Showing posts with label human rights. Show all posts
Showing posts with label human rights. Show all posts

2018-02-26

Global Internet And Jurisdiction Conference 2018, Feb 26-28, Ottawa

Global Internet and Jurisdiction Conference 2018 - Day 1

Internet & Jurisdiction Policy Network LIVE on Feb 26, 2018, 2:00 pm ET

Global Internet and Jurisdiction Conference 2018 - Day 3

Internet & Jurisdiction Policy Network LIVE on Feb 28, 2018, 9:00 am ET


The Internet & Jurisdiction Policy Network addresses the tension between the cross-border nature of the internet and national jurisdictions. Its Paris-based Secretariat facilitates a global multistakeholder process to enable transnational cooperation. Participants in the Policy Network work together to preserve the cross-border nature of the Internet, protect human rights, fight abuses, and enable the global digital economy.

Global Internet And Jurisdiction Conference 2018 | conference.internetjurisdiction.net: Feb 26-28, 2018, Ottawa, Canada.

WORKSTREAM I
DATA & JURISDICTION
How can transnational data flows and the protection of privacy be reconciled with lawful access requirements to address crime?

WORKSTREAM II
CONTENT & JURISDICTION
How can we manage globally-available content in light of the diversity of local laws and norms applicable on the internet?n

WORKSTREAM III
DOMAINS & JURISDICTION
How can the neutrality of the internet’s technical layer be preserved when national laws are applied to the Domain Name System?"

Background (source: Internet & Jurisdiction Policy Network):
The 2nd Global Internet and Jurisdiction Conference of the Internet & Jurisdiction Policy Network will be an important milestone in addressing one of the greatest global governance challenges of the 21st century: how to manage the coexistence of national laws on the internet.

When they convene in Ottawa, Canada, on February 26-28, 2018, key senior-level representatives from a wide range of stakeholder groups and countries will work toward the development of policy standards and operational solutions to at the same time fight abuses, protect human rights, and enable the global digital economy. This is necessary to preserve the benefits generated by the cross-border nature of the Internet for future generations.

The 2nd Global Conference of the Internet & Jurisdiction Policy Network is organized in partnership with the Government of Canada and institutionally supported by the OECD, UNESCO, the Council of Europe, the European Commission, and ICANN.

Taking stock of the outcomes of the 1st Global Conference in 2016 in Paris, and the intersessional work in the Policy Network’s three Programs Data & Jurisdiction, Content & Jurisdiction, and Domains & Jurisdiction, the 2nd Global Conference of the Internet & Jurisdiction Policy Network will be an important opportunity.

Stakeholders will decide on concrete focus and priorities, as well as a clear methodology and roadmap for the Policy Network to advance the development of policy standards and operational solutions for submission at the its third Global Conference. It will take place in Berlin in June 2019, and will be, after France (2016) and Canada (2018), organized in partnership with Germany.

Time has come to accelerate the collective effort to address growing jurisdictional tensions on the internet through joint action. 



feedback & comments via twitter @DomainMondo


DISCLAIMER

2017-03-26

News Review: 1) .AFRICA Case Update; 2) ICANN Dysfunction Alive & Well

News Review | ©2016 DomainMondo.com
Domain Mondo's weekly review of internet domain news:

Features • 1) .AFRICA Case Update, 2) Tweet of the Week: ICANN Dysfunction Alive & Well, 3) ICANN Board Report, 4) Names, Domains & Trademarks: Google & googlee, 5) ICANN's Remit & Human Rights, 6) New gTLD .FEEDBACK, 7)ICYMI, 8) Neustar $NSR merger, 9) ICANN Public Comment Periods, 10) Most Popular.

1) New gTLD .AFRICA Litigation Case Update: "It ain't over till it's over"--Yogi Berra
Excerpt from Court's Order of March 21, 2017
For more: DotConnectAfrica Trust v. ICANN (Trial Court Proceeding) | ICANN.orgOrder Approving Stipulation Staying Discovery and Continuing the Trial Date [PDF, 681 KB] 21 March 2017.

2) Tweet of the Week: ICANN Dysfunction Alive & Well (transcript of ICANN58 interaction):
Background: News Review: ICANN Secretly Colludes With New gTLD Registry Operators 17 Jul 2016

