Подкрепяме Откритото писмо на APC.org до организаторите на Форума за управление на интернет в Бразилия' 2014

БлуЛинк подкрепя Откритото писмо от Асоциацията за прогресивни комуникации (APC) до организаторите на предстоящия форум за управление на интернет в Бразилия през 2014 г. БлуЛинк е пълноправен член на APC от 2000 г.  Пълен текст на писмото на английски:

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Open letter from the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) to the organisers of the Brazil 2014 Internet Governance Summit

Following the revelations about mass surveillance and data collection by the US National Security Agency (NSA), the debate over the legitimacy of the role of governments and internet businesses in the internet governance ecosystem has reached a critical point. The APC welcomes the initiative by the Brazilian government and ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) to convene a global meeting in 2014 to address current internet governance public policy challenges and issues.

Since its creation in 1990, the APC network and its members have been committed to achieving universal and affordable access to a free and open internet. As an NGO with consultative status with UN ECOSOC, APC participated actively in the WSIS and IGF processes, driven by the conviction that the internet is a global public good and a vital enabler of social justice, gender equality and human rights.

APC's view is that multi-stakeholder participation in internet governance is not an end in itself, it is a means to achieve the end of inclusive democratic internet governance that enables the internet to be a force, to quote from the Geneva Declaration, for “the attainment of a more peaceful, just and prosperous world.” (paragraph 2).1

APC sees the proposed meeting in Brazil as an opportunity to:

    Reinforce and strengthen efforts to improve and democratise the governance of the internet;

    Help restore trust in the internet governance ecosystem; and,

    Generate concrete and actionable outputs to address specific internet governance challenges which can then be further discussed at global and regional IGFs and at WSIS+10 meetings in the course of 2014.

Regarding the process, APC suggests that:

    Transparent, open, inclusive and participatory mechanisms are established for the involvement of all stakeholders, particularly civil society, in the planning and organisation of the summit, from its inception, both in issues of format and substance. These mechanisms must enable the full participation of civil society in decision-making on all aspects of the preparatory process, agenda setting, format, and selection of participants for the event.

    This should include online mechanisms similar to those successfully employed in Brazil for the drafting of the “Marco Civil” where all submissions were made using an open, public and transparent platform.

    To support these mechanisms all stakeholders, including governments, must commit to participation in the online preparatory consultation processes.

    The meeting should be open to all stakeholders. Where there are selection processes for participants, rigorous criteria should be applied to ensure fairness and diversityand preference should be given to people or institutions who have participated actively in this online process . This should be the case for all the stakeholders, including governments.

    Drafting groups responsible for capturing outputs should be appointed prior to the event, and include representatives from all stakeholder groups.

    All involved stakeholders should agree on a procedure that ensures that the goals of the meeting can be achieved within a reasonable time-frame.

In relation to the agenda, APC proposes that to ensure that the meeting produces concrete outcomes it focuses on two main areas:

    1) Internationalisation of ICANN and IANA. This discussion can consider inputs from the ICANN Accountability and Transparency Review Team process and, where relevant, the CSTD Working Group on Enhanced Cooperation. Prior to the meeting, an invitation should be issued to request specific proposals for achieving this internationalisation. Relevant resource people with expertise in international law and institutional frameworks should be invited to be present at the meeting.

2) An international set of principles (or a civil framework) for internet policy making that are fully harmonised with existing human rights agreements. In addressing this, some recognition needs to be given to the pressing issue of surveillance, even if it cannot be addressed in full in this particular forum.

In closing, we want to urge the government of Brazil, and ICANN, to consider the importance of reinforcing the Internet Governance Forum process (IGF). The IGF needs to be strengthened and improved. Most of these improvements have been identified in the report of the CSTD Working Group on IGF Improvements. Many of these improvements relate to increasing developing country participation.

We believe that the proposed meeting in Brazil in 2014 can contribute to strengthening the IGF, and its important relationship with the United Nations and other UN processes if it states and maintains its commitment to link to the IGF process from the outset. Failure to do this could risk fragmenting the still fragile but emerging process of consolidating an inclusive, participative and democratic internet governance ecosystem.

1From APC's submission ot the CSTD Working Group on Enhanced Cooperation, August 2013.