The Megaphone
Newsletter of the Public Voice
October 2004
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Table of Contents
[1] Upcoming Public Voice Events
[2] Other Upcoming Civil Society Meeting Opportunities
[3] News
- Civil Society Contributes To Formation Of UN Working Group On Internet Governance
- Civil Society Organizations Change the Direction of WIPO
- UNESCO Invites Comment on the Convention on Cultural Diversity
- Council of Europe Pushes Convention on Cybercrime
- Indymedia Servers Seized
- US Senate Hears Testimony on Internet Governance
- Public Voice Holds Symposium in Poland: "Privacy In a New Era"
- WSIS "Group Of Friends Of The Chair" To Hold First Meeting
- OECD WPISP Meeting
[4] October-November Civil Society and ICT Policy Related Events
[5] Resources
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[1] Upcoming Public Voice Events
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NEXT PUBLIC VOICE WSIS RELATED TELECONFERENCE
- Date & Time: Friday, November 12th, 2004 at 10am EDT, 1400 GMT/UTC
Public Voice Meeting Page:
http://www.thepublicvoice.org/events/pvwsismeetings/
"AFRICA ELECTRONIC PRIVACY AND PUBLIC VOICE SYMPOSIUM"
The purpose of this Symposium is to bring together African NGOs,
technical experts and policy makers to discuss Privacy, the World
Summit on the Information Society and the policy development of
Information and Communication Technologies. It is an opportunity for
the public voice to be heard on issues such as safeguarding electronic
privacy and protecting online speech, as well as African perspectives
on Internet governance and the World Summit on the Information
Society. The Symposium will be held in Cape Town, South Africa at the
Nelson Mandela Gateway to Robben Island, on December 6, 2004 in
conjunction with the ICANN meeting. The event will be split into three
sessions. Participants are encouraged to submit papers on African
perspectives on global Internet Governance, African Internet
Governance, or data protection or free expression online in Africa;
papers will be posted on the web site before the symposium. Please
send any inquiries, program suggestions, African NGO contacts, or
papers to <thepublicvoice [at] epic.org>.
Cape Town Event:
http://www.thepublicvoice.org/events/capetown04/
FOR EVENT UPDATES, SEE:
http://www.thepublicvoice.org/events
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[2] Other Upcoming Civil Society Meeting Opportunities
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BERLIN, NOVEMBER 18, 2004
WSIS civil society will hold a meeting in conjunction with the UN ICT
Task Force Forum in Berlin, Germany. The ICT Task Force is scheduled
to meet on November 19-20, 2004. Members of German civil society are
organizing a full-day meeting on Thursday the 18th for a discussion
about financing and Internet governance. They will also hold a
meeting after the public forum on the afternoon of Saturday, November
20th to assess the ICT Task Force meeting and discuss next steps.
Anyone interested in joining these meetings should keep an eye out for
more information to be posted on http://www.worldsummit2005.org.
WORLD SOCIAL FORUM, BRAZIL, JANUARY 26-31, 2005
The registrations for the 2005 World Social Forum are now open to all
interested individuals and organizations. The WSF will be held in
Porto Alegre, Brazil from January 26 to 31, 2005.GENEVA, FEBRUARY
There has been discussion of a WSIS civil society meeting to be held
prior to the WSIS PrepCom 2, which will be held in Geneva, February
17-25, 2005.
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[3] News
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CIVIL SOCIETY CONTRIBUTES TO FORMATION OF UN WORKING GROUP ON INTERNETGOVERNANCE
The UN Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG), established in the
World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), conducted it's first
public consultation September 20-21, 2004 in Geneva. Any interested
stakeholders were invited to participate and contribute statements on
the structure, size, working methodology and scope of the working
group. The WSIS Civil Society Internet Governance Caucus developed a
statement that was read during the Consultation and later referenced
by numerous governments. Members of civil society were also included
on the official agenda to read their individual statements. The WGIG
is currently in the process of choosing its membership, a decision
which rests ultimately with Kofi Annan. The Internet Governance
Caucus solicited nominations from other caucuses and then a Nominating
Committee narrowed the list, which it then submitted to the Working
Group Secretariat.
Statement of the Civil Society Internet Governance Caucus:
http://www.net-gov.org/docs.php
Nominations Submitted by the Civil Society Internet Governance Caucus:
http://www.thepublicvoice.org/news/2004_wgignoms.html
UN Working Group on Internet Governance:
http://www.itu.int/wsis/preparatory2/wgig/index.html
CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS CHANGE THE DIRECTION OF WIPO
After years of work by civil society organizations, the World
Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has adopted a decision to
focus on development and the promotion of creativity, rather than just
the maximization of intellectual property rights. Civil society
organizations, led by the Consumer Project on Technology (CPTech,
successfully lobbied WIPO in its Geneva Declaration on the Future of
the World Intellectual Property Organization. WIPO has agreed to take
a different approach to intellectual property. Rather than maximizing
intellectual property rights, which can stifle innovation and
creativity, the new approach will recognize public domain and open
source software as necessities for development. This new direction is
a direct result of the participation, dedication, and pressure of
civil society organizations. It is a substantial change for this
organization and an important victory for developing countries and
civil society.