3) ICANN Board Report March 2017 (pdf)
Excerpt: As of the end of January 2017, ICANN org has 367 people, which is 19 people less than the FY17 year end budget projection of 386. Over the last three months, 13 joined and another 8 left. ICANN Organization by Locations: As of January 31 2016 [sic], North America Offices & Remote consists of 218 people (79%) in Los Angeles office, 29 in Washington DC office, 28 work remotely in US, 1 works remotely in Canada, totaling 275 (75% of the total organization).
source: ICANN.org
4) Names, Domains & Trademarks:
•  Google's 'googlee' infringement case | barandbench.com:
“Is a “Googlee” a “wrong one”? A cricket enthusiast will say, “Yes of course.” In the virtual world too, the answer is well, yes, as the Petitioner, Mr. Gulshan Khatri found to his consternation, when he used it as a domain name: ‘googlee.in’.”--Delhi High Court’s Justice S Muralidhar in his domain name infringement decision in favor of Google.
 Rebranding Your Law Firm: How a 150-Year-Old Firm Gave Itself a Makeover | JDSupra.com"To have a successful website, we felt we must first have the appropriate domain ... We were successful in acquiring www.bradley.com even though it was originally registered with a foreign corporation."
•  End of the road for UDRP for copyright? | Lexology.com
•  China's Chery files trademark complaint against Mercedes over green car brand | Reuters.com--Mercedes-Benz is using the "EQ" name for a line of green-energy vehicles while Chery has used the name "eQ" for its two-door battery electric car for two years. Editor's Note: EQ.com is registered via GoDaddy to an individual in China but does not resolve.
•   Amazon Chime team responds to trademark suit, claims it wasn't aware of competing Chime service | GeekWire.com"An Amazon Web Services employee claims the company had never heard of CafeX Communications and its competing Chime service when it decided to christen its new set of conferencing and collaboration tools Amazon Chime." Editor's note: neither Amazon nor CafeX are the registrant of chime.com (Chime Interactive).
•  That Taylor Swift Spotify-Rival Rumor, Explained by a Trademark Lawyer | VanityFair.com: "But if the filing that you may or may not use is likely to go public and possibly get misconstrued, why trademark at all?
“She needs that [trademark] registration for enhanced policing,” explained Schwimmer. “And there’s another thing, which is: you need registrations to get intermediaries to pay attention to you. So if you go to Amazon and want to take down stuff; you go to a domain name company or eBay, and you want them to take down the infringing stuff, [the companies] don't want to have to evaluate whether you are the real whatever. The easiest thing is to say, ‘Here is my trademark registration.’ ”" (emphasis added)

5) ICANN's Remit & Human Rights:
"... ICANN’s remit is limited to coordinating the allocation and assignment of Domain names, Internet Protocol(IP) addresses, Autonomous System (AS) numbers, and protocol port and parameter numbers. [See ICANN Bylaws] The SSAC believes that assessments based on content accessed through these unique identifiers should not be in scope for discussions regarding Human Rights for the ICANN organization. This may be different from the interests or remits of some stakeholder groups and their members. The SSAC believes strongly that any binding language that holds ICANN accountable to Human Rights values should fall within the scope of ICANN’s limited remit, and implemented via a Human Rights Impact Assessment followed by the development of a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy for ICANN. This CSR policy should cover the processes governing ICANN community participation, as well as the ICANN corporation itself ..."--ICANN Security and Stability Advisory Committtee--SAC092: SSAC Input to the Cross Community Working Group onAccountability Work Stream 2, Human Rights (pdf) (emphasis added)

7)  ICYMI Internet Domain News Quick Takes--
8) Neustar $NSR merger: Stockholders of Neustar, a domain registry and technology services company, voted to approve the previously announced definitive merger agreement, dated as of December 14, 2016, by the terms of which a private investment group led by Golden Gate Capital will acquire Neustar. At the special meeting held on March 14, 2017, approximately 82% of Neustar shares outstanding and entitled to vote at the meeting were voted in favor of the adoption of the merger agreement. Under the terms of the merger agreement, Neustar’s stockholders will be entitled to receive $33.50 per share upon the closing of the proposed merger. The merger is expected to close no later than the end of the third quarter of 2017, subject to the receipt of required regulatory approvals and the satisfaction or waiver of other customary closing conditions.--Neustar.biz

9) ICANN Public Comment Periods that close 30 Mar - 1 May 2017 (subject to change):

10)  Most popular post (# of pageviews Sun-Sat) this past week on DomainMondo.com: News Review: New gTLDs Failing, ICANN58 Ends, ICANN in La La Land

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo 

feedback & comments via twitter @DomainMondo


DISCLAIMER

2016-10-16

News Review: ICANN57, Hyderabad, India, Meeting Preview

News Review | © DomainMondo.com
Domain Mondo's weekly review of internet domain news [pdf]:

Feature •  ICANN57: In less than three weeks, ICANN will be holding its AGM or Annual General Meeting (3rd meeting in the 3 meeting annual cycle), ICANN57, in Hyderabad, India, 3-9 Nov 2016 (Thursday-Wednesday). It is only the second time in the 18-year history of ICANN, that one of its three annual meetings has been held in India (New Delhi was the site for ICANN31 in 2008). According to a 2015 UN report (pdf):
"China (1.4 billion) and India (1.3 billion) remain the two largest countries of the world, both with more than 1 billion people, representing 19 and 18 per cent of the world’s population, respectively .... within seven years, the population of India is expected to surpass that of China. Currently, the population of China is approximately 1.38 billion compared with 1.31 billion in India. By 2022, both countries are expected to have approximately 1.4 billion people. Thereafter, India’s population is projected to continue growing for several decades to 1.5 billion in 2030 and 1.7 billion in 2050, while the population of China is expected to remain fairly constant until the 2030s, after which it is expected to slightly decrease."
ICANN57 will have 7 days of sessions, with the aim of showcasing the ICANN community’s work to a broader global audience, while also having days dedicated for Supporting Organization (SO) and Advisory Committee (AC) work. The complete schedule was posted this week here. Domain Mondo has temporarily renamed its CALENDAR and LINKS page to "ICANN57" with information and links about the meeting.

