[WSIS CS-Plenary] news from the prepcom on www.worldsummit2005.org

[Ralf Bendrath]

Hi all,

below find a short overview of our news since the beginning of last week. 
Make sure to check back regularly.

Ralf

--------------------------------

http://www.worldsummit2005.org

Finance negotiations slow down, but agreement on Digital Solidarity Fund
Conflicts range from Free Software to debt swapping
23 February 2005. The governmental discussions on financing ICT for 
Development are still going on. Conflicts range from Free Software and 
interconnection fees to debts. An easy solution is not in sight anymore, 
but an early agreement was reached on the Digital Solidarity Fund. More...

Conference on Freedom of Expression and the Information Society
IFEX report puts spotlight on Tunisian human rights record
23 February 2005. A fact-finding mission by the International Freedom of 
Expression Exchange (IFEX) network has discovered serious violations of 
the right to freedom of expression in Tunisia. On Tuesday, member 
organizations of IFEX held a panel conference at the Geneva PrepCom to 
present their report. The WSIS Secretariat has tried to limit the 
distribution of the report. More...

Follow-Up to the UN ICT Task Force discussed
“Global Alliance” as part of WSIS implementation mechanism?
22 February 2005. While the PrepCom Plenary is mainly debating financing 
matters, the discussion on the follow-up to WSIS is already underway in 
the hallways and side-events of the UN Palace. Today, the UN ICT Task 
Force had invited interested stakeholders to discuss its future role after 
the mandate ends in December 2005. More...

PrepCom debate on finance
Night session in Geneva
22 February 2005. On the fourth day of the PrepCom meeting, the government 
delegates have come back to detailed discussions on the controversial 
document section focusing on financial mechanisms. Drafting groups have 
been created to solve conflicts on specific paragraphs. Negotiations will 
continue until the late evening. More...

Civil Society event on Financing the Information Society
A focus on Global Public Goods
21 February 2005. While the governmental debates on financing show deep 
controversies, civil society organizations are promoting their specific 
approaches to establishing financial mechanisms for bridging the digital 
divide. On Monday, the Instituto del Tercer Mundo (ITeM) and the Third 
World Network (TWN) held a panel debate which focused on the provision of 
global public goods. The panel presented the first outcomes of an ongoing 
research project on Southern perspectives at WSIS. More...

Second week of PrepCom2 begins
Governments discuss Operational Part
21 February 2005. After the preparatory committee had discussed chapter 2 
(on financial mechanisms) of the Operational Part of the final Tunis 
document last Friday, it has today started to gather comments on the rest 
of the Operational Part which mainly deals with the implementation of the 
Geneva Plan of Action. The Friday debate had uncovered deep divides 
between the views of Southern governments, on the one side, and the US and 
the business sector, on the other. Separate drafting groups have been 
established for the most controversial paragraphs. All comments are 
available on the ITU WSIS website

Prepcom II: Week I Wrap Up
by Rik Panganiban
20 February 2005. For those who want a summary of the inter-governmental 
negotiations, you might as well stop reading. I barely peeked into most of 
the official WSIS meetings, having spent most of the week in civil society 
meetings and other support tasks. More...

PrepCom2: Debate on financial mechanisms
Strong criticism by Southern governments
18 February 2005. The second day of PrepCom2 saw the beginning of the 
line-by-line negotiations on the draft Tunis declaration - in WSIS speak: 
the Operational Part of the Political Chapeau. The delegates discussed the 
section on financial mechanisms, which had previously been severely 
criticised by civil society representatives for its exclusive focus on 
market mechanisms and its lack of a development agenda. The "big bang" was 
avoided during today's session, but governments from the Global South made 
very clear that they regarded the document as insufficient. More...

Financing Debate Heats Up
Task Force Report critizised, but consensus emerging?
17 February 2005. The report of the WSIS Task Force on Financing 
Mechanisms that was published in January has drawn sharp criticism from a 
number of civil society groups. The CRIS Campaign has drafted an 
elaborated critique, the finance caucus is working on a statement, the 
Swss NGO coalition has published a whole booklet with alternatives, and 
the German WSIS coordination group has submitted a list of concrete 
demands to the German government. The major finance battle has started at 
PrepCom2 today. More...

What’s next after Tunis phase?
Civil Society discusses questions on “implementation mechanism” and follow-up
By Johannes Schunter
17 February 2005. While the world summit preparatory process is starting 
its main phase with PrepCom2, there is already an intense debate going on 
about how a follow-up process after the Tunis Summit should look like. 
Civil Society in this regard would clearly prefer an open and inclusive 
process like the Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) rather than a 
closed hand-picked group like the Task Force on Financial Mechanisms 
(TFFM). More...

WGIG is finalizing stakeholder input for the upcoming closed debate
Conflicts still there, but room for understanding and compromise is growing
16 February 2005. Before spending the rest of the week in closed meeting, 
the WGIG offered an additional round of open consultations to governments 
and stakeholders today. Though conflicts still are clear, there seems to 
be some convergence and openness emerging. More...

Post-WSIS follow up process?
By Rik Panganiban
16 February 2005. Lots of people in the WSIS process are just trying to 
get through to the WSIS summit meeting in  Tunis in November. But for 
those of us who want to see long term, substantive progress on the issues 
raised by the World Summit on the Information Society, we need to be 
concerned now about how the WSIS agreements are implemented and monitored. 
The recent report of the group of "Friends of the Chair" makes some 
recommendations on this that are important for civil society to examine 
and assess their views on. More...

What is “Internet Governance?
Open consultations dominated by definition controversy
15 February 2005. As the Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) 
continued its debate, a number of governments again stated their 
dissatisfaction with the current internet governance regime. How it should 
look like exactly - and what "internet governance" actually means - 
however is still not clear yet. More...

Pre-Prepcom Ramblings and Rumblings
By Rik Panganiban
14 February 2005. The first day of civil society activities in preparation 
is over. It was spent at civil society bureau and orientation meetings. 
Already we are seeing the beginnings of what could be another round of 
civil society in-fighting. More...