[Chapter-delegates] Revised Chapter Agreement

Thu Aug 3 05:17:23 PDT 2017

Dave,

where is the evidence of ISOC opposition to Net Neutrality??

v

On Thu, Aug 3, 2017 at 7:58 AM, Dave Burstein <daveb at dslprime.com> wrote:

> Making ISOC More Bottom-Up (MIMBU) is an informal group, not subject to
> ISOC central, working in good faith to change the current top-down
> decisionmaking in ISOC. It's been announced to this list and is open.
>
> The chapters have been asking for more than the current symbolic role in
> making decisions. Kathy and Joyce have done a great job asking for input
> but all decisionmaking remains with a handful of top staffers. I know it's
> hard for any bureaucracy to give up control, even if those in charge
> believe in "bottom-up multistakeholder decisionmaking." (Affirmed at the
> recent board meeting.)
>
> This is about more than the usual issues of power and money.  Said top
> staffers are honorable people but their beliefs are different than many of
> the members.
>
> For example, until recently ISOC Central has opposed Net Neutrality (per
> Wall Street Journal,) while our Indian Chapters played an important role in
> their country's debate.
>
> We have also actively opposed, among other issues,
>
> Action against the cartel-level backhaul/transit prices, identified by
> many Africans as the international issue most affecting the domestic cost
> of access. (WCIT)
>
> Doing something about the "unreasonable" levels of royalties, which
> threaten to double the cost of inexpensive mobiles.
>
> Any international agreement on cybersecurity.  (Our policy people resist
> anything that gives power to governments. They might be right.)
>
> Any government-built networks. (Some are unfortunate, like the Australian
> NBN coming in at double any reasonable cost. Others work well, like Munich
> and Cologne city nets. They continually rank at the top among German
> Internet providers. At WCIT, we opposed all of them on principle. We may
> have softened that stand.)
>
> Action to open up the most important standards Group, 3GPP. They are
> totally corporate controlled, by charter, and make most of the regulations
> for wireless, the way most of the world is being connected. At a Columbia
> event attended by Kathy Brown, VInt Cerf recommended doing something about
> this.
>
> and I'm sure others on this list can name other issues where staff has
> gone beyond what either the membership or the board would approve if asked.
>
>
>
> On Thu, Aug 3, 2017 at 7:20 AM, Brandt Dainow <brandt.dainow at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi - I cannot find any such group in the list of communities/chapters etc
>> in
>> my ISOC system.  The only thing a text search reveals is a link to Box for
>> the charter.  Since I cannot create a Box account due to privacy
>> concerns, I
>> can't even access that.
>>
>> Do you know how many other ISOC groups are in existence, but cannot be
>> found
>> in the system?  It seems to me making all active groups findable in the My
>> Communities section, especially those members can join, should be the
>> first
>> priority for any group who wants to make ISOC more bottom-up.
>>
>> Regards,
>> Brandt Dainow
>> brandt.dainow at gmail.com
>>
>> https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Brandt_Dainow
>> http://www.imediaconnection.com/profiles/brandt.dainow
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Richard Hill [mailto:rhill at hill-a.ch]
>> Sent: 03 August 2017 11:51
>> To: brandt.dainow at gmail.com
>> Cc: 'Eduardo Diaz'
>> Subject: RE: [Chapter-delegates] Revised Chapter Agreement
>>
>> Dear Brandt,
>>
>> It seems to me that your thoughts below regarding the role of chapters in
>> ISOC should be input to group on Making ISOC More Bottom-Up (MIMBU).
>>
>> I copy Eduardo, Chair of that group.
>>
>> Best,
>> Richard
>>
>> > -----Original Message-----
>> > From: Chapter-delegates [mailto:chapter-delegates-
>> > bounces at elists.isoc.org] On Behalf Of Brandt Dainow
>> > Sent: Thursday, August 3, 2017 12:47
>> > To: chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org
>> > Subject: Re: [Chapter-delegates] Revised Chapter Agreement
>> >
>> > I think the reaction of many indicates the clause is problematic.  It
>> > is clearly open to different interpretations.  Many governments are
>> > antagonistic to "foreign lobbying" and, many governments resent any
>> > independent civic group which wants a say in policy, often using the
>> > claim of "foreign influence" as an attack.  Furthermore, ISOC is part
>> > of a fight against restricting internet access and mass surveillance,
>> > both of which are actively pursued by many governments.  As a result,
>> > many local ISOC chapters must be sensitive to the possibility of
>> > hostile reactions in their countries, and pursue the aims of ISOC in
>> > less direct fashion than may be possible in places like the USA and
>> > Europe.  Given that we have seen how this clause can be interpreted as
>> > directing chapters to lobby on behalf of central (US/EU) office aims,
>> > it seems prudent to remove it or reword it, and so eliminate the
>> > possibility it could be used as an attack.  The clause is pointless
>> > anyway, since all funding has to be a  pplied for and approved
>> > centrally.
>> >
>> > This tension between government policy and ISOC ideals will only get
>> > worse.  I am not convinced everyone in ISOC has recognised that the
>> > internet has changed from a technical backbone, running relatively
>> > distant from society, to a mainstream and central activity at the
>> > heart of social development in every country on earth.  Every
>> > organisation - government, commercial, civic, religious, etc., now has
>> > an interest in the internet and a position on how it should develop.
>> > Every organisation which seeks power in society, government,
>> > commercial or otherwise, will try to influence internet policy to their
>> advantage.
>> > ISOC now exists as a player in that sphere, something which was not
>> > the case 15-20 years ago.
>> >
>> > This situation will only get more intense over the coming years.   ISOC
>> > must evolve to keep up.  This means evolving decision and
>> > policy-making processes so that they become more informed about local
>> > circumstances, more responsive to local needs and variations, more
>> politically aware.
>> > It means ISOC decisions must be informed by a great deal more
>> > information.  This cannot be achieved by the same number of people as
>> > currently run most policy development.  Much more of the policy
>> > decision process needs to be initiated and developed at chapter level,
>> > where there is detailed local knowledge and more people available.
>> > And there needs to be more open discussion between chapters, rather
>> > than the current top-down approach.  This means the chapters need to
>> > run ISOC.  Chapters should be able to organise policy between
>> > themselves, then pass it up for central dissemination.  Central
>> > committees should not be able to initiate discussions of initiatives
>> > without pre-approval of chapters.  Should a  funding application by a
>> > chapter be refused, there should be a formal, documented, open
>> > mechanism for appeal - with adjudication by independent people.
>> >
>> > I am sure there are other changes which should be implemented which I
>> > have not thought of.  However, my central point here is that we need
>> > to upgrade our processes to allow local intelligence to drive ISOC
>> policy.
>> > We can start by removing, or rewording, this problematic clause.  I
>> > would recommend removing it, because it achieves nothing new and is
>> > clearly open to arguments over its meaning.
>> >
>> > Regards,
>> > Brandt Dainow
>> > brandt.dainow at gmail.com
>> >
>> > https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Brandt_Dainow
>> > http://www.imediaconnection.com/profiles/brandt.dainow
>> >
>> >
>>
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>
>
>
> --
> Editor, Fast Net News, WIreless One.news, Net Policy News and DSL Prime
> Author with Jennie Bourne  DSL (Wiley) and Web Video: Making It Great,
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>
> _______________________________________________
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