[council] NCUC Policy Conference 12 Oct in Toronto

[William Drake <william.drake@xxxxxx>]

Hi

Everyone in Toronto on Friday 12th is most welcome to attend, so feel free to 
share.  Registration and program at  http://www.amiando.com/NCUC-ICANN45

Best,

Bill

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NCUC Press Release  -  3 October 2012

Civil Society Leaders Converge in Toronto for "ICANN & Internet Governance: 
Security and Freedom in a Connected World"

Cyber-Security Expert Ron Deibert and new ICANN CEO Fadi Chehade Address 
Non-Commercial Users Policy Conference on Eve of ICANN #45
 
Public interest groups involved in ICANN will gather for the event, "ICANN & 
Internet Governance: Security & Freedom in a Connected World" on Friday 12 
October at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto, Canada. Sponsored by the 
Noncommercial Users Constituency (NCUC), the voice of civil society in ICANN, 
the policy conference will focus on key ICANN policy issues like the need to 
promote both cyber-security and human rights in the development of global 
Internet policies.   The event kicks-off with a morning address from 
cyber-security expert Ron Deibert, Director of the Canada Centre for Global 
Security Studies and The Citizen Lab, an inter-disciplinary research and 
development hothouse at the University of Toronto.  Deibert will address the 
need to establish a cyber-security strategy for global civil society.  

"Cyberspace is at a watershed moment.  Global civil society, now increasingly 
recognised as an important stakeholder in cyberspace governance, needs to step 
up to the challenge," said Deibert.  "What is required is nothing less than a 
serious and comprehensive  security strategy for cyberspace that addresses  the 
very real threats that plague governments and corporations, addresses national 
and other security  concerns in a forthright manner, while protecting  and 
preserving open networks of information and communication."
 
The afternoon sessions begin with welcoming remarks from Fadi Chehade, ICANN's 
new Chief Executive Officer, a Lebanese-Egyptian IT entrepreneur, who took the 
helm of ICANN last month and pronounced he was committed to strengthening the 
multi-stakeholder process of Internet governance.  Additional speakers at 
NCUC's policy conference include Fionna Alexander from the U.S. Commerce 
Department and other governmental representatives.  The all-day event's four 
panel sessions include participation from ICANN board members and senior staff, 
civil society and Internet business leaders.  
 
The conference will explore a broad range of ICANN policy issues including 
privacy concerns related to the whois policy that requires the publication of 
registrants' personal data and discussion of ongoing negotiations with law 
enforcement agencies regarding a related policy that privacy authorities have 
called "unlawful".  The geopolitical landscape of Internet governance models 
and the shifting role of stakeholders will be addressed by experts from around 
the world.  NCUC's conference will also explore policy issues related to 
controversial new domain names such as protection for freedom of expression in 
the face of cultural differences and sensitivities.   Concerns about 
intellectual property rights and new top-level domain names remains an area 
under rapid development and will be ripe for discussion as well as activities 
related to extra-territorial domain name seizures.  Including human rights 
principles in ICANN policy development will be considered, in addition to ways 
civil society can become involved in the development of ICANN policies, which 
impact Internet users worldwide.
 
NCUC represents more than 250 noncommercial organizations and individuals from 
around the world on ICANN policy matters and was formed in 1999 in Berlin at 
one of ICANN's earliest meetings.   Currently NCUC represents a wide range of 
non-commercial interests in ICANN policy development including universities and 
educational institutions, human rights organizations, development, promotion of 
the arts, children's welfare, scientific research, community networking, and 
many other non-commercial interests.  NCUC participates at ICANN as a 
constituency within the Non-Commercial Stakeholder Group (NCSG) and the Generic 
Names Supporting Organization (GNSO), which makes ICANN policy recommendations 
and selects board members.     
 
"The conference subtitle recognizes our shared twin goals of security and 
freedom, and questions to what extent must we sacrifice one for the other," 
said meeting organizer Robin Gross of NCUC and IP Justice, a civil liberties 
organization based in San Francisco.  The constituency's 2012 Toronto 
conference builds on the policy conference NCUC held in 2011 in which 
craigslist.org founder Craig Newmark addressed the ICANN community in San 
Francisco.
 
The 2012 conference concludes with an evening reception at the historic 
Fairmont Royal York overlooking the beautiful Canadian waterfront.  The event 
is free to attend and open the public, but advance registration is required 
because space is limited.  NCUC's conference is held with support from the 
Brazilian Internet Steering Registry CGI.br, the Public Interest Registry 
(PIR), and ICANN.   Civil Society event partners include The Citizen Lab, the 
Association for Progressive Communications (APC) and the Canadian Internet 
Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) based at the University of Ottawa.  

Conference sessions will be audiocast live and archived for later downloading, 
and remote participation will be available from the event's website via Adobe 
Connect for those not able to travel to Toronto on 12 October.  
 
For event details including conference schedule, speaker list, remote 
participation details, and to register to the event:
  http://www.amiando.com/NCUC-ICANN45
 
Contact for more information:
 
Robin Gross, IP Justice
  Email: Robin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
 
Brenden Keurbis, Internet Governance Project & University of Syracuse
  Email:  bnkuerbi@xxxxxxx



***************************************************
William J. Drake
International Fellow & Lecturer
Media Change & Innovation Division, IPMZ
University of Zurich, Switzerland
william.drake@xxxxxx
www.williamdrake.org
****************************************************