More Information and commentary:
http://www.thepublicvoice.org/news/2004_wipovictory.html
UNESCO INVITES COMMENT ON THE CONVENTION ON CULTURAL DIVERSITY
On September 20-25, UNESCO government ambassadors met to discuss the
first draft of the proposed International Convention on the Protection
of the Diversity of Cultural Contents and Artistic Expressions (also
known as the Convention on Cultural Diversity). Contention arose
regarding the relationship of the Convention to other international
agreements. Some governments want to subordinate the Convention to the
World Trade Organization. This would defeat the purpose of the
Convention, which is to allow each country to exclude its cultural and
media policies from the 'free trade' regime. The draft currently
includes text strengthening international intellectual property
rights, and fails to recognize the need to protect and extend the
public domain through encouraging alternatives to copyright like the
creative commons licenses. There has been little civil society
participation so far, but UNESCO is now accepting public comment on
the draft of the Convention. Civil society organizations can now read
the Convention itself, find more information from Media Trade Monitor,
and then submit comments on the draft of the Convention by November
15th.
More Information at Media Trade Monitor:
http://www.mediatrademonitor.org
UNESCO portal on the CCD:
http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=11281&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
COUNCIL OF EUROPE PUSHES CYBERCRIME CONVENTION
The Council of Europe is actively urging countries to sign in to law
the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime. The Convention was
signed in 2001 by 30 countries, but has since been ratified by only
eight. Governments are said to be wary of potentially being required
to make data on their citizens available to other governments. The
Council of Europe recently participated in the UN Consultation on the
Working Group on Internet Governance, suggesting the Convention on
Cybercrime is a model law that other countries should adopt
nationally. They also held a high-level conference in Strasbourg to
encourage ratification of the Convention. While interested in
preventing cybercrime, governments are rightly concerned with many
provisions of this Convention.
More Information:
http://www.thepublicvoice.org/news/2004_convention.html
INDYMEDIA SERVERS SEIZED
On October 7, 2004, hard drives from two Indymedia servers were seized
from the London office of a US-owned web hosting company, Rackspace.
They were then returned within the week. The drives were seized at
the request of the US Justice Department, apparently in collaboration
with Italian and Swiss authorities. Initial reports suggested the FBI
were behind the seizure, though they have has denied the allegation.
Indymedia is a global media network that provides open space to
publish challenging, independent reporting, with emphasis on political
and social justice issues. Civil society organizations are gathering
signatures on a petition supporting the rights of the Indymedia
Network and opposing the take over of their servers. The Electronic
Frontier Foundation is representing the Indymedia Network. The UN
Working Group on Internet Governance should address just this type of
threat to civil liberties.
Petition Supporting the Indymedia Network:
http://solidarity.indymedia.org.uk/
US SENATE HEARS TESTIMONY ON INTERNET GOVERNANCE
On September 30, 2004, the US Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing
called "ICANN Oversight and Security of Internet Root Servers and the
Domain Name System (DNS)." Representatives of the Internet Corporation
for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the US Department of State,
the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the
Department of Homeland Security, Verisign Inc., and an Administrator
of the B Root Server were invited to testify on these issues.
Ambassador Gross of the US Department of State testified about the new
UN Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG), currently being
established under the mandate of the World Summit on the Information
Society. The Working Group has been given the task of mapping out
Internet Governance and suggesting key areas they feel will need
appropriate attention. Many people across the world, particularly in
developing countries, are dissatisfied with the way the Internet is
governed and feel some degree of reform is necessary.
More Information:
http://www.thepublicvoice.org/news/2004_icanntest.html
PUBLIC VOICE HOLD SYMPOSIUM IN POLAND: "PRIVACY IN A NEW ERA"
The Public Voice recently held a conference entitled, "Privacy in a
New Era: Challenges, Opportunities, and Partnerships." It was held in
Wroclaw, Poland in conjunction with the annual meeting of the
International Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners. The event
provided an opportunity for civil society leaders and academic
experts, particularly in the New European Union Member States, to meet
with European data protection authorities and to explore emerging
challenges to the protection of personal privacy. The conference
featured panel discussions on "Privacy Laws and Developments," "Best
Practices for Data Protection Agencies: The Citizens Perspective" and
"Civil Society Collaborations and Regional Focus." There were two
keynote addresses, one by the privacy commissioner of Poland and the
other by the privacy commissioner of Canada. Presentations delivered
by the speakers are available on the conference web site.
"Privacy in a New Era" Presentations:
http://www.thepublicvoice.org/events/wroclaw04
WSIS "GROUP OF FRIENDS OF THE CHAIR" TO HOLD FIRST MEETING
In the first preparatory meeting of the Tunis phase of the World
Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), it was decided that a "group
of friends of the President" would be established. This group will
draft a document to serve as the negotiating basis of the second
preparatory meeting. The first meeting of the "Group of Friends of
the Chair" or GFC will be held on October 22, 2004 at the Palais de
Nations in Geneva. The GFC will be composed of 6 countries per region
plus regional coordinators and the two host countries. Each of the
countries may have two representatives. The Secretary General of the
ITU or his representative will also participate. Other States will be
admitted at all meetings as observers. Non-state observers will be
allowed to participate in some of the meetings; they will be allowed
to speak at the beginning of the meetings on October 22, November 15,
and January 10, 2005.
