<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">I asked for Lynn or Markus to explain to ISOC members and chapters what's going on because I don't know despite following diligently. She signed the Montevideo Declaration in our name and we need an explanation of what ISOC signed on to. I'm not criticizing ISOC signing - my guess is it's a good thing - but trying to understand what this means.</div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> The Montevideo Declaration, the speeches by Fadi of ICANN and other leaders, and what I hear both publicly and privately are seriously confused and sometimes contradictory. That's why I'm asking for clarity. This is important stuff.</div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> Most dramatically, Fadi's comment "<span style="background-color:transparent;font-size:12.666666984558105px;font-family:arial,sans-serif">The Affirmation of Commitments needs to change from being a contract between ICANN and the US Government, to a contract between 'ICANN and you' seems to be an attempt to end the U.S. (nominal, lightly exercised) control over ICANN. ISOC had a very strong presence against such a change throughout last year and WCIT in Dubai.</span></div>
<div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> There is much more in Montevideo and ISOC leadership speeches that can be understood in different ways. I'm organizing a webinar for Columbia University a week from Tuesday on this subject (details below) and have been in touch with several of the principal people. Most are being very coy and several seem to me not to be sure themselves. </div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> Lynn, Markus - please help us understand what ISOC is doing here.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">
<br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Dave Burstein</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">
Topic: Is there a third way for the Internet? <br></div><div class="gmail_default"><div class="gmail_default"><font face="verdana, sans-serif">Date: Tuesday, November 12, 2013 </font></div><div class="gmail_default"><font face="verdana, sans-serif">Time: 12:00 pm, Eastern Standard Time (New York, GMT-05:00) </font></div>
<div class="gmail_default"><font face="verdana, sans-serif">Meeting Number: 731 150 813 </font></div><div class="gmail_default"><font face="verdana, sans-serif">Meeting Password: (This meeting does not require a password.) </font></div>
<div style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br></div><div style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">p.s. Since someone asked. I mentioned that in the discussions on the U.S. State Department International Telecommunications Advisory Committee (ITAC), with many senior people involved, there didn't seem much more clarity than elsewhere. I mentioned that just to illustrate how little information was accessible even to insiders. ITAC is open to everyone incidentally, as affirmed by the department head testifying to Congress. Because that's an important symbol of "multi-stakeholderism," over the last year they have accepted everyone who asks to be included. U.S. citizenship is not even required. Memberships means you will be buried in email - half a dozen today - but included are all the main ITU documents and other interesting stuff. At a meeting today, I pushed for the U.S. to put those ITU documents </div>
<div style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br></div><div style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> If you want to join, email me offlist and I'll connect you.</div><div style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br></div>
<div style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Some of my related reporting </div><div style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><h1 style="margin:5px 0px 4px;font-size:18px;line-height:1.5em;font-family:Cantarell,arial,serif;padding:0px;border-bottom-width:1px;border-bottom-style:dashed;border-bottom-color:rgb(34,34,34)">
Terry Kramer's Remarkable Opening of the U.S. State Department</h1><div><p style="margin:0.5em 0px;color:rgb(85,85,85);font-family:'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;font-size:12px;line-height:18px">
<span style="font-size:10pt">Multi-Stakeholder meaningless if stakeholders all corporate</span><br><span style="font-size:10pt;color:rgb(0,0,0)">By joining ITAC - free and open to all - you can be a meaningful part of the process and have impact on U.S. policy. All the big tech companies - Microsoft, Cisco, Google, AT&T, Verizon and two dozen more - use the ITAC meetings and mailings to have a say. Over 100 independents are getting the once secret documents of the ITU, regular briefings from Ambassador Terry Kramer and top State officials (Dick Brainerd included) and questions answered. </span><br>
<span style="font-size:10pt;color:rgb(0,0,0)"></span></p><p style="margin:0.5em 0px;color:rgb(85,85,85);font-family:'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;font-size:12px;line-height:18px"><span style="font-size:10pt;color:rgb(0,0,0)"> With Kramer’s encouragement, I and Mike Masnick at Techdirt publicized how to join and the response was remarkable. Three prominent professors, a former board member of ICANN and many more signed up. ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré at Columbia pointed out ITAC as an ideal example of how governments can get all ITU documents to their citizens.</span></p>
