This is a tough call for all of us,  but I do concur with Robin that while 
we need to be very cautious while engaging,  the presence of CGI.BR in this 
project is reassuring to me  that this project will not be hijacked by those 
whose interests are opposed to that of our members. I was fortunate enough 
to serve on the NCUC EC with Carlos and there are few in this field whom I 
respect and trust more. His assurance, and that of CGI.BR, that NMI will 
respect the bottom up, multistakeholder ethos that guides their organisation 
and that of the IG model most of us agree with holds great weight with me. 
NMI does give us the opportunity to bring our message of bottom up MS 
processes, human rights and free expression to a more diverse and, yes, more 
powerful collection of global entities.

That said, I still do not believe ICANN corporate itself should be taking a 
leadership role in the creation of the NMI. Depending upon the direction NMI 
takes, ICANN may have a role to play  but strictly in the names and numbers 
sphere. As in so much done by Mr. Chehade since he assumed office,  mission 
creep is definitely in play here and is something we need to start calling 
this Board and this executive leadership on at every opportunity. 

-----Original Message-----
From: Robin Gross <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2014 17:53:52 -0800
Subject: Re: declaration of cgi.br members regarding NETmundial Initiative

Based in large part due to CGI.BR's assurances and good will, I think we can 
tentatively participate in this initiative, provided that civil society 
selects its own representatives, and the platform does indeed create an 
open, transparent, bottom-up platform that does not seek to assert dominance 
in the IG space.  

I know we are split within civil society generally, and do not have 
unanimity within our own stakeholder group about whether or not we should 
participate in this initiative, but it would seem that those of us who wish 
to participate and try to use the platform to improve discussions on IG 
should be enabled.  Many of us won't give this initiative another thought.  
I think both perspectives are perfectly acceptable and different approaches 
to achieving the same goals.  Everyone has to put their own time and energy 
in the places where they feel they can be most effective.  

I think many of us in civil society (myself included) are putting our faith 
and trust in CGI.BR to not allow Fadi and WEF to run away with this 
initiative for their own ambitions and kill the positive outcomes from Sao 
Paulo last April.  I say: let's work closely with CGI.BR and the others try 
to make the best of NMI.  (At least those of us who wish to.)

Best,
Robin

On Nov 22, 2014, at 4:00 PM, Carlos Afonso wrote:

> To all of you directly and indirectly involved with the lively debate that 
has been observed within the Internet governance circles surrounding the 
NETmundial Initiative (NMI), we would like to clarify the following:
>
> 1)There are two main reasons for CGI.br to embark on the NETmundial 
Initiative.
>
> a) CGI.br is moved by a strong, crystal-clear and well known commitment to 
the preservation, the promotion and the implementation of the principles and 
the roadmap that were adopted in São Paulo during the Global 
Multistakeholder Meeting on the Future of Internet Governance - NETmundial. 
As long as CGI.br is involved in any activity, process or institution 
related to the global governance of the Internet, there will be a group of 
21 board members representatives of the broader Internet community in 
Brazil, assisted by a deeply committed Secretariat, working for the 
promotion of the achievements of the NETmundial meeting earlier this 
year.Instead of watching from a distant perspective the different processes 
and environments that comprise the complex distributed IG ecosystem, CGI.br 
members have been actively engaged with a myriad of other stakeholders and 
the community as a whole in the different spaces within which Internet 
governance is dealt with. CGI.br is committed to raise a voice whenever 
there can by any unjustified reversion on the thresholds set by NETmundial 
for Internet governance, namely: collaboration, openness, transparency, and 
multistakeholderism by default.
>
> b) Brazil is to host the 2015 IGF. CGI.br is closely working with the 
Brazilian government in order to assure that the 10th edition of the IGF 
yields all the results that were normatively set by the community in 2014 in 
different occasions: the renewal of its mandate in the UNGA later this year; 
the strengthening of its role as the focal point for the community; the 
assurance of funding sources, and the harmonization of activities of the IGF 
with the different initiatives that are sprouting (nationally, regionally, 
and globally) since the Community issued the NETmundial Statement.
>
> 2) From its inception, CGI.br has been willing to dialogue and of work 
together with every single member of the Community who is willing to 
promote, reflect upon, strengthen, and enhance multistakeholderism. The NMI 
is one among those efforts and can contribute to those goals by publicizing 
ideas and connecting people from all over the world using a single Web 
platform. Anything additional to the development and the maintenance of the 
platform shall be a result of the Initiative after it is set up. Bearing 
that in mind, on behalf of all of the members of the Board of CGI.br, we 
would like to invite all stakeholders to join the effort of building NMI 
based on the spirit and the aspirations of the community in a collaborative 
manner.
>
> 3) The NETmundial Initiative is in its formation. The whole 
institutionalization of NMI shall be community-driven. That is why the 
Transitional Council, as soon as it got a request from the Civil Society 
Coordination Group (CSCG),  accepted to work together with the CSCG to come 
up with a solution for defining Civil Society names for the NMI Council by 
consensus and fully respecting the indications of Civil Society. It is 
important to say that CGI.br is pretty confident that if any other group of 
stakeholders approach the Transition Council with similar solutions to 
strengthen the process, the Council will be willingly open to recognize and 
implement them as a way of putting the community at the center of the 
process of shaping the ulterior composition of the NMI Council.
>
> Finally, let us reaffirm that CGI.br would never agree with top-down, 
closed decision-making processes that could possibly undermine its 
legitimacy as a true bottom-up, multistakeholder body. It is up for the 
community to transform NMI into something that is concrete and useful for 
the advancement of IG in full respect of the principles enshrined in the 
NETmundial declaration.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Virgílio Almeida
> Coordinator of the Board of the CGI.br - Representative nominated by the 
Federal Government
>
> Demi Getschko
> Member of the Board of CGI.br, nominated as Internet Expert
>
> Carlos A. Afonso
> Member of the Board of CGI.br, representative of the Third Sector
>
> Flávio Wagner
> Member of the Board of CGI.br, representative of the scientific and 
technological community and Selected member for the MAG/IGF 2015
>
> Eduardo Parajo
> Member of the Board of CGI.br, representative of the business sector - 
Internet access and content providers
>
> Hartmut Glaser
> Executive Secretary of the Board of the CGI.br
>