In accordance with the New ICANN Meeting Strategy, there will be two Public Forums during ICANN57.  Public Forum 1 is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 5, 2016, and will provide an opportunity for each SO/AC to update the community on their efforts, followed by time for the community to share their topics of interest. Public Forum 2 will focus on solely community comment and Board response, and is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 8, following the Annual General ICANN Board of Directors Meeting.

More important than the content of the meeting, will be the opportunity for non-Indian ICANN stakeholders to experience India itself. For a good overview, I recommend looking at the CIA Factbook, from which you will learn India is predominantly Hindu (79.8%), and has a variety of languages:
English enjoys the status of subsidiary official language but is the most important language for national, political, and commercial communication; Hindi is the most widely spoken language and primary tongue of 41% of the people; there are 14 other official languages: Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, and Sanskrit; Hindustani is a popular variant of Hindi/Urdu spoken widely throughout northern India but is not an official language (2001 census).
India has the largest English-speaking (native + non-native) population of any country in the world. It also has very vibrant technology and startup sectors, here's a recent episode of Bloomberg TV India's e-Inc. about one entrepreneur in India rebuilding Housing.com:

Rebuilding Housing.com:

Video above: Housing.com has finally moved away from all the controversies post Rahul Yadav’s exit. Under the new CEO, Jason Kothari, Housing has heavily restructured operations, worked on building blocks and is already on track for $10MM revenue in less than a year. Speaking to Abha Bakaya of Bloomberg TV India, he tells about how he’s preparing Housing.com to take full advantage of the pickup in India’s real estate market. Video above published July 27, 2016.

But India is different to most Westerners, see, e.g., Why the Vast Majority of Women in India Will Never Own a Smartphone | WSJ.com"Technology, promoted as a social equalizer, is having the opposite effect in one of the world’s largest markets, where millions go without the information and tools transforming the lives of men."  See also https://meetings.icann.org/en/hyderabad57/safety.

Also note that ICANN is certainly no stranger to a growing group of stakeholders inside India who have voiced concerns about the California corporation. Below is a sampling from one such group, The Centre for Internet and Society:

•   Why didn't ICANN ever come clean about its complete spending on NETmundial Initiative?--most likely it would have been too embarrassing for former ICANN CEO Fadi Chehade's inept administration, enabled by an equally inept ICANN Board of Directors--but some people in India want to know, see DIDP Request #9 - Exactly how involved is ICANN in the NETmundial Initiative? | The Centre for Internet and Society | cis-india.org: "The importance and relevance of knowing ICANN’s involvement in the NETmundial Initiative cannot be overstated."  For more, see:
IANA Transition: a case of the Emperor’s New Clothes? | The Centre for Internet and Society | cis-india.org: "ICANN prides itself on being transparent and accountable, but in reality it is not. The most often used exception to avoid answering DIDP requests has been “Confidential business information and/or internal policies and procedures,” which in itself is a testament to ICANN’s opacity. Another condition for non-disclosure allows ICANN to reject answering “Information requests: (i) which are not reasonable; (ii) which are excessive or overly burdensome; (iii) complying with which is not feasible; or (iv) are made with an abusive or vexatious purpose or by a vexatious or querulous individual.”. These exemptions are not only vague, they are also extremely subjective: again, demonstrative of the need for enhanced accountability and transparency within ICANN. Key issues have not been addressed even at the time that the transition is formally underway. The grounds for denying DIDP requests are still vague and wide, effectively giving ICANN the discretion to decline answering difficult questions, which is unacceptable from an entity that is at the center of the multi-billion dollar domain name industry."
See also: Internet democratisation: IANA transition leaves much to be desired | The Centre for Internet and Society | cis-india.org: "... Another critical issue that the [IANA] transition does not address is that of ICANN accountability. Post-transition, ICANN’s board will continue to be the ultimate decision-making authority, thus controlling the organisation’s functioning, and ICANN staff will be accountable to the board alone. To put things in perspective, look at the board’s track record in the recent past. In August, an Independent Review Panel (IRP) found that ICANN’s board had violated ICANN’s own bylaws and had failed to discharge its transparency obligations when it failed to look into staff misbehaviour .... At best, the transition is symbolic of Washington’s oversight over ICANN coming to an end. It is also symbolic of the empowerment of the global multistakeholder community. In reality, it fails to do either meaningfully" (emphasis added).

Other internet domain news:

•  Council of Arab Ministers of Communication & Information conclude Abu Dhabi meeting with key strategic decisions | Zawya.com: "The meeting proceeded with reports on the current developments concerning the UAE registration of the .ARAB domain name in collaboration with the Arab League. The Council has instructed the UAE and the General Secretariat to pursue the plan and submit the application requirements before the end of the first quarter of 2017, including the notification to ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), international private non-profit entity responsible for the registration of internet domain names. The Council meeting also approved for the UAE to head the Arab committee responsible for the preparations for the World Telecommunication Development Conference 2017 which will take place in Argentina. The event is one of the biggest conferences in ICT development organized by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU)."