<p style="margin:0.5em 0px;color:rgb(85,85,85);font-family:'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;font-size:12px;line-height:18px"><span style="font-size:10pt"> Terry’s likely to move on after December and the State Department staff will take back control. These include the same people who a few years ago set a firm U.S. opinion that civil society not play a role at ITU. Far too often, I found myself in discussions where I was the only voice outside government that was not corporate. With luck, the success of Kramer’s actions has changed their opinions and they will stay effectively open going forward.</span></p>
<p style="margin:0.5em 0px;color:rgb(85,85,85);font-family:'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;font-size:12px;line-height:18px"><span style="font-size:10pt"><br></span></p><div style="margin:0px 0px 5px 5px;color:rgb(85,85,85);font-family:'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;font-size:12px;line-height:18px">
<div style="overflow:hidden"><h2 style="margin:5px 0px 4px;font-size:18px;line-height:1.5em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:Cantarell,arial,serif;padding:0px;border-bottom-width:1px;border-bottom-style:dashed;border-bottom-color:rgb(34,34,34)">
A Modest Proposal to Open ITU to All Civil Society</h2></div><div style="padding:0px 10px 0px 18px"><p style="margin:0.5em 0px"><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;line-height:normal"><img src="http://netpolicynews.com/images/a/A_Modest_Proposal_1729_Cover.jpg" alt="A Modest Proposal 1729 Cover" height="350" width="200" style="border:1px solid rgb(0,0,0);padding:0px;margin:5px 0px 5px 15px;float:right"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">Hamadoun Touré at Columbia made clear he wants more involvement at ITU, but it's an international organization that moves slowly. The Internet Society can easily speed things up if they had the courage. <br>
I wrote to the ISOC list</span></span></p><p style="margin:0.5em 0px"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;line-height:normal">Folks</span><br style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:12.800000190734863px;line-height:normal">
<br style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:12.800000190734863px;line-height:normal"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;line-height:normal"> Allowing all ISOC members active in civil society to join the ISOC delegation to WCIT and other ITU events would quickly and effectively resolve the issue of limited civil society involvement. ITU members, including ISOC, have total discretion about who is on their delegation. Hamadoun Touré has actively encouraged members such as the U.S. to include in their delegation civil society. Speaking to Touré, I believe he sees a political advantage to expanding civil society. </span><br style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:12.800000190734863px;line-height:normal">
<br style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:12.800000190734863px;line-height:normal"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;line-height:normal"> The U.S. delegation currently numbers 115. The Nigerians are sending 70. ISOC only is sending 8. There's no reason not to expand the delegation. Only a limited number of civil society representatives will have the money and time. I'd bet we could include just about all of them and still have a modest sized delegation. </span><br style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:12.800000190734863px;line-height:normal">
<br style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:12.800000190734863px;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:10pt;color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;line-height:normal"> I suggest ISOC immediately put out word that "any civil society representative </span><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;line-height:normal;text-decoration:underline">who has been personally active supporting the causes of the ISOC mission</span><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;line-height:normal">" is welcome to be included in the delegation. Current non-members can simply and instantly join. Those active in ISOC like Veni, Alejandro, and Joly would also be a strong addition.. </span></span><br style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:12.800000190734863px;line-height:normal">
</p><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:12.800000190734863px;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:10pt;color:rgb(0,0,0)"> </span></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:12.800000190734863px;line-height:normal">
<span style="font-size:10pt;color:rgb(0,0,0)"> Of course it's more cumbersome to coordinate a larger mission. But it establishes an important principle of how meetings like WCIT should be inclusive. The main objection I foresse is "that's not the way we do things." It could be. </span></div>
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</div></div><div style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><a href="http://netpolicynews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=40&Itemid=124" target="_blank">http://netpolicynews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=40&Itemid=124</a><br>
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