Thanks Mawaki,

The basic intent of the idiom in English (as I understand it) is that the
mission has "de facto" grown beyond the bounds of its original mandate
without formal "de juris" approval to do so, and without formal oversight
over the process.

The sense of this expression does not explicitly distinguish between
"accidental" and "intentional" expansion of the mission beyond the
originally specified role (it's more of a hybrid concept, where small
intentions create an accidental large effect, or else an effect that is
intended to stay undetected indefinitely).

The metaphor is also related to living things -- think of a patch of moss
expanding to greater area on the ground over time, or mold gradually
covering a piece of cheese.  This happens in the realm of policy
implementation all the time, in both the public and private sectors, which
is why it has risen to the status of idiom in the English language.

Hope this helps with the translation of this phrase.  "Usurpation" seems a
little strong, but "diversion" doesn't capture the sense of *expansion*,
which I think is the primary focus of the phrase in our case.  If you can
find a word that also includes the connotation of "out of explicit control"
and/or "under the radar"/"without formal oversight" that would help.

Thanks,
Dan

PS -- I'm doing the web maintenance for this campaign on behalf of IP
Justice, for NCUC, and I will also need translations of the headers and
descriptions (and selection options) of the input items below the petition
text, in the sign-up form (name, email, organization, country, coalition
option).  Please see:

http://www.keep-the-core-neutral.org/petition

I will probably be adding a separate petition page for each language for
which we have a translation, with flag-illustrated links between them.  At
this time we will only be creating multiple language versions of the
petition page itself (and probably the petition-confirmation page), not the
full web site.  BTW, I got the list of countries (including independently
governed territories) from Wikipedia.  It may be useful to get translations
of that list as well, but I will need a separate source for that as well,
perhaps the French Wikipedia has  a similar list?



At 3:37 PM -0700 6/20/07, Mawaki Chango wrote:
>Translation in French:
>
>Note, I'm not sure about the "mission-creep", whether it implies
>the idea of usurpation, or just something going off hand. I put
>in the translation below two (imperfect) options in square
>brackets, sepaprated by a slash. Anyone has better idea?
>
>********
>Pétition mondiale au Conseil d’administration de l’ICANN:
>“Garder le Noyau Neutre”
>
>Chacun a le droit de chercher, de recevoir et de répandre sans
>interférence les informations et les idées par quelque media que
>ce soit, y compris le cyberespace.
>
>Au moment où le nouvel espace générique de nom de domaine du top
>niveau émerge et que des choix politiques sont faits sur la
>manière dont on peut exprimer les idées au top niveau de
>l’Internet, nous demandons à l’ICANN de garder le noyau neutre
>des contentieux non techniques et de choisir des politiques qui
>respectent la liberté d’expression et permettent l’innovation
>dans le nouvel espace de nom de domaine.
>
>Encourager la libre circulation des informations est un principe
>fondateur des décisions de politique publique relatives aux
>technologies de l’information et de la communication. Les droits
>de la liberté d’expression, lesquels sont fondamentaux dans une
>Société de l’Information, servent à promouvoir la participation
>démocratique et a renforcer l’autonomie individuelle ainsi que
>le développement économique.
>
>Le Cyberespace reste un lieu unique et spécial transcendant des
>divisions anciennes, et où diverses communautés interagissent
>facilement et tous les points de vue sont bienvenus, à condition
>que ces caractéristiques soient valorisées par les décideurs des
>politiques qui établissent les règles de gouvernance de
>l’Internet, et incorporées dans les politiques concernant la
>manière dont on exprime les idées par les noms de domaine.
>
>Nous demandons à l’ICANN de se cantonner a son mandat technique
>et de s’abstenir d’insérer des objectifs politiques particuliers
>nationaux, régionaux, moraux, ou religieux dans des règles
>globales sur l’utilisation de la langue dans les noms de
>domaine. Ce serait pour l’ICANN une dangereuse [“mission-creep”
>= usurpation de mission / détournement de sa mission] que
>d’adjuger entre des objectifs politiques concurrents et établir
>des standards mondiaux d’expression qui sont mis en application
>à travers la fonction technique de l’ICANN. Vous êtes priés de
>ne pas laisser l’ICANN devenir un levier de contrôle global à la
>convenance de ceux qui cherchent à censurer l’expression
>impopulaire et controversée sur l’Internet. Nous exhortons ICANN
>à résister toute tentative de limitation du genre d’idées qui
>pourraient être exprimées à n’importe quel niveau de la
>hiérarchie de l’Internet. Gardez s’il vous plaît le noyau
>technique de l’Internet neutre des conflits idéologiques,
>nationaux ou autres, permettant à la liberté et à l’innovation
>de s’épanouir dans le cyberespace.
>
>Signé
>
>[individus et groupes peuvent signer]
>*******
>
>--- Robin Gross <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> NCUC:
>>
>> Please check out the civil society petition to "keep the core
>> neutral"
>> below. The global petition is directed to the ICANN Board of
>> Directors,
>> and both organizations or individuals will be welcome to sign
>> the petition.
>>
>> The Keep the Core Neutral Campaign and petition will launch
>> next week at
>> the San Juan Board meeting, so we are looking for initial
>> signatures to
>> the petition, particularly from organizations. I'd like to
>> propose that
>> NCUC sign the petition and be an initial coalition member upon
>> the
>> campaign's launch next week. What do others think?
>>
>> The campaign website is being built by Dan at:
>> www.keep-the-core-neutral.org
>>
>> Any volunteers for translations of the petition into
>> non-English languages?
>>
>> Thank you!
>> Robin
>>
>> ================
>>
>> Global Petition to ICANN Board of Directors: “Keep the Core
>> Neutral”
>>
>> Everyone has the right to seek, receive and impart information
>> and ideas
>> without interference through any media, including cyberspace.
>>
>> As the new generic top-level domain name space emerges and
>> policy
>> choices are made about how ideas may be expressed at the
>> Internet’s
>> top-level, we ask ICANN to keep the core neutral of
>> non-technical
>> disputes and choose policies that respect freedom of
>> expression and
>> permit innovation in the new domain name space.
>>
>> Encouraging the free flow of information is a foundational
>> principle of
>> public policy decisions related to information and
>> communication
>> technology. Freedom of expression rights, which are
>> fundamental in an
>> Information Society, foster democratic participation,
>> individual
>> empowerment, and economic development.
>>
>> Cyberspace remains a unique and special place that bridges
>> ancient
>> divisions, where diverse communities interact readily, and all
>> views are
>> welcome. But only if these attributes are valued by
>> policymakers who set
>> Internet governance rules and incorporated into policies about
>> how ideas
>> may be expressed in domain names.
>>
>> We ask that ICANN stay within its technical mandate and
>> refrain from
>> embedding particular national, regional, moral, or religious
>> policy
>> objectives into global rules over the use of language in
>> domain names.
>> It would be dangerous “mission-creep” for ICANN to adjudicate
>> between
>> conflicting policy objectives and set global standards for
>> expression
>> that are enforced through ICANN’s technical function. Please
>> do not
>> allow ICANN to become a convenient lever of global control by
>> those
>> seeking to censor unpopular or controversial expression on the
>> Internet.
>>
>> We urge ICANN to resist any attempt to limit what ideas may be
>> expressed
>> at any level of the Internet hierarchy. Please keep the
>> Internet’s
>> technical core neutral from national or other ideological
>> conflicts,
>> allowing freedom and innovation to flourish in cyberspace.
>>
>> Signed,
>>
>> [Individuals or groups may sign.]
>>