Dear all, I know that several of you are following the World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) issues closely -- and you are right to do so since the outcome of the WCIT discussions will directly affect our communities. The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) member states will meet in Dubai in December 2012 to update the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs), last updated in the late eighties. The big difference with the eighties is that it is proposed that the regulations would include the Internet. The ALAC has a WIKI page of relevant links for all of you to learn about the WCIT issues. There are links to further information under several sub-headings: - Internet Governance - Domain Name - IPv6 - Other Please be so kind to inform staff if you know of a good resource to list on that WIKI page. Also, if anyone knows of a good short, easy to understand introduction to the subject of ITU, WCIT & ITRs, please be so kind to suggest it for inclusion on that page. It is really important that we have resources to help our local Internet users understand what is about to happen and why we all need to be concerned about this. The message attached below, forwarded from ISOC, points to at least a partial opening of the ITU's document database and I hereby ask staff to add the link to the WIKI. The Internet Society has asked its chapters around the world to find out way to liaise with government officials in their own country and thus bring the input of individual internet users to the discussion. I believe that the At-Large community, which has a wide footprint by also having a local presence in so many countries around the world, has an important part to play in informing their governments that we actually take part in ICANN's multi-stakeholder policy making model and that we support the current multi-stakeholder Internet Ecosystem as being one which promotes innovation and development better than any other top-down system. You will find a list of the government officials of ITU member states listed here: http://www.itu.int/cgi-bin/htsh/mm/scripts/mm.list?_search=ITUstates&_langua... Please be so kind to find out who your government officials and local organisation observers are and discuss locally within your organization what you could do at local level to engage a dialogue with your local officials and ministers for them to make sure they are aware of the issues and not make the mistake of supporting recommendations that will cripple their local economy by crippling the Internet's potential for innovation. Also -- please email suggestions as to what we, the At-Large Community of ICANN, could do to continue promoting the multi-stakeholder model that we are engaged in. Warmest regards, Olivier MJ Crépin-Leblond ALAC Chair -------- Message original -------- Sujet: [Itu2012chapters] ITU Council Decision on WCIT Open Access to ITR Documents Date : Wed, 11 Jul 2012 11:29:17 -0400 De : Sally Wentworth <wentworth@isoc.org> Pour : itu2012chapters@elists.isoc.org Hello, Today, the ITU Council took up the issue of transparency of ITU WCIT documents and Member State proposals. Karen Mulberry has, again, offered a summary of the discussion and the decision below. In short, the Council?s final decision is to post only CWG-WCIT TD-64 (the draft ITRs) for public access on the WCIT-12 website (http://www.itu.int/en/wcit-12) and that the ITU will have a publicly available space on this site for all stakeholders to post opinions and comments. There will be no consultation process as was originally proposed by the SecGen and no other WCIT documents will be made publicly available. The responsibility is really now with the Member States to have an open and participatory national process to allow for a full and transparent discussion about the WCIT. *============================* *ITU Council Decision on WCIT Open Access to ITR Documents* 11 July 2012 the ITU Council discussed a process regarding open and unrestricted access to WCIT and ITR proposals and documents. The Sec Gen presented a plan to make the CWG-WCIT document TD-64 openly accessible to the public to address the public request for access, openness and transparency. The SecGen also proposed that any CWG-WCIT proposals that are made openly accessible should be posted without any reference to their source contributor. There was also a proposal by Japan to make CWG-WCIT TD-62 (the compilation of proposals) openly accessible as this would assist in national consultations. However, there were other countries that wanted all ITR proposals to be withheld from the public and not accessible without a TIES password. In addition, it was noted that changes to the procedures to enable the publication of proposals to ITU conferences will need ITU Plenipotentiary Conference consideration in 2014 before any open process can be adopted. In the meantime, it is up to Member States to conduct open consultations to prepare for WCIT where the Member State can freely share its proposals and information. Secretary General Toure also presented a proposal for a public online consultation to be moderated by his office where all stakeholders would have the opportunity to submit proposals and comments on the ITRs. The Secretary General thought that this would allow the ITU to strengthen its credibility and reputation as well as the credibility of the WCIT process, which have both been victim to a series of inaccurate media reports. The SecGen also noted that proceeding with an open consultation will continue to foster an image of the ITU as an open, transparent and listening organization; and will provide a transparent platform for all stakeholders to engage, participate and air their views. Submissions to the ?Public Consultation? would be posted on the WCIT-12 web site and MAY be considered by Member States when preparing their proposals for the ITRs. After much discussion, the Council?s final decision is to post only CWG-WCIT TD-64 (the draft ITRs) for public access on the WCIT-12 website (http://www.itu.int/en/wcit-12) and that the ITU will have a publicly available space on this site for all stakeholders to post opinions and comments. There will be no consultation process as was originally proposed by the SecGen and no other WCIT documents will be made publicly available. Sally Wentworth Internet Society +1 703 439 2146 wentworth@isoc.org <mailto:wentworth@isoc.org> www.isoc.org