Siva,<br>ITU's role is clearly defined in the WSIS documents, as well as the role of civil society, governments, intergovernmental organizations. We can't define it today, five years later. <br>What I find strange is, that there were no ISOC meetings at the PP10, where we could share views and exchange ideas on ways to coordinate better our efforts. <br>
The results were good, but they were achieved in the last day, in the last hour, and by that time there were no people from ISOC in Guadalajara. <br>I firmly believe chapters are vital for ISOC, not just as a proof it is an internationally diverse organization, but as an opportunity for ISOC to reach out and find out what the problems are in different countries. Even at the PP10 it was clear that problems of developing countries are different from the problems of developed countries (although, in some cases with unexpected facts!). There are many chapters in countries, where ISOC could search for facts or inspiration, in order to prepare good documents to be used among governments. <br>
One of the conclusions from the PP10 that I've made myself, is that the documents, provided by the West are not good enough for the East. The ITU, and the governments there, are in desperate need of good documents, which simply cannot be produced by ISOC Headquarters in US or Switzerland. What might work is for the bureaus to reach out to chapters, and see under what conditions these documents can be produced. Government officials can't spend time reading 30-page document, printed on white paper, and full with nice pictures of how the Internet works. They need 2 pages, with facts, and sources. Perhaps chapters can do this, and perhaps ISOC should explore this possibility, including compensating the chapters for the time and efforts they will use to produce the documents. <br>
<br>As a chapter representative, coming from a country, where we have constant issues with attempts by the government to introduce one way or the other some restrictions on the Internet, our chapter has certain experience in understanding, among other, relations between government and big IT-companies, wiretapping, monitoring of Internet activities, VoIP services, etc. I am sure that other chapters have experience in similar or different areas, and this experience is much broader than ISOC's, as well as more relevant in the context of preparing documents, aiming at governments at the ITU.<br>
<br>But, of course, it is up to ISOC if they want to engage the chapters in the ITU outreach, or prefer to work the old way. I, for one, while in Guadalajara, reached out to ISOC, but ISOC did not respond. As a chapter president, I find this behavior strange. <br>
<br>Best,<br>Veni<br><br><div class="gmail_quote"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;"><div class="gmail_quote"><br><div>ITU's aspirations to control the WSIS process needs to be checked. ISOC's second week document is very clear on the limits of ITU's role in the WSIS.</div>
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