•  US average broadband speeds increase 42% YoY to 54.97 Mbps, exceeding 50 Mbps for first time ever, uploads up 51% YoY to 18.88 Mbps; Mobile internet speed gains, improve by more than 30% since 2015 with an average download speed of 19.27 Mbps in the first six months of 2016. The 4 major mobile carriers--Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, AT&T and Sprint--"are in a tight race for fastest download speeds. All four are also aggressively competing on price to attract new subscribers."--Speedtest Market Report | Speedtest.net

•  China's scary lesson to the world: Censoring the Internet works--ChicagoTribune.com: "The Internet is as much a tool for control, surveillance and commercial considerations as it is for empowerment."

•  New gTLDs in China report: The total number of domain name registrations for the top 10 new gTLDs (new generic top-level domains) continues to drop, indicating a weak new gTLD domain market in China reports coreile.com.

•  Here's how small the North Korea Internet is | thenextweb.com"It turns out that there are just twenty eight domain names using the .KP top level domain (TLD). Twenty. Eight."

 Iranians Are Cut Off from the Internet Economy, even with sanctions lifted: "Ensuring that Iranians have fair and open access to the internet is critical work for all parties. As the former UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression Frank La Rue argued, “preventing the private sector from assisting or being complicit in human rights violations of States is essential to guarantee the right to freedom of expression.” Iran will be an important test and a precedent that will show the world how committed the tech sector and the international community are in expanding and defending human rights online."--Motherboard.vice.com

•  Are you paying attention ICANN? Yahoo’s surveillance program shows why internet companies shouldn’t be deputies of law enforcement. | NewRepublic.com"It is the first known instance of a major U.S. internet company complying with a government search request of such scope."  Also: Facebook, Twitter, Google, and Microsoft agree to EU hate speech rules | The Verge: "... Europe's crackdown on hate speech has put tech companies in a difficult situation, as governments push them to assume more responsibility in policing illegal content, and there are concerns over free speech, and how the code of conduct was structured. European Digital Rights (EDRi), a Brussels-based advocacy group, criticized the code of conduct in a post ... saying that it delegates tasks to private companies that should be carried out by law enforcement.

•  Why VPN Access Is So Important & How It’s Helped Give A Voice To Millions | Collective Evolution | collective-evolution.com: "... the benefits of a VPN go far beyond content access, extending into such philosophical issues as human rights and freedom of speech and expression. VPN technology has given a voice to millions. Here’s how ..."

• CWG-Internet: Online Open Consultation (February- September 2016) | itu.int--an open consultation (online and physical) on the following topic: Building an enabling environment for access to the Internet. See Access Now response ITU Consultation: Building an enabling environment for access to the Internet (Word 2010 docx): "There have been more than 40 documented shutdowns in 2016, and dozens more over recent years on every continent. The problem has grown so dire that international institutions are pronouncing internet shutdowns a direct threat to human rights."

•  How to combat the risks of impersonation emails, imitative domains | Thompson Coburn LLP | JDSupra.com"Amid the headlines and legitimate concern about massive data breaches, we too often overlook the danger of targeted fraudulent emails, and imitative domain names and websites."

From Local to Global: Neighborhood Bookstore’s Unlikely Ally? The Internet--NYTimes.com

Most popular posts (# of pageviews Sun-Sat) this week on DomainMondo.com:
  1. New gTLD Registry Service Providers, XYZ, CentralNic $CNIC & ICANN
  2. Winners: Snapchat; Amazon; Google | Losers: Costco; Sam's Club; Fashion
  3. News Review [9Oct]: Analyst BUY Rating on GoDaddy $GDDY, Price Target $41
  4. MacroView: World's Central Bankers Doubling Down, Going For Broke?
  5. TechReview | Digital Disruption: Next 10 Years, 40% of Businesses Vanish
  6. Incompetent ICANN Struggles With Its Domain Names Marketplace Index

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo 

feedback & comments via twitter @DomainMondo


DISCLAIMER

2016-05-26

Enhancing ICANN Accountability, Much Work Left for Work Stream 2

While NTIA is still considering the IANA stewardship transition proposal (which includes WS1), the WS2 phase of work for the ICANN Cross Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN Accountability (CCWG-Accountability) is moving forward. CCWG-Accountability intentionally broke its work into 2 phases:
  1. Work Stream 1 (WS1) which is part of the IANA transition proposal currently being reviewed by NTIA, and 
  2. Work Stream 2 (WS2) work just beginning (target completion date: June 2017--see slide 4 in the last embed below):
10 WS2 Topics:
• Diversity
Human Rights (this issue has been noted by some as potentially allowing ICANN to regulate "content" on the internet)
Jurisdiction (U.S./California or Switzerland or ???)
• SO/AC Accountability [ICANN's supporting organizations' and advisory committees' accountability to the global multi-stakeholder community]
• Ombudsman
Transparency
• ICANN Staff Accountability
• Guidelines for standards of conduct presumed to be in good faith associated with exercising removal of individual ICANN Board Directors
• Reviewing the CEP [Cooperative Engagement Process (pdf)] (as set forth in Section 4.3 of the new bylaws (pdf)--not yet adopted as of May 26 )
• IRP [Independent Review Process] “phase 2” (additional topic carried over from WS1)

Below are slide presentations in preparation for the WS2 meeting at ICANN56 in Helsinki, Finland, on June 26, 2016, which indicate the breadth of work in Work Stream 2:




See also on Domain MondoIANA Transition, What's Next, Years of Litigation in U.S. Federal Courts? and Senate Commerce Hearing on ICANN & IANA Transition, Tuesday, May 24




DISCLAIMER

2016-03-23

ICANN, IANA, CCWG-Accountability Update post-Marrakech ICANN55

[CCWG-ACCT] CCWG Update post-Marrakech (source: CCWG-Accountability public mail list) (emphasis and some links added):

"To: Accountability Cross Community - Going Forward
Although the CCWG has completed an important part of our work, we are far from done, and there are a number of projects we must still complete. These projects include:
  • Drafting of Bylaws to implement our Work Stream 1 (WS1) recommendations
  • Completing the work on IRP that goes beyond the Bylaws
  • Finalizing the budget process in coordination with the CWG-Stewardship
  • Undertaking Work Stream 2 (WS2)

"Later this week, the co-Chairs will be sending a note to the Chartering Organizations (COs) to explain our plan for completing the CCWG’s remaining WS1 projects and that we assume that CO members will remain in place unless we are advised otherwise. This will be a follow-up to the communication sent on 6 March 2016.

"You will also see a call for WS2 volunteers on the ICANN website in the next few days. In accordance with ICANN’s general outreach practices, the announcement will go out to all users subscribed to ICANN news alerts, and shared amongst their regional stakeholder engagement teams, mailing lists and social media platforms.

"We ask that you also share this call for volunteers widely to ensure that all interested parties, including those outside of the ICANN ecosystem, are aware that they are welcome to participate in projects of WS2. It is important for our group to continue to strive for maximized diversity of our participants going forward.

"Bylaws Drafting
The immediate focus of our efforts is drafting the necessary Bylaws based on our WS1 recommendations. As discussed during our meeting on 10 March at ICANN55 in Marrakech, there is a critical path for the Bylaws drafting. Along with the CWG-Stewardship co-Chairs, we have instructed our legal teams to work with ICANN to draft the Bylaws. The legal teams will meet in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of this week to work through and refine language for the draft Bylaws. Our CCWG Rapporteur, Becky Burr, will attend the meeting as an observer and will send through written updates to the CCWG mailing list. Chris Disspain will also attend as an observer from the ICANN Board, and Bernard Turcotte will observe in his support role to the CCWG-Accountability.

"It is expected that the lawyers will come to an agreement by the end of this meeting and that a final draft of the proposed revisions to the Bylaws would be available for CCWG review by Friday 2 April 2016 at the latest.

"It is important to remember that the overall transition schedule depends on completing this work. In order for the transition to take place by the end of the current contract between NTIA and ICANN on 30 September 2016:

  • ICANN must publish the Bylaws for a 30-day public comment period beginning on 20 April.
  • This timeline would allow the Board to approve the changes to the Bylaws on 27 May.
  • This means that the CCWG will be required to complete its review of the draft Bylaws by Wednesday, 13 April.

"As agreed upon in Marrakech, our objective is to provide the CCWG with as much time as possible to review these draft Bylaws to confirm that the proposals are adequately reflected, with the minimum time being 7 full calendar days.

"To facilitate the CCWG’s review, we will be organizing two meetings on: 5 April from 19:00-21:00 UTC, and 7 April from 12:00-14:00 UTC, where the legal teams can answer any questions we have with respect to the draft Bylaws. Prior to submission to the CCWG, the external counsel to the CCWG will be asked to confirm that the Bylaws are an appropriate reflection of the CCWG’s proposal.

"We do not anticipate any plenary CCWG calls before the Bylaw review calls on 5 and 7 April. The IRP subgroup may have a meeting next week to discuss the IRP section of the Bylaws, but we leave this decision to Becky who is leading the effort on developing further IRP implementation guidance.

"Implementation and WS2

Once the Bylaws work is complete, we will turn our focus to our inventory of WS2 items. However, this does not prevent anyone in the group from launching into discussions on the mailing list and self-organizing around the topics.

"Regarding mailing lists, we have decided to keep the conversation on the main CCWG list until there is enough interest and discussion to launch a separate sub-group list. This way, we can manage the prioritization and sequencing of our work based on the group’s interest. To help us make a determination on when to launch a separate mailing list, it would be useful for the discussion on the main CCWG mailing list to be around scope, initial research, work plan, etc. It should be noted that the Human Rights effort already has a mailing list (former “WP4” group), and anyone interested in joining that mailing list may contact acct-staff.
Thank you,
Mathieu, Leon, Thomas,
Co-Chairs, CCWG-Accountability"

See also: News Review (March 20): ICANN, IANA, NTIA, Congress, the American People | DomainMondo.com

Note: CCWG-Accountability meetings schedule here which are online via Adobe Connect (open to silent "observers") icann.adobeconnect.com/accountability/.




DISCLAIMER

2015-12-14

What Is WSIS+10? WSIS Is Not ISIS, but ICANN Is From Switzerland!

Logo of WSIS+10 UNGA high-level meeting, Dec 15-16, New York City
WSIS+10 UNGA high-level meeting, Dec 15-16, New York City
Tomorrow is the opening of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) high-level meeting commonly referred to as the culmination of WSIS+10. What is WSIS+10?

