[WSIS CS-Plenary] Fwd: PrepCom-3 Highlights: 26-27 September 2005

[Tracey Naughton]

 	PrepCom-3 Highlights

Telephone:	 +41 22 730 6039
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E-mail:	 wsismedia at itu.int
Website:	 www.itu.int/wsis/newsroom/2/

PrepCom-3 Highlights: 26-27 September 2005

Discussions move into top gear
With time now short, the drafting process begins in earnest


Internet governance discussions kicked off this morning with  
delegations getting down to the business of drafting text that will  
eventually become part of the outcome documents of November’s World  
Summit.

After a weekend devoted to informal consultations, delegations  
launched into the week with the first round of detailed proposals on  
non-status document DT/10. While Chairman Khan urged delegates not to  
reopen text already agreed in previous documents, he assured them  
that “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.”

With double sessions of both Sub-Committees now planned for the  
coming three days, the meeting quickly knuckled down to examining the  
language of the document, prompting an early intervention from the  
Internet Society warning delegates not to politicize the governance  
issue or “change for change’s sake”.

As focus turned to the first paragraph of the document (paragraph 39)  
El Salvador called for a more direct link between Internet governance  
and development. Saudi Arabia pointed to the difference between an  
“equitable” and an “equal” distribution of resources, noting  
that while the former, as contained in the draft text, might be  
considered a value judgment, the latter would represent a real goal  
to aim for.

The room also saw plenty of discussion on the importance of the  
various Geneva Principles, particularly network security and  
stability. However, while some considered this paramount, others,  
including Brazil, Iran (Islamic Rep. of) and South Africa, insisted  
that no one principle should be allowed to dominate.

Drafting support

Generalized frustration over lack of progress prompted a question on  
when drafting groups, first mooted last week, would be set up.  
Chairman Khan reminded delegates that until detailed proposals began  
to be received, groups could not begin work.

Attention then moved to the wording of paragraph 43, with Uruguay  
asking that the contribution of civil society and the academic,  
scientific and technical communities be recognized separately; others  
objected, countering that no such separation was found in the Geneva  
Principles. Chairman Khan suggested Uruguay, Saudi Arabia,  
Bangladesh, Iran (Islamic Rep. of) and others might get together to  
resolve the issue, and an unlucky few skipped their lunch break to  
draft a new text.

Building consensus step by step

Discussions progressed to one of the most delicate parts of the  
document — section 3a on management of critical Internet resources.  
Many Asian, African and Latin American delegations called for  
internalization of root server management; others emphasized the  
importance of national sovereignty regarding top-level domains, and  
the need for action to reinforce regional Internet registries (RIRs).

Chairman Khan concluded the morning session by setting up two  
drafting groups — one led by Uruguay on stakeholder roles, and  
another by Saudi Arabia on DT/10 section 3a.

Night sessions begin

As the day’s close saw delegates from Sub-Committee B wend their way  
home, Sub-Committee A reconvened to begin the first of the  
conference’s night sessions.

First up was a report from the two working groups, with Uruguay  
announcing success on building consensus on the role of stakeholders,  
and Saudi Arabia presenting a draft text that nonetheless contained  
many square brackets (indicating lack of agreement on the wording).

Promising to address the outstanding issues in this text during  
discussion of Part 5 of DT/10, Chairman Khan moved discussion on to  
paragraphs 49-55.

The focus during much of Monday evening was on issues such as spam,  
cybercrime, interconnection costs, Internet Exchange Points (IXPs),  
and the need for an enabling environment to promote investment and  
drive equipment costs down.

Promoting sound management, enabling access

Resisting general support for a more international approach, the US,  
Australia and others emphasized the need for national action on  
issues like cybercrime, spam and development of local infrastructure.

For its part, the UK asked that the concept of Internet access be  
extended beyond computers to include other access devices, and  
observed that today’s largely privatized environment also meant it  
was not enough to simply urge governments to invest: “We need to  
create business opportunities that will allow investment to happen,”  
the delegate said.

Delegations stressed the need to keep sight of development issues  
such as spam, which while an annoyance in the developed world,  
represents a major impediment to access for developing countries,  
whose low-bandwidth links quickly become clogged. Debate over  
interconnection costs prompted Chairman Khan to call on expert input  
to establish facts about price differentials between different  
countries.

The session’s final interventions were from civil society groups,  
with the African Caucus proposing a compulsory global fund to promote  
open source software, and the Gender Caucus reminding delegates of  
the need to recognize gender issues as part of ICT access, and  
incorporate appropriate language reflecting this in final texts.

Chairman Khan moved to create three new working groups, led by Norway  
(paragraphs 52-55), Canada (paragraphs 49-51) and Senegal/Ghana  
(paragraphs 56-61).

Meetings continue at gruelling pace

Worked speeded up with the help of new document DT/14, a  
comprehensive compilation of comments and input on DT/10.

While the three working groups continued their labours outside the  
room, Committee A embarked on an in-depth reading section 5 of DT/10  
— potentially the most controversial section of the document.

While most delegations speaking early in the process, including  
Brazil, India and Iran (Islamic Rep. of), favoured what they called  
an evolutionary approach, there was little consensus on the issue of  
the establishment of a new advisory body or forum. Some, such as the  
EU, spoke out in support of using existing management frameworks.  
Iran (Islamic Rep. of), for its part, submitted a detailed proposal  
based on the following principles: rejection of a pre-eminent role  
for any single government; establishment of a multilateral,  
transparent and democratic multi-stakeholder forum; and the setting  
up of a global council to provide oversight, negotiate treaties and  
guidelines, and develop rules and procedures for dispute resolution.

There was broad support for this proposal, with a great many  
delegations signalling their approval, particularly those from the  
developing world. Delegations from the developed world, including  
Australia, the EU, Japan and the US, were more cautious, preferring  
to recognize the important role played by existing institutions.  
Singapore perhaps best characterized the compromise position,  
supporting the ideas expressed by Iran (Islamic Rep. of) but also the  
notion of “proportional governance” and more extensive  
consultation before creating any new body. Barbados expressed many  
delegations’ sentiments well when it noted that while improvement to  
the current situation is badly needed, Internet governance needs to  
be a “work in progress”.

A short break saw the EU come back with a clear proposal for a forum  
with multi-stakeholder involvement. Canada added its support, and  
there was general backing for the idea of a forum linked to the UN.

Chairman Khan decided to create another new drafting group, led by  
Egypt, on multilingualism and enabling environment, and heard quite  
positive results from the three drafting groups led by Norway, Canada  
and Senegal/Ghana. Canada and Norway were asked to continue to refine  
their outputs, while Saudi Arabia will continue to lead work on  
finalizing paragraph 3a.

The meeting plodded forward steadily, eventually adding a section  
39c, and approving paragraphs 40, 41, 42, 43, 43bis, and 44.

However, with four working groups, led by Norway, Canada, Saudi  
Arabia and El Salvador (on paragraph 39 bis), continuing to work  
through the night on new text, delegates were optimistic of better  
progress when sessions resumed on Wednesday morning.

Implementation issues — negotiations begin in earnest

Chairman Lyndall Shope-Mafole opened the second week of negotiations  
in Sub-committee B with comments from observers.

The United Nations University noted that an inclusive and open  
information and knowledge society could only prosper with the open  
sharing of educational content.

Reiterating commitment to the WSIS process, an ITU delegate said the  
Union would be ready to provide advice to member states to ensure  
“that adequate measures aimed at disaster mitigation are taken on  
board when ICT projects are being implemented, be it for early  
warning, response, relief, and for the reconstruction and  
rehabilitation of networks.”

A pledge that matched the proposal was made by Pakistan on behalf of  
the Asian group, providing a new paragraph on the importance of ICT  
for disaster prevention and management, early warning, and emergency  
communication. The input, the delegate said, was based on the  
experiences during last year’s horrific tsunami. Such disasters  
should be seen as “major impediments to poverty reduction and  
development”.

Full steam ahead

Moving on from the point where work had stopped last week,  
delegations quickly ticked off one paragraph after another. Steering  
the body with dash of good humour, Chairman Shope-Mafole brokered  
compromises when disagreement threatened to stall the process. In  
order to ensure the rights of minorities and foreigners, Canada  
insisted in changing “citizen” into “people” so as not to  
exclude anyone from the benefits of ICTs. Cameroon suggested to not  
only commit to helping an anonymous set of “people”, but also  
highlighting exactly the ones in need of help.

With Sub-Committee B now also following a doubled schedule of daily  
meetings, pressure on negotiators is steadily rising. Smaller  
delegations in particular were beginning to find themselves stretched  
in terms of following proceedings in the main committee meeting and  
the various different drafting groups.

The second reading of the chapter on Implementation Mechanisms led to  
a lengthy debate, with one camp opting for more general terms on  
implementation without a specific timeline, with the intention of  
providing flexibility in devising national e-strategies, and another  
arguing for clear implementation mechanisms and proper deadlines as a  
pre-requisite for the establishment of development plans and poverty  
reduction strategies. “We have to develop a sense of urgency”,  
explained a delegate from Egypt.

Tunisia, host of the forthcoming Summit, proposed a compromise: The  
roadmap for implementation should contain a valid timeline while  
leaving individual states room to manoeuvre. The Chair urged  
governments to propose concrete dates as a means of meeting the  
commitments made at the Summit.

Venezuela’s plea for the reduction of technological dependency was  
supported by several countries, but was opposed by the US delegation,  
arguing that it was contradictory that those interested in ICT  
development would want to decrease their dependence on technology.  
The US made its position clear — technology transfer should take  
place only by mutual agreement. With no imminent solution in sight,  
Ms Shope-Mafole advanced the idea of an informal meeting between  
interested countries such as the US and Brazil to discuss the matter  
further.

Countries called for more succinct language, but progress stalled  
over paragraph 7, one of the most complex sections of the document  
that comprises of 23 bullet points on the implementation action lines.

Returning to the late evening session, Sub-Committee B went back to  
tackle the chapter on Implementation Mechanisms. Given the many  
sources that had contributed to the text, delegations had to face  
considerable redundancy. Attempting to expedite the process, the  
Chair set up an informal working group to streamline the text and  
merge subparagraphs. The United Kingdom, joined by the USA, New  
Zealand, South Africa, Nigeria, and Canada, agreed to lead the  
meeting that would work with subparagraphs on ICT for capacity  
building, training and education.

A long debate on the question of access to information was polarized,  
with the US insisting on the wording “free and equitable access”  
to information while Iran and Egypt advocated “open access” to  
public information. The forming of another working group ensued, led  
by Iraq with Chad, New Zealand, Malawi, USA and Egypt.

Iceland created a brief stir asking for a reference to Intellectual  
Property Rights, but work continued thereafter, with delegates  
deleting paragraphs that were either redundant or already covered by  
the Geneva declaration.

Finally, in their interventions at the end of the session, Civil  
Society urged delegates not to broaden the scope of the political  
document and to abide by the principle of full participation of all  
stakeholders.

Parallel events

Towards a platform for media reforms in the Arab States
Network for Development together with UNDP

This workshop examined the media environment in the Arab region,  
looking at issues like censorship as well as structural and legal  
obstacles to freedom of expression and the development of a free press.

A draft platform for media reforms included nine elements:

Promoting the right to print, publish, and own newspapers and media
Promoting the independence of official media organizations
Promoting the independence of journalists; ensuring journalists’  
right to form unions
Promoting the role of judiciary and reducing penalties imposed on  
journalists
Promoting transparency in the state’s relationship with the media
Ensuring well-balanced development of the media
Ensuring good quality journalism and journalistic integrity
Regulating the relationship with Internet media
Freedom of Expression and the Information Society
Network for Development/UNDP

The year 2005, this meeting heard, was the most violent year ever for  
journalists, with assassinations, kidnappings, torture and arbitrary  
imprisonments. Panellists noted that the threat of terrorism has  
prompted the passing of new laws further restricting freedom of  
expression.

The Media Institute of Southern Africa presented the findings of a  
report by the Tunisia Monitoring Group (TMG) on freedom of expression  
in Tunisia, the host country of the second phase of WSIS. The  
findings and recommendations of the report generated heated debate  
among the participants, some of whom expressed concerns about the  
methodology of the study.

Financing the Information Society
The Digital Solidarity Fund (DSF)

“Action speaks louder than words”. So said the President of the  
Digital Solidarity Fund (DSF), Guy-Olivier Segond, who provided  
PrepCom-3 participants with an overview of the origins and purpose of  
the Digital Solidarity Fund. The fund seeks to fight poverty through  
an innovative approach to financing development, targeting  
principally smaller community-based projects that respect cultural  
diversity and local content, and help create new activities, new  
jobs, and new markets.

At the Tunis Summit, the DSF will showcase 111 projects from the  
African, Asian and Caribbean region. These projects demonstrate how  
money generated by the fund is helping extend the benefits of ICTs  
through applications like tele-education and tele-health.

Grassroots Voices – Film Screening
One World International Foundation

Ensuring that the voices of grassroots communities — those living  
below the poverty line — will be heard in the WSIS process will be  
essential to creating a truly inclusive Information Society.  
Following a compelling overview of the of issues that concern  
communities in India, Nepal and Sri Lanka, such as water provision,  
sanitation, nutrition, maternal and child healthcare, and the  
promotion of gender equality, two knowledge community workers from  
India and Nepal shared their experience of using ICTs for  
development, showing how grassroots communities can benefit from  
capacity building and from the development of relevant content in  
local languages. The panel, chaired by Conchita Poncini of the  
International Federation of University Women (IFUW), noted that  
grassroots projects should combine the use of the Internet with  
traditional media, such as radio and television, to adequately  
address lack of resources and low levels of literacy.



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