Mine are in too! Kathy > I've just sent mine as well, but Norbert's is far better! :) > > []s fraternos > > --c.a. > > Norbert Klein wrote: > >> FYI >> >> Norbert Klein >> >> = >> >> ---------- Forwarded Message ---------- >> Subject: Charter drafts - and the related process so far >> Date: Friday, 24 July 2009 (Cambodia time - USA: 23 July) >> From: Norbert Klein <[log in to unmask]> >> To: [log in to unmask] >> >> Though I have seen that many voices from different parts of the world have >> sent in their support for the original proposal, prepared within the >> Non-Commercial Users Constituency in an intensive process of online and >> international Internet communication, in which we received an overwhelming – >> an almost unanimous consensus – I thought it might not be important to state >> this again. >> >> But I write because I am utterly surprised that – in spite of this process of >> wide and open consultation – the result of this process was sidelined so far. >> The litany of “bottom-up consensus building,” which is in so many official >> ICANN statements, became more and more hollow over the years. >> >> I say so as a person who was involved in the pre-ICANN efforts – the 1998 >> Singapore meeting - and since 1999 – Santiago de Chile – I fairly regularly >> did participate in ICANN affairs, the “ICANN fellowship” as I felt it was, in >> the early years – learning a lot for my efforts to start the first Internet >> connection in Cambodia, creating the country code .kh in 1996 and >> administering it until 1998, and continuing to be involved in the UNICODE >> codification of the Khmer script and then the localization of software etc. >> >> Over the years, our situation seemed to get more and more into the background >> of the ICANN dynamics – but WSIS 1 and 2 were an encouragement, when the >> Declaration of Principles of WSIS 1 said: >> >> “We, the representatives of the peoples of the world, assembled in Geneva from >> 10-12 December 2003 for the first phase of the World Summit on the >> Information Society, declare our common desire and commitment to build a >> people-centered, inclusive and development-oriented Information Society, >> where everyone can create, access, utilize and share information and >> knowledge, enabling individuals, communities and peoples to achieve their >> full potential in promoting their sustainable development and improving their >> quality of life, premised on the purposes and principles of the Charter of >> the United Nations and respecting fully and upholding the Universal >> Declaration of Human Rights.” >> >> Instead of a “people-centered, inclusive and development-oriented Information >> Society, where everyone can create, access, utilize and share information and >> knowledge, enabling individuals, communities and peoples to achieve their >> full potential in promoting their sustainable development and improving their >> quality of life,” I do not see much of this vision in ICANN's efforts to >> secure the stability and security of the network. >> >> This vision has been held up especially in the Non-Commercial Users >> Constituency and in the At-Large structures, where the people-centered, >> inclusive activities have their representation, and where they hope to be >> supported, so that the purposes and principles of the UN Declaration of Human >> Rights will be kept central in our operations. >> >> The details for this are well stated in what the Non-Commercial Users >> Constituency has elaborated and presented before – as the result of a wide >> participatory process. I do not need to repeat it – I only hope that the >> members of the ICANN Board will really take note of this and not pass quickly >> to some “pragmatic” suggestions which are not based on the principles on >> which we started to cooperate. >> >> I want, however, highlight one aspect where I see a grave failure in the >> process, where the Non-Commercial Users Constituency – on the basis of what >> the organizations and persons here cooperating – thought to be important. We >> raised it repeatedly, but we remained without an answer. When the discussions >> about new gTLD touched on the restrictions to be considered, the NCUC raised >> the question that such restrictions must be included against efforts to erode >> the fundamental rights (as stated above) - the protection of rights for this >> new developments. Many of us live in environments where this is crucial. >> Instead the problem of “generally accepted legal norms of morality and public >> order” became more prominent, and the repeated official requests by the NCUC >> Chair to the staff, how the staff identifies these principles, >> supposedly “recognized under international principles of law,” did never get >> an official response. >> >> Many of those who are not part of the larger technical or economic bodies >> cooperating in ICANN, but who live somewhere “on the periphery,” need that >> ICANN finds again ways to live up to the “bottom-up principle” for our social >> development and – in some cases – for our survival. >> >> The Non-Commercial Users Constituency, built up from the bottom, is an >> important instrument for this. The new move I read a while ago, that a WIPO >> initiative is accepted as the basis for a revision of the UDRP – without >> considering immediately what this means in terms of a bottom-up process – is >> a sign that the fundamental orientation of ICANN – from the point of view of >> its world wide membership – not from those who control it – remains a most >> important task. The non-commercial and the at-large users are the most >> important basis for giving bottom-up orientation. >> >> >> Norbert Klein >> >> >> Open Institute >> Phnom Penh/Cambodia >> Member of the NCUC >> >> >>