First, WSIS is the "World Summit on the Information Society" [2003-2005], and it has no connection, real or imagined, with the group commonly referred to as ISIS or the "Islamic State in Iraq and Syria." 

Second, WSIS+10 or #WSIS10 references the overall review of the implementation of the WSIS outcomes in 2015:

2015 | WSIS Review: "Paragraph 111 of the Tunis Agenda [2005], endorsed by the General Assembly in resolution 60/252, requested the General Assembly to undertake the overall review of the implementation of the WSIS outcomes in 2015. In response, the General Assembly in resolution 68/302, decided that the overall review will be concluded by a two-day high-level meeting of the General Assembly, to be preceded by an intergovernmental process that also takes into account inputs from all relevant stakeholders of the World Summit on the Information Society."

UPDATE: LIVE video Tue-WedWSIS+10, World Summit on the Information Society, New York, Dec 15-16

What are the issues? According to the Internet Society:
  • Internet governance: "Overall a discussion on the benefits and challenges of the multistakeholder approach in implementing the WSIS Action Lines is expected. In this context, the renewal of the mandate of the IGF [Internet Governance Forum] will be discussed ... The notion of “enhanced cooperation” (paragraph 69, Tunis Agenda) will also be addressed. At the heart of the issue are very different views on whether “enhanced cooperation” is specifically about enhancing the role of governments in Internet governance, or whether it is about enhancing cooperation between all stakeholders, including governments."
  • The role of ICTs (Information and Communication Technologies) in development; 
  • Privacy, Security and Human Rights. (emphasis added)

WSIS+10 Links:
1. The WSIS+10 UN websitehttps://publicadministration.un.org/wsis10/
2. Outcome Document (pdf) of the High­Level Meeting of the General Assembly on the Overall
Review of the Implementation of WSIS Outcomes
3. Live coverage of the WSIS+10 High-level Meeting and Side Events is available on UN Live Web TV for the following:
  • United Nations General Assembly High-level Meeting, 15-16 December 10AM – 6PM EST
  • Side event: Strengthening the Impact of WSIS Action Lines for Sustainable Development: Showcasing Best Practices, Transferring Know-How, Fostering Partnerships. 14 December, 1:15PM EST, Conference Room11
  • Side event: Women’s Empowerment in the Digital Age: Implementing WSIS Outcome and Agenda 2030. 15 December, 1PM EST, Conference Room 6
  • Side Event: Enabling a Trusted Connected World. 16 December, 1:15PM EST, Conference Room 7
The stakeholders who are attending are varied, but of course governments will have a dominating presence. One surprise though, ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, a California non-profit corporation) listed its domicile/residence as "Switzerland"--

List of Stakeholder Registrations for Dec 15-16 UN General Assembly WSIS+10 High-Level Meeting
List of Stakeholder Registrations for Dec 15-16 UN General Assembly WSIS+10 High-Level Meeting
Above from List of Stakeholder Registrations (pdf) for Dec 15-16 UN General Assembly WSIS+10 High-Level Meeting





DISCLAIMER

2015-11-09

Internet Governance Forum, #IGF2015, Nov 9-13, Daily Highlights

Internet Governance Forum 2015  #IGF2015
Mon-Fri 9-13 Nov 2015 (Day 0 - Day 4) at João Pessoa, Brazil
Date / Time (24hr) in João Pessoa:

The Internet Governance Forum page on IGF 2015 is here
IGF2015 Schedulehttp://www.intgovforum.org/cms/igf-2015-schedule
Daily Highlights: see further below
IGF 2015 Official (Brazil) Websitehttp://www.igf2015.br/
IGF 2015 List of Accepted Workshops
IGF 2015 Remote Participation and Webcasts

@intgovforum
Twitter handle #IGF2015



Monday, November 9th Highlights:
11:00 - 12:00 Freedom House - Freedom on the Net 2015 Report
13:00 - 14:00 ISOC Annual Event 
Tuesday, November 10th Highlights:
09:00 - 12:30 WSIS+10 Consultations
11:00 - 12:00 Open Forum - ITU
Wednesday, November 11th Highlights:
14:00 - 15:30 WS 50 WGIG +10
Friday, November 13th Highlights:

For the IGF 2015 meeting, the IGF's MAG decided to retain the title “Evolution of Internet Governance: Empowering Sustainable Development” as the overarching theme. This theme will be supported by eight sub-themes that will frame the discussions at João Pessoa, namely:
  • cybersecurity and trust;
  • the Internet economy;
  • inclusiveness and diversity;
  • openness;
  • enhancing multistakeholder cooperation;
  • the Internet and human rights;
  • critical Internet resources; and
  • emerging issues.
Remote participation will be available according to the Internet Governance Forum: "The links to access each meeting room will be provided one day before the IGF. All main sessions, workshops, Dynamic Coalitions, Open Fora, Side Sessions and Pre-events will have webcast, captionning and remote participation (Some workshop organizers may ask for some sessions not to have remote participation). Remote participants/hubs should take a look at the IGF schedule on the home page to see the room and the time of the sessions they would like to follow."