Group of Friends of the Chair:
http://www.itu.int/wsis/gfc/
OECD 'WORKING PARTY ON INFORMATION SECURITY AND PRIVACY' TO MEET
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) will
hold next meeting of the its Working Party on Information Security and
Privacy in Paris on October 18th and 19th, 2004. The agenda includes
issues of computer security, authentication, spam, and privacy. The
Working Party will specifically examine recent reports of the OECD
involving Electronic Authentication Services and E-Signatures,
Implementation of OECD Security Guidelines, and Biometric
Technologies.Reports of the OECD Working Party on Information Security and Privacy:
http://www.oecd.org/sti/security-privacy
FOR PREVIOUS NEWS UPDATES, SEE:
http://www.thepublicvoice.org/news
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[4] Events Related to Civil Society and Information and Communication
Technology (ICT) Policy
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OCTOBER - NOVEMBER 2004
-October 21: SANGONeT Celebration of World Development Information Day, South Africa
-October 22: WSIS Friends of the Chair Meeting, Geneva
-October 25-26: OECD workshop held in the light of OECD report, "The Development of Broadband Access in Rural and Remote
Areas," Porto, Portugal
-October 26-29: "International Symposium on Public Participation in Internet Governance", Seoul, Korea
-October 27-29: IAPP Privacy and Data Security Academy & Expo. International Association of Privacy Professionals, New Orleans
-October 28-29: Privacy and Security: Seeking the Middle Path, Toronto, Canada
-October 28-29: Encuentro Internacional: Protección de Datos en Telecomunicaciones, Buenos Aires
-November 5-7: International Colloquium "Effective Use of ICTs for Defending and Promoting Human Rights," Boston, Mass.
-November 18: Civil Society Meeting at the UN ICT Task Force, Berlin
-November 19-20: UN ICT Task Force Meeting, Berlin
-November 22-24: WSIS Africa Media Conference, Marrakesh
-November 23: Human Rights Watch - Annual Dinner, Toronto, CA
For more civil society and ICT policy related events and links to all,
see:
http://www.thepublicvoice.org/events/2004_csonetwork.html
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[5] Resources:
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THE PUBLIC VOICE WSIS SOURCEBOOK: PERSPECTIVES ON THE WORLD SUMMIT ON
THE INFORMATION SOCIETY
The Public Voice WSIS Sourcebook was compiled to further a dialogue on
the issues, the outcomes, and the process of the World Summit on the
Information Society (WSIS). This publication is intended to promote
understanding of the WSIS and encourage greater civil society
participation in the current phase of the Summit. The WSIS Sourcebook
includes the official UN documents, regional and issue-oriented
perspectives, as well as recommendations and proposals for future
action. The Public Voice WSIS Sourcebook also provides a useful list
of resources and contacts for individuals and organizations that wish
to become more involved in the WSIS process.
EPIC Bookstore:
http://www.epic.org/bookstore/pvsourcebook
LITIGATION UNDER THE FEDERAL OPEN GOVERNMENT LAWS
On September 29, 2004, Freedom of Information Advocates celebrated
"Right to Know Day." The Electronic Privacy Information Center
released the 2004 edition of "Litigation Under the Federal Open
Government Laws." The book is a key resource for individuals pursuing
open government requests in the United States.
EPIC Bookstore:
http://www.epic.org/bookstore/foia2004/
CYBER-RIGHTS & CYBER-LIBERTIES HANDBOOK ON THE CONVENTION ON CYBERCRIME
Cyber-Rights & Cyber-Liberties offers online, "An Advocacy Handbook
for the Non Governmental Organizations: The Council of Europe’s
Cyber-Crime Convention 2001." It is a helpful resource for
understanding the Convention on Cybercrime.
Handbook:
http://www.cyber-rights.org/cybercrime/
ASSOCIATION FOR PROGRESSIVE COMMUNICATION'S (APC) "ICT POLICY: A
BEGINNERS HANDBOOK"
This book by APC, edited by Chris Nicol, explains issues of
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) policy, making it
easier and more welcoming for people to participate in ICT policy
processes.
http://www.apc.org/english/capacity/policy/index.shtml
ORGANIZATION FOR ECONOMIC COOPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT'S (OECD's) "OPEN
GOVERNMENT: FOSTERING DIALOGUE WITH CIVIL SOCIETY"
This book by the OECD examines how to build robust legal,
institutional and policy frameworks for access to information,
consultation and public participation in policy-making.
http://www1.oecd.org/publications/e-book/4203011E.PDF (Note: PDF)
FOR MORE RESOURCES, SEE:
http://www.thepublicvoice.org/
October 2004
