WCIT-Special | November 22, 2012 View in browser Forward to a friend Update profile Special WCIT edition A crucial conference for the future of the Internet starts in just over a week. Here's what you need to know. Why we are making all WCIT documents public The overwhelming public interest case for publishing plans Continue Reading Any organization divested with the power to make significant and binding change must be obliged to properly account for the views of those it is impacting. Your guide to WCIT documentation   Over 200 documents and thousands of pages. Here's how to make sense of it all So what exactly is WCIT?   A simple guide to the conference next month How to follow events live at WCIT   It's a closed conference. But not if you follow this guide. World's largest trade union rejects ITU overtures  Unswayed by a meeting with the ITU Secretary-General, ITUC head tells us: "We will continue to oppose these proposals."  Continue Reading WCIT: the battle for hearts, minds and the Internet  Preparations for the conference next month have been going on for years. So have efforts to destroy it. Continue Reading WCIT  Dubai, 3-14 December As if by magic, Sudan gets it own Internet extension ICANN finally approves Arabic top-level domain. A week before WCIT.  Continue Reading The news earlier this week that Sudan would soon have its own top-level domain in Arabic was greeted warmly. But perhaps unsurprisingly there was no mention in theformal announcement of the long delay in getting Sudan its internationalized domain name (IDN); a delay that has soured relations between ICANN and parts of the Middle East. Earlier this year in Geneva, the delayed Sudanese bid for an Internet extension in its own language was used forcefully by ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Toure as an indication that ICANN was not accountable nor served the interests of developing nations. The Russians said what?! Last minute WCIT submission fuels fears of UN control efforts. Continue Reading With sad inevitability, fears that the WCIT conference was always going to be about surreptitious efforts by the ITU and some countries (read Russia, China, Iran and Saudi Arabia) to take over the Internet came true. Ten days passed the cut-off date for contributions to the plenary Russia sent inits contribution, now numbered 27. In it, the Russian government asked for a whole new article to be added, and filled pages with a long creed about the importance of the Internet. "The Internet has an impact on every aspect of human activity within society," it reads before extolling its virtues with regard to education, politics, business and everything in between. Governments object 242 times to new gTLDs The governments of the world revealed their objections to new gTLD applicants this week and raised a few eyebrows. A higher-than-expected 242 "early warnings" were provided covering 145 extensions in total. More than half came from a single government - Australia - which took particular exception to applications made by Donuts. Donuts has stumped up $185,000 each for 307 applications and has already faced criticism from those that highlight poor previous behavior on the part of its owners. The largest number of objections were received by the bid for dot-africa, although thanks to a careful typo, the bid is actually for dot-dotafrica. Sixteen African countries wrote in to complain about it. It's not yet certain what impact the early warnings will actually have on applications going forward. You can view them all online. New gTLD raffle details Called alternatively a raffle or tombola but officially titled a "prioritization draw", ICANN finally published details of the event it will host in Los Angeles on Monday 17 December to decide which gTLDs will be tackled in what order. The draw replaces the much-disliked and derided "digital archery" system ICANN has previously put in place. Those who have applied will have to purchase a ticket for $100 and then six in a room for six hours while ICANN literally pulls names from a hat. The new gTLD process has never looked more robust.. European Parliament discusses WCIT The European Parliament held a session this week on the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT). The European Socialists party (PES) used the touchstone of the failed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) as a way to explain that the results from the conference may cause problems down the line. PES President Sergei Stanishev warned that WCIT was a "secretive process" that "threatens fundamental rights to privacy and expression". A resolution has been tabled and was posted online for comments by MEP Marietje Schaake.. LinkedIn Twitter Facebook Google+ You are receiving this email because you opted in at our website or at one of our conferences. Our mailing address is:  .Nxt 426B Cole St San Francisco, CA 94117 Add us to your address book Copyright © 2012 .Nxt, All rights reserved.

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