[Chapter-delegates] [MemberPubPol] Update from WSIS - 14 November

[Vittorio Bertola]

On Mar, 15 Novembre 2005 14:08, shears at isoc.org disse:
> Additional information:  there is a continuous effort to downplay the role
> of the existing players with the intent of marginalizing their role going
> forward.  This position is usually accompanied by the call for some need
> for additional (government) oversight.

Hello,

I don't think that there is an effort to downplay the role of ISOC, ICANN
and the likes - on the contrary, everyone wouldn't be so eager to address
the institutional nature of ICANN if it wasn't important.

The proposal to ask ISOC to organize the new Forum could have made sense,
even if there are strong arguments in favour of other types of
institutional arrangements as well. However, I think it was clear it
wouldn't fly, given the way it was made: it was tabled by
US/Canada/Australia after they were isolated, and when clearly everyone
else was fully convinced that a (relatively) strong Forum addressing the
entire range of Internet Governance issues was necessary. So it was
perceived as a sort of tactical diversion by the "US & friends" (if you
allow me) to reduce the profile and importance of the Forum, and thus it
was quickly dismissed.

Unfortunately, the way the proposal was born also led many delegations to
think that ISOC is just a sort of extension of the US Government, to the
point that the USG resorts to delegating roles to it when it can't keep
them for itself. Even if that clearly wasn't the intention, I think that
ISOC should be very careful to prevent these perceptions: for example, I
saw quite negative reactions also from all the other NGOs and civil
society participants.

And finally, ISOC has been among those few stakeholders who spoke against
the creation of any new institution, Forum included, so it seemed weird to
everyone that it should be asked to manage its creation.
-- 
vb.               [Vittorio Bertola - v.bertola [a] bertola.eu.org]<------
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