See also on Domain MondoInternet Society, US Government, ICANN, at IGF 2015, Nov 9-13




DISCLAIMER

2015-11-08

Internet Society, US Government, ICANN, at IGF 2015, Nov 9-13


Above: The meeting venue for Internet Governance Forum 2015. IGF 2015 will take place in the Poeta Ronaldo Cunha Lima Conference Center, João Pessoa, Brazil, opened to the public in 2014. The center's 48,600 square meters were built parallel to the PB-008 highway, opposite the Jacarapé beach, and comprising four buildings: a 55 meter observation tower, a 19,000 square meter exhibition pavilion, a conference center, and the Ariano Suassuna Theater, with 2,340 seats. Source: http://www.igf2015.br/

Internet Governance Forum 2015  #IGF2015
Mon-Fri 9-13 Nov 2015 (Day 0 - Day 4) at João Pessoa, Brazil
Date / Time (24hr) in João Pessoa:

The Internet Governance Forum page on IGF 2015 is here
IGF2015 Schedulehttp://www.intgovforum.org/cms/igf-2015-schedule
IGF 2015 Official (Brazil) Websitehttp://www.igf2015.br/
IGF 2015 List of Accepted Workshops
IGF 2015 Remote Participation and Webcasts

The Internet Society (ISOC) has long been committed to the success of the IGF and will be there in numbers: Board Members, CEO, staff, members and fellows. ISOC invites everyone to the following two events (in person or remotely online):

Community meeting on Internet Governance challenges & WSIS+10 (ISOC Annual Event)
Day 0, Monday, 9 November, 13:00 – 14:00 local time, room 2
This meeting will be focused on the WSIS+10 Review, which will be held at the UN headquarters in New York in December. It will be an opportunity to exchange perspectives on key issues within the negotiations between all stakeholders, including the private sector, civil society and the Internet technical community. All interested stakeholders are invited to attend and participate in this open discussion.

Internet Society Open Forum at IGF - Connecting people across the globe
Day 2, Wednesday, 11 November, 11:00-12:00 local time, room 3
This annual event offers the opportunity to give an overview of the Internet Society’s mission, key activities and regional breadth. It will offer the opportunity to engage with senior members of staff, including Internet Society CEO, Kathy Brown and members of the ISOC Board.

You can find more on ISOC’s engagement at the IGF 2015, along with remote participation information and regular updates throughout the week on key developments: http://www.internetsociety.org/igf2015 Source: IGF 2015: Tackling key challenges with everyone at the table | Internet Society

U.S. Government Participation at the 2015 Internet Governance Forum: U.S. Ambassador to Brazil Liliana Ayalde, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information Larry Strickling, Coordinator for Cyber Issues Christopher Painter, and U.S. Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy Ambassador Daniel A. Sepulveda will travel to João Pessoa, Brazil for the 2015 Internet Governance Forum (IGF).. The United Nations’ World Summit on the Information Society established the IGF in 2005 to address evolving questions related to such issues as access and connectivity, Internet economy and development, Internet governance, human rights and Internet freedom, and cyber security and trust with the multistakeholder community. This is the tenth IGF, and the theme this year is: “Evolution of Internet Governance: Empowering Sustainable Development.” The IGF is a global, open, and inclusive venue in which attendees share views, concerns, and experiences on current Internet issues and, by doing so, demonstrate the value of the multistakeholder processes that have made the Internet an engine of global economic growth and innovation. The U.S. Government looks forward to the dialogue in workshops and other collaborations with Internet stakeholders, including members of governments, industry, civil society, academia, and the technical community. (Source: U.S. Government)

ICANN at IGF 2015: A number of ICANN Board Directors, community members and staff are participating in IGF 2015. ICANN is organizing a session on Day 0 (9-Nov) on the IANA Stewardship transition and ICANN accountability, and an Open Forum on Day 2 (11-Nov).

ICANN Accountability and Global Governance Discourse
When: Monday, 9 November 2015, 10:30 – 12:00
This panel discussion informs attendees of the latest developments in the IANA Stewardship transition and ICANN accountability processes and discusses influences on global governance discourse. Members of the various working groups and community leaders are taking part in this panel.

ICANN Open Forum
When: Wednesday, 11 November 2015, 09:00 – 10:00
The ICANN Open Forum aims to update participants on progress ICANN has made in key areas of its work since last year’s IGF in Istanbul. This is an interactive session where IGF participants get the opportunity to engage in an open dialogue with ICANN’s leadership and exchange views on various issues.

In addition, a number of IGF 2015 workshops have been organized by ICANN community members. More info here.




DISCLAIMER

2015-04-15

Global Conference on CyberSpace, 16-17 April 2015, Cybersecurity, Privacy

GCCS2015, Global Conference on CyberSpace, April 16-17, 2015, at The Hague, the Netherlands. Conference website: gccs2015.com

Sessions will be streamed LIVE online, both Thursday and Friday, on the program website: https://www.gccs2015.com/programme and at YouTube.

Follow on Twitter: #GCCS2015 and @GCCS2015


Webinar Series (see video playlist below) Core Reading:
Deibert, Ron "Towards a cyber security strategy for global civil society?"
Maurer, Tim and Rob Morgus "Cybersecurity' and Why Definitions are Risky"
ICT4Peace paper "A Role for Civil Society? ICTs, Norms, and Confidence Building Measures in the Context of International Security" on the role of civil society in cybersecurity
International Committee of the Red Cross blog post "International Humanitarian Law and and Human Rights Law" on international human rights and international humanitarian law
Rossini, Carolina and Green, Natalie "Cybersecurity and Human Rights Course Overview"
Lin, Herb "Cyber Conflict and International Humanitarian Law" article for International Committee of the Red Cross

GCCS2015 Webinar (#1 of 7 in playlist) Introductory Session Cybersecurity and Human Rights -
First video (out of 7 on the above playlist)--Cybersecurity and Human Rights--is part of the effort to facilitate effective civil society engagement at GCCS2015, the Global Conference on CyberSpace.  The above videos, each delivered by experts in the field, mirror the agenda of the main Conference, and allow participants to gain a wider understanding of the cybersecurity, privacy and human rights issues that will be addressed at the Conference. Each webinar consists of a 30-minute presentation, followed by a 30 minute Q&A session. (source: GCCS2015)


2014-12-16

Internet Governance, US-EU Cyber Dialogue, Agreements

At the inaugural meeting of the U.S.-EU Cyber Dialogue in Brussels, Belgium on December 5, 2014, the participants jointly agreed to specific areas of collaboration and cooperation in various areas including internet governance as follows:

Internet Governance Developments in 2015

"All reiterated that no single entity, company, organization or government should seek to control the Internet and expressed their full support for multi-stakeholder governance structures of the Internet that are inclusive, transparent, accountable, and technically sound. As such we:
  • emphasized the value of the annual Internet Governance Forum (IGF) and encouraged its ongoing improvements in line with the UN Commission on Science and Technology for Development recommendations. Urged renewal of the IGF’s mandate and the continuation of its work, according to paragraph 72 of The Tunis Agenda, beyond the end of its current mandate in 2015.
  • recognized the importance of the NETmundial Global Multistakeholder Meeting on the Future of Internet Governance hosted by Brazil in April 2014 which set common principles and important values for an inclusive, multistakeholder, and evolving governance framework. Both sides are committed to implementing the NETmundial roadmap.
  • welcomed the multi-stakeholder community’s engagement on efforts to address accountability of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and transitioning the stewardship of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), recognizing the positive progress of these two interrelated initiatives."
Other topics covered included:
  • International Security in Cyberspace
  • Cybersecurity
  • Cybercrime
  • Promotion and Protection of Human Rights Online
  • Global Cyber Capacity Building
  • and Upcoming Cyber Events
"The two sides look forward to the UN General Assembly ten-year review of the World Summit on the Information Society in 2015. They both believe that the timing of the review is appropriate as the UN General Assembly will be finalizing a post-2015 development agenda, and the review will build on efforts to continue bridging the digital divide. The General Assembly’s recognition and allowance for multistakeholder participation in the review was appreciated, and participation from all stakeholders is strongly encouraged and welcomed. With the increasing relevance that cyber issues play in society overall, the United States and the EU welcomed the upcoming Global Conference on Cyberspace in The Hague in April 2015 and the annual Freedom Online (Coalition) Conference in Mongolia in May 2015."

It was agreed that collaborative efforts will continue and to convene the U.S.-EU Cyber Dialogue again in approximately one year’s time in Washington, D.C. Further information available here.


2014-10-23

Multi-Stakeholder Community Losing Faith In ICANN, Beginning of the End?

The Beginning of the End for ICANN?

"Is the ICANN multi-stakeholder community losing faith in ICANN? It might be the case and someone in the cyclopean ICANN structure might have started to perceive it." -- LA Confidential – ICANN 51 meeting | CENTR (Council of European National Top Level Domain Registries) (read more at the link)

John Gilmore saw this coming over twelve years ago:

It’s time for ICANN to go - Salon.com--July 2, 2002 : "....Critics from across the political spectrum have claimed for years that ICANN is secretive, slow, inefficient and, worst of all, firmly in the pocket of special interests. But in recent weeks, the rhetoric has gone up a notch. Suddenly, ICANN is at a crossroads...."If we are lucky, the current ICANN will be scrapped as a failed experiment. Its assets and powers will be handed on to some new experiment, hopefully with transparency, openness, accountability and respect for human rights built in deeply, not only in its corporate structure but in the people who we elect and hire to run it."(John Gilmore)...." (read more at link above)

Recommended reading: CENTR report on ICANN 51: centr-report-icann51-20141017.pdf  Excerpt: "Staffan Jonson provided an update on the ITU plenipotentiary meeting in Busan. Staffan highlighted the draft resolution 102 as having the possibility to affect the naming and addressing community. Sam added that three proposals are problematic. Some proposal changed the resolutions from “ITU being an enabler to discuss naming issues” to “ITU being the platform for governments to discuss naming issues”. For an excellent update on accountability and the different groups that will be dealing with read Jordan Carter's (pdf). Martin Boyle gave a good of the work and plans of the ICG, including timelines (pdf)."

See also: The future health of the internet comes down to ONE simple question--Can ICANN be forced to agree to oversight of its decisions? by Kieren McCarthy, The Register




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