[Chapter-delegates] WTSA 2016 begins this week

Tue Oct 25 04:53:54 PDT 2016

Dear Elizabeth,

Thank you for this, for the good blog post, and for the detailed issues matrix.

Regarding the potential regulatory or operational role of the ITU in the governance of the Internet, it is important to remember that neither WTSA, nor ITU-T Study Groups, agree binding documents.  They agree non-binding Resolutions and Recommendations.  Of course states can make such non-binding documents binding, but that is a decision of individual states. So there is no regulation unless individual states decide to regulate.

And it is important to recall that international agreements can limit the power of states as well as expand them. For example, the ICCPR limits the power of states to restrict free speech.

So, as usual, the devil is in the details, and it is important to look at the specific language of the proposals that will be discussed at WTSA, which is why your detailed issues matrix is germane.

Regarding that matrix, I have the following comments:

1) Regarding the review of the ITRs, it is unlikely that any Study Groups would be able to agree on any specific inputs to the forthcoming ITRs , and they could anyway provide inputs even if not specifically requested by WTSA. Further, anything that they come up with would be an input to the group that will review the ITRs, and that group would not necessarily agree with those inputs.  So I don’t think that the resolutions regarding the review of the ITRs would have much practical effect one way or the other. But you are right to flag the issue, because it is political, and will surely result in heated discussions.

2) Privacy is within the mandate of ITU, because it is in the ITU Constitution, which refers to it as Secrecy of Telecommunications. But you are right to flag the issue, because, in my view, ITU’s mandate should be restricted to certain aspects of privacy (e.g. the secrecy of transmissions) and not be expanded to cover the full spectrum of issues.

3) Regarding various proposals to tell Study Groups to do this or that, in practice they will have little effect even if adopted, because ITU-T Study Groups work on the basis of inputs (which ITU calls contributions) from the membership. If there are no contributions on a particular topic, then nothing happens, even if WTSA instructed the study group to do something.  And any member can submit a contribution on any topic, so a particular topic can be discussed (if everybody agrees) even if WTSA did not instruct the study group to discuss it.  But you are right to flag the various proposals related to the Internet, because indeed they are intended to set the stage for future work and it is important to see who wants what work done where.

Best,

Richard

From: Chapter-delegates [mailto:chapter-delegates-bounces at elists.isoc.org] On Behalf Of Elizabeth Oluoch
Sent: mardi, 25. octobre 2016 00:56
To: chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org
Subject: [Chapter-delegates] WTSA 2016 begins this week

Dear Members,

The ITU World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly 2016 (WTSA-16 <http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-T/wtsa16/Pages/default.aspx> ) begins on October 25th in Yasmine Hammamet, Tunisia. The ISOC delegation will join ITU members (governments, private sector, non-governmental organizations, academia) in shaping the future direction of the ITU Telecommunication Standardization sector (ITU-T). One of our key messages for delegates at WTSA-16 is that the work programs approved for the next study period should not lead to a regulatory or operational role of the ITU in the governance of the Internet. To get more insights into our other main objectives and the key issues that we will be following at this meeting, we invite you to read our blog <https://www.internetsociety.org/blog/public-policy/2016/10/road-yasmine-hammamet-expectations-wtsa-16>  .

Additionally, please visit the WTSA-16 section <https://www.internetsociety.org/WTSA>  on our website for additional resources for this meeting including the ITU WTSA-16 Issues Matrix <http://www.internetsociety.org/wtsa/matrix>  with Co-signatures which reflects the Internet related resolutions that will be discussed at the meeting. 

Link to WTSA-16 section: http://www.internetsociety.org/WTSA

Our delegation members are: Mark Buell, Jane Coffin, Petko Kantchev (ISOC Bulgaria), Verengai Mabika (ISOC Zimbabwe), Michuki Mwangi, Alejandro Pisanty (ISOC Mexico), Elizabeth Oluoch and Sagarika Wickramasekera (ISOC Sri Lanka). 

Finally, as the meeting progresses we will keep you informed of developments on the ground via the WTSA-16 section on our website as well as on this mailing list.  

We look forward to engaging with all of you over the course of the next several days.

Best regards,

Elizabeth 

Elizabeth Oluoch

Policy Advisor

Internet Society

Direct: +1 703 439 2138

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