U.N./ITU convenes world Internet summit this week in Geneva [fs]

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

The aptly-named "Digital Solidarity Agenda" for this week's United 
Nations/ITU summit on the Internet and information society is mostly 
duplicative and predictable. Documents posted Saturday call for more taxes 
and spending by governments on politically-favored information technology 
programs, the protection of "indigenous peoples'" cultural heritage, 
outlawing so-called hate speech ("I think the Irish suck!"), and so on. 
There's the obligatory crypto-censorial suggestion that governments must 
take "appropriate measures" to combat "combat illegal and harmful content 
in media content," whatever that means.

Then there's section D2, which says the U.S. government should take 
"concrete efforts" toward expropriating $97 billion a year from American 
taxpayers in grants to third-world nations. I'm not sure how much 
non-military foreign aid the U.S. hands out today, but in 1997 we gave 
around $7 billion. (If we have perhaps 150 million U.S. taxpayers, without 
adjusting for income disparities, the extra $90 billion amounts to an 
average tax increase of $600 per taxpayer per year. A bargain!)

Of course the U.N. bureaucrats will insist on seeing that extra $90 billion 
goes to the rightful recipients -- after they take their cut off the top. 
See a report from a former U.S. State Department official titled "A Miasma 
of Corruption: The United Nations at 50":
http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-253.html

In light of the Geneva U.N. conference this week, an excerpt from that 
report is telling: 'One of the most egregious abuses is the United Nations' 
penchant for holding international conferences of dubious worth. A splendid 
example was last year's $2.5 million Summit for Social Development held in 
Copenhagen, Denmark. Featuring 100 world leaders, the summit (and its dozen 
preparatory meetings) fuzzily focused on poverty, job creation, and 
"solidarity." The outcome was roughly divisible into two categories: 
bromides that few could quarrel with or find of practical use and proposals 
for yet more government intervention to promote societal betterment.'

The same is true with this week's meeting. About the only concrete 
proposal, as you can see in the links below, is a naked power grab to wrest 
control of Internet governance (domain names, addresses) from ICANN. As 
flawed as ICANN may be, it's probably a heck of a lot better than letting 
the U.N. take over.

News coverage:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3300071.stm
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/aptech_story.asp?category=1700&slug=UN%20Tech%20Summit

-Declan

---

http://www.itu.int/wsis/docs/pc3/declaration-principles.pdf

2. Our challenge is to harness the potential of information and 
communication technology to
promote the development goals of the Millennium Declaration, namely the 
eradication of extreme
poverty and hunger; achievement of universal primary education; promotion 
of gender equality and
empowerment of women; reduction of child mortality; improvement of maternal 
health; to combat
HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensuring environmental 
sustainability; and development of
global partnerships for development for the attainment of a more peaceful, 
just and prosperous
world.

15. In the evolution of the Information Society, particular attention must 
be given to the special
situation of indigenous peoples, as well as to the preservation of their 
heritage and their cultural
legacy.

33. To achieve a sustainable development of the Information Society, 
national capability in ICT
research and development should be enhanced. Furthermore, partnerships, in 
particular between and
among developed and developing countries, including countries with 
economies in transition, in
research and development, technology transfer, manufacturing and 
utilisation of ICT products and
services are crucial for promoting capacity building and global 
participation in the Information
Society. The manufacture of ICTs presents a significant opportunity for 
creation of wealth.

36. While recognizing the principles of universal and non-discriminatory 
access to ICTs for all
nations, we support the activities of the United Nations to prevent the 
potential use of ICTs for
purposes that are inconsistent with the objectives of maintaining 
international stability and security,
and may adversely affect the integrity of the infrastructure within States, 
to the detriment of their
security. It is necessary to prevent the use of information resources and 
technologies for criminal
and terrorist purposes, while respecting human rights.

37. Spam is a significant and growing problem for users, networks and the 
Internet as a whole.
Spam and cyber-security should be dealt with at appropriate national and 
international levels.

39. ...  Governments should intervene, as appropriate, to
correct market failures, to maintain fair competition, to attract 
investment, to enhance the
development of the ICT infrastructure and applications, to maximize 
economic and social benefits,
and to serve national priorities.

48. The Internet has evolved into a global facility available to the public 
and its governance should
constitute a core issue of the Information Society agenda. The 
international management of the
Internet should be multilateral, transparent and democratic, with the full 
involvement of
governments, the private sector, civil society and international 
organizations. It should ensure an
equitable distribution of resources, facilitate access for all and ensure a 
stable and secure
functioning of the Internet, taking into account multilingualism.

50. ... We ask the Secretary-General of the United Nations to set up a 
working group on Internet governance, in an
open and inclusive process that ensures a mechanism for the full and active 
participation of
governments, the private sector and civil society from both developing and 
developed countries,
involving relevant intergovernmental and international organizations and 
forums, to investigate and
make proposals for action, as appropriate, on the governance of Internet by 
2005.

59. All actors in the Information Society should take appropriate actions 
and preventive
measures, as determined by law, against abusive uses of ICTs, such as 
illegal and other acts
motivated by racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related 
intolerance...


http://www.itu.int/wsis/docs/pc3/plan-action.pdf

e) In the context of national e-strategies, address the special 
requirements of older people, persons with
disabilities, children, especially marginalized children and other 
disadvantaged and vulnerable groups,
including by appropriate educational administrative and legislative 
measures to ensure their full inclusion in
the Information Society.

b) Governments in cooperation with the private sector should prevent, 
detect and respond to cyber crime and
misuse of ICTs by: developing guidelines that take into account ongoing 
efforts in these areas; considering
legislation that allows for effective investigation and prosecution of 
misuse; promoting effective mutual
assistance efforts; strengthening institutional support at the 
international level for preventing, detecting and
recovering from such incidents; and encouraging education and raising 
awareness.
c) Governments, and other stakeholders, should actively promote user 
education and awareness about online
privacy and the means of protecting privacy.
d) Take appropriate action on spam at national and international levels.
e) Encourage the domestic assessment of national law with a view to 
overcoming any obstacles to the
effective use of electronic documents and transactions including electronic 
means of authentication.
f) Further strengthen the trust and security framework with complementary 
and mutually reinforcing
initiatives in the fields of security in the use of ICTs, with initiatives 
or guidelines with respect to rights to
privacy, data and consumer protection.

6
b) We ask the Secretary General of the United Nations to set up a working 
group on Internet governance, in
an open and inclusive process that ensures a mechanism for the full and 
active participation of governments,
the private sector and civil society from both developing and developed 
countries, involving relevant
intergovernmental and international organizations and forums, to 
investigate and make proposals for action,
as appropriate, on the governance of Internet by 2005. The group should, 
inter alia:
i) develop a working definition of Internet governance;
ii) identify the public policy issues that are relevant to Internet governance;
iii) develop a common understanding of the respective roles and 
responsibilities of governments,
existing intergovernmental and international organisations and other forums 
as well as the private sector
and civil society from both developing and developed countries;
iv) prepare a report on the results of this activity to be presented for 
consideration and appropriate action
for the second phase of WSIS in Tunis in 2005.

27. The Digital Solidarity Agenda aims at putting in place the conditions 
for mobilizing human, financial
and technological resources for inclusion of all men and women in the 
emerging Information Society. Close
national, regional and international cooperation among all stakeholders in 
the implementation of this Agenda
is vital. To overcome the digital divide, we need to use more efficiently 
existing approaches and
mechanisms and fully explore new ones, in order to provide financing for 
the development of infrastructure,
equipment, capacity building and content, which are essential for 
participation in the Information Society.

b) Developed countries should make concrete efforts to fulfil their 
international commitments to financing
development including the Monterrey Consensus, in which developed countries 
that have not done so are
urged to make concrete efforts towards the target of 0.7 per cent of gross 
national product (GNP) as ODA to
developing countries and 0.15 to 0.20 per cent of GNP of developed 
countries to least developed countries.

D2. Mobilizing resources
a) All countries and international organisations should act to create 
conditions conducive to increasing the
availability and effective mobilisation of resources for financing 
development as elaborated in the Monterrey
Consensus.
b) Developed countries should make concrete efforts to fulfil their 
international commitments to financing
development including the Monterrey Consensus, in which developed countries 
that have not done so are
urged to make concrete efforts towards the target of 0.7 per cent of gross 
national product (GNP) as ODA to
developing countries and 0.15 to 0.20 per cent of GNP of developed 
countries to least developed countries.
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