[APCPress] APCNews - November 2006 - No. 70

Fri Nov 3 14:21:07 GMT 2006

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                         SPECIAL EDITION
                FIRST INTERNET GOVERNANCE FORUM (IGF)
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                *APCNews, the monthly newsletter of the
           Association for Progressive Communications (APC)*
                     November 2006 No. 70
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-- PRESS RELEASE --
-- ARTICLES FROM ATHENS --
-- BLOGGING FROM ATHENS --
-- NEWS ABOUT APC --
-- ARTICLES & BLOG POSTS FROM ROME --
-- WHERE IN THE WORLD IS APC ? --
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Welcome to this special edition of APCNews. It's dedicated to the Forum
on Internet Governance that took place in Athens, Greece, between the
October 29 and November 2. The Association for Progressive
Communications (APC) was represented by a large group of members and
staff. The APC team organised and participated in workshops as well as
main sessions that discussed issues of internet access, capacity
building, online content regulation, environmental sustainability,
privacy. APCNews and GenderIT.org writers and bloggers covered the event
in English, French and Spanish.

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-- APC RELEASES --

PRESS RELEASE: APC asserts `access´ to the internet & capacity-building
are key to participative internet governance

The Association for Progressive Communications (APC), a network of civil
society organisations working with ICTs and the internet for social
justice and sustainable development thinks that the IGF is a valuable
space for policy dialogue. As the first Internet Governance Forum that
took place Athens in early November 2006 closed, APC insisted that two
issues be given priority: access to internet infrastructure and capacity
building. - APC
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=5043141

NEW INTERNET RIGHTS CHARTER: APC updates its groundbreaking charter

The internet can only be a tool to empower the peoples of the world if a
number of crucial rights are recognised, protected and respected.
APC's revised charter takes on board issues of internet governance
raised during the United Nations World Summit on the Information Society
(WSIS) and captured in the Working Group on Internet Governance report
and the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society. It also takes into
account the discussion of the internet as a global public good that took
place in the deliberations of the WSIS as well as the UN ICT Task Force.
The revision also draws on APC's recommendations to WSIS on internet
governance. The Charter was published by the Association for Progressive
Communications (APC) in November 2006.
http://rights.apc.org/charter.shtml

ISSUE PAPERS: Opening internet access in Africa, convergence and
developing country participation in the UN summit on the information
society: All the focus of new papers from APC

Several new papers on key issues now and in the future are available
online. Part of the "APC Issue Papers" series, they were circulated at
the UN conference on internet governance being held in Athens in English
and French. - APC
http://rights.apc.org/papers.shtml

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-- ARTICLES FROM ATHENS --

OPEN ACCESS: APC puts up the fight for an open-access, equal-opportunity
and educative internet

APC viewed the inaugural meeting of the Internet Governance Forum  as a
"vitally important event". "For the first time in a global policy forum,
governments, civil society, the private sector and international
organisations can address public policy issues concerning the internet
on an equal footing," said APC's policy programme head Willie Currie. -
APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=5041512

INTERNATIONAL GOVERNANCE: Seminar