I joined the event remotely and listened to Ja Ma's speech with keen interest. Quite frankly, I was pleasantly surprised how direct he was.  

I cannot be pessimistic as my friend Parminder and would urge us not to make the perfect the enemy of the good. For those who went to Sao Paulo and followed the evolution of the NMI, the Council has formally adopted the Terms of Reference of the NMI that led to the Sao Paulo event. The Council has committed to do practical things to advance the outcomes from Sao Paulo, including advancing the work and role of the IGF and furthering the objectives of WSIS. 

Good enough.

Now, Jack Ma (CEO of Alibaba, usually referred in metropolitan publications as 'the Chinese e-commerce giant') could have opted to sign up for the World Economic Forum (WEF)-led thing, the one that even as it utilised Orwellian-derived language to announce itself, baldly refuted the multistakeholder, equality-in-access approach to Internet governance. Instead, he signed with the Brazilian-initiated initiative. As I listened to Jack Ma, I had a sense that he truly understands connecting each of us to all of us is in the collective best interest, Alibaba included. I think he gets it that for most of us, the Internet is about development. I think he gets it that exploiting the Internet for profit does not preclude other dire uses. And he definitely understands that intrusions of one or other kind could be inimical to all our interests. 

So, what do you do?  I will take the Council's word on its commitment. And since they have also embraced a model that allow us to talk to them and let them know if they go astray, we have a way to at least enjoin them to account.

It is as good as it gets. 

-Carlton

==============================
Carlton A Samuels
Mobile: 876-818-1799
Strategy, Planning, Governance, Assessment & Turnaround
=============================

On Wed, Jul 1, 2015 at 7:26 PM, Salanieta T. Tamanikaiwaimaro <salanieta.tamanikaiwaimaro@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear All,

Apologies for the crossposting but this I found interesting:

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2015-07/01/c_134373596.htm

SAO PAULO, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Jack Ma, founder of China's ecommerce giant Alibaba, was elected co-chairman of the Global Internet Governance Alliance (GIGA) at the first general meeting of GIGA council held here Tuesday.

"This election signifies trust in China's Internet, and how China governs its Internet," said Ma.

The meeting was set to discuss key issues related to international cooperation on Internet governance while highlighting China's role.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff had called for a just and equal global Internet environment and regarded China as the "key factor to the success of global Internet governance," said Fadi Chehade, president of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

Rousseff had suggested he find Chinese partners for cooperation, Chehade said.

To establish a multiple-stakeholder platform, Chehade said that dialogues among different partners should be improved, the platform should be transparent and just, and all stakeholders should be able to equally participate in global Internet governance.

GIGA is co-sponsored by ICANN, the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee and the World Economic Forum to provide a platform for the discussion of Internet governance solutions.

--

Salanieta Tamanikaiwaimaro aka Sala T

P. O. Box 17862

Suva

Republic of Fiji

Cell: +679 7656770;

Home: +679 3362003

Twitter: @SalanietaT

"You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honour."

Aristotle

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