[ga] Third Meeting of the Working Group on Internet Governance

[Danny Younger <dannyyounger@xxxxxxxxx>]

Some interesting comments from the Third Meeting of the Working Group on Internet Governance today:
 
>>SYRIA: THANK YOU, CHAIRPERSON. CHAIRPERSON, IF THIS SUBJECT WERE NOT GLOBAL AND INTERNATIONAL, IT WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DISCUSSED AT THE SUMMIT, THE WORLD INFORMATION SUMMIT, AND SO THERE WOULD BE NO NEED TO ASK OURSELVES WHETHER WE SHOULD INTERNATIONALIZE MANAGEMENT OF THE INTERNET. WELL, THE ANSWER IS YES. IT WAS DISCUSSED AT THE SUMMIT, IT WAS DEALT WITH AT A NUMBER OF LEVELS, INCLUDING THE HIGHEST LEVEL.
SO IT'S A BIT ODD TO ASK THE QUESTION HERE AND NOW. THERE'S NO DOUBT AS TO THE ANSWER, CHAIRPERSON. AND I FULLY SUPPORT WHAT THE DELEGATE OF SAUDI ARABIA SAID. I ENDORSE, ALSO, THE STATEMENT MADE BY INDIA. WHY REPEAT OURSELVES?
WE ARE NOT IN FAVOR OF THE CURRENT STATE OF THINGS, AND AS I SAID EARLIER, PROPOSALS HAVE BEEN MADE. THERE WILL SOON BE A MEETING TO DEAL WITH THE DEFINITION OF THE INTERNET AND A PROPOSAL WILL BE PUT FORWARD.
UNFORTUNATELY, NO PROPOSALS HAVE BEEN PUT FORWARD HERE; OTHERWISE, WE WOULD HAVE COMMENTED ON SUCH A PROPOSAL.
IN ALL EVENTS, I WOULD LIKE TO THANK YOU, CHAIRPERSON, FOR HAVING STRESSED THE NEED TO COME UP WITH A PRACTICAL WORKING DEFINITION OF THE INTERNET AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
THE SYRIAN-ARAB REPUBLIC WOULD HAVE A PROPOSAL HAD THERE BEEN A DRAFT TEXT. AT ANY EVENT, THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF THE INTERNET IS A NATURAL PROCESS. WE CANNOT ACCEPT THE INTERNET BEING MERELY AN AMERICAN BODY SUBJECT TO ANOTHER AMERICAN BODY, WHICH I WON'T MENTION. WE ALREADY SAID THIS AT THE SUMMIT. SO THE SITUATION IS CLEAR, AND OUR POSITION IS CLEAR. AND WE DON'T NEED TO REPEAT OURSELVES HERE.
THE INTERNET TODAY IS GOVERNED BY AMERICAN LAW AND MANAGED BY AN AMERICAN BUSINESS. IT'S NO SECRET. WE ALL KNOW IT, AND WE CANNOT ACCEPT IT.
YOU'VE ALREADY HEARD A NUMBER OF SPEAKERS REFER TO PUBLIC POLICY AND YOU CANNOT DEVELOP OR COORDINATE PUBLIC POLICY WITH REGARD TO THE INTERNET OTHER THAN THROUGH AN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION WHICH CAN GUARANTEE TO ALL THEIR RIGHTS. OTHERWISE, WE HAVE TO FIND SOME OTHER EQUITABLE BODY WHO WILL DEAL WITH THE ISSUE.
THANK YOU.

>>UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: THANK YOU, MR. CHAIRMAN.
MY DELEGATION WOULD ALSO LIKE TO THANK THE WORKING GROUP ON INTERNET GOVERNANCE FOR ALL THEIR HARD AND CONTINUING WORK.
I WOULD JUST LIKE TO ANSWER -- OR REPLY TO SOME EARLIER COMMENTS ABOUT THE CURRENT SITUATION OF AMERICAN DOMINANCE IN INTERNET GOVERNANCE.
I WOULD JUST SAY TO EVERYONE THAT THIS MAY BE THE SITUATION NOW BECAUSE IT'S THE WAY THE INTERNET DEVELOPED IN THE PAST.
AND IT IS A MATTER OF HISTORY RATHER THAN DUE TO ANY KIND OF CONSPIRACY.
AND I WOULD ALSO REMIND PEOPLE THAT THE JURY IS STILL OUT ON WHAT WILL HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE.
AND THIS IS THE REASON WHY WE'RE HERE, TO DISCUSS WHAT WILL HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE.
AND SO NO CONCLUSIONS SHOULD BE DRAWN AS TO WHAT WILL HAPPEN.
THANK YOU.

The full transcript at these URLS:  http://wgig.org/April-scriptmorning.html  http://wgig.org/April-scriptafternoon.html

		
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