about the Forum, the state of preparations, as well as important documentation related to Internet Governance issues.
World Telecommunication Development Conference 2006 to agree on telecommunication development priorities to bridge the digital divide The first world development conference following the landmark World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) is due to open in six weeks in Doha, Qatar. The purpose of the conference is to focus on development priorities in telecommunications and agree on the programmes, projects and initiatives to implement them. It will take into account the WSIS Geneva Plan of Action and Tunis Agenda, which aim at bridging the digital divide. A key objective is to promote international cooperation, regional initiatives and partnerships that can sustain and strengthen telecommunication infrastructure and institutions in developing countries. The Doha Action Plan will set out ways to implement these goals over the next four years.
Story in Russian on Internet Governance Forum
EU lawmakers propose internet charter European lawmakers have proposed establishing a charter setting out international rules on running the Internet. MEPs say the plans are designed to push for international governance of the web following a UN summit on the issue in Tunisia in November.

January 20, 2006

FN startar forum om toppdomaner FN har startat ett nytt forum - Internet Governance Forum (IGF). Forumets uppgift bestar i att diskutera styret av Internets toppdomaner.
Internet Governance Forum .... el inicio... Como parte de los acuerdos de Tunez (II Fase de la WSIS), se planteo la creaciСn de un Foro sobre Internet Governance. Dicho Foro esta en ciernes, y los primeros pasos ya se estan dando. La convocatoria para una primera reuniСn esta lanzada.
Le Forum de la Gouvernance de l'Internet prend forme On attendait une remise a plat de la gouvernance de l'Internet, lors du dernier sommet de Tunis et specialement sur le role de l'Icann, organisme tout puissant americain et gendarme du net. Les Etats-Unis firent pression pour eviter cette remise en cause exposant que < ce serait comme avoir plus de cent conducteurs pour un seul bus. A l'heure actuelle, nous avons un seul conducteur et jusqu'ici il a fait du bon boulot > (Michael Gallagher, vice-secretaire americain au commerce).
UN sets up global governance forum The United Nations has taken the first steps towards setting up a new international forum to promote global interests in the governance of top-level internet domain and country names such as .au and .uk.
From News From Bangladesh

January 18, 2006

Sovereignty in cyberspace: Two legal scholars puncture the myth of the borderless, lawless Internet LESS THAN a decade ago, in his famous ''Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace," the Internet theorist John Perry Barlow wrote, ''Governments of the Industrial World, you weary giants of flesh and steel....You have no sovereignty where we gather."
WSIS and the Internet Governance Forum The World Summit on the Information Society, aimed at tackling the problem of the "digital divide" and harnessing the potential of information and communication technologies to drive economic and social development, concluded in Tunis on 18 November 2005. Cyber-survey #20 is designed to 1) gauge how Internet Society members view the results of the World Summit on the Information Society and 2) to help us shape our Summit follow-up efforts, with a particular focus on the Internet Governance Forum. This survey will be open through January 31st, 2006.
UN prepares to set up net group The UN has begun setting up the body that will debate the internet's most pressing problems.
TheRegister.co.uk| Electricnews.net| Computerworld.co.nz|International Telecommunication Union|The Internet Governance Forum
Internet Governance Forum story in Russian
Networking the Networked/Closing the Loop By Michael Gurstein Those who did attend the WSIS Summits in Geneva and Tunis indicated that the major and lasting benefit that they saw arising from their attendance was the networking opportunities that it afforded. Michael Gurstein takes a critical look at who is being networked to whom and for what purpose.
Creating Spaces for Civil Society in the WSIS: A Reply to Michael Gurstein by Willie Currie A look at civil society participation in WSIS must not assume that everyone was only there just to network. Willie Currie points out that civil society groups had sufficient strategic sense to understand the power dynamics, and that their interventions made a material difference to the outcomes of WSIS. This text is a reply to a critical look at the "networking of the networked" by Michael Gurstein.
"Much more could have been achieved" Exactly one month after the closure of the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society, the civil society groups active in the summit process have issued a comprehensive statement that evaluates the official outcomes and process. The assessment builds on the 2003 Civil Society Summit Declaration "Shaping Information Societies for Human Needs", and it was developed in a global online consultation process after initial drafting during the summit in Tunis. It is presented as Civil Society's official contribution to the Summit outcomes and will be submitted to the WSIS executive secretariat.

January 11, 2006

Derailing the Dance of the Digital Divide Headlines proclaiming victories often apply only to the day they are published. When it comes to politics there are no "final victories" and I fear that will be the case with our so-called win at the recent meeting in Tunis of the World Summit on the Information Society. Headlines proclaimed "U.S. to Retain Oversight of Web" but one victorious battle for America does not mean that the war has been won. What is at stake is our continued control of our wealth and technology.
Protest to President Ben Ali of Tunisia Over IFJ Website Ban Following UN Summit Criticism The International Federation of Journalists today protested to the Tunisian government over the banning of the Federation?s web site. In recent weeks, following the World Summit on the Information Society in November when the IFJ sharply criticised restrictions on Internet use and harassment of human rights activists, the IFJ web site has been unobtainable.
CONFERENCE: Internet Governance: New Political and Regulatory Frameworks for Global Network Communication This symposium will analyze the results of the Tunis summit and discuss in particular for key areas of Internet governance as follows: 1. Internet Oversight and the Management of the Internet Core Resources; 2. Internet and Human Rights: Freedom of Expression, Access to Knowledge and Protection of Privacy; 3. Internet Security and Stability: Cybercrime, Spam and Identity Theft; 4. Internet and Development: Bridging the Digital Divide. The aim of this pre-conference is to form a network of scholars to monitor the progress of and to research internet governance, with a special emphasis on the international aspects.
When will the Internet be divided among nations? This fight over ICANN is all about a golden key. Without it, the Internet is completely useless. That golden key is a name on the net called a URL. It's all about the master design of a sophisticated key management system so that billions of single domain name identities can offer access to billions of sites without any problem. After all, without this access, the Internet has no value. It's this portion of the magic of the Internet that is now being challenged.

January 4, 2006

From Corante, "Will China Build a Separate Internet?" China has been making a lot of noise lately about wanting "root" control over the Internet. That's clearly not going to happen anytime soon, nor should it happen. But what if China simply decided one day to create a "Chinese Internet" as an alternative to the pesky Internet that it can't control?
From Hua Hin Today, "Internet Hegemony and The Digital Divide" A squabble over who controls the internet had threatened to overshadow the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunisia. But a "compromise" deal was reached just before the meeting opened, under which America will retain its hegemony for the time being. This leaves delegates free to discuss bridging the digital divide between rich and poor countries.
From Cnet News, "Perspective: Time for a .xxx domain?" There's no use in hiding from the truth. Adult content, including explicit sexual pornography, runs rampant on the Internet.
From NY Lawyer, "NY Lawyers Working on Public Interest Projects" Cyber law expert Susan Crawford, a professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, joined the board of directors of the non-profit Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers this month during the organization's annual meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia.
From The New York Sun, "How the White House Defended the Internet" A few weeks ago, the aptly named World Summit on the Information Society, an initiative of the United Nations and its subsidiary organization the International Telecommunications Union, met in Tunis. There government officials from practically every country in the world gathered to consider new methods for international control of the administration of the Internet.
From The Register, "2005: The year the US government undermined the internet" 2005 in review 2005 will be forever seen as the year in which the US government managed to keep unilateral control of the internet, despite widespread opposition by the rest of the world.
From WTN News, "When will the Internet be divided among nations?" This fight over ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, is all about a golden key. Without it, the Internet is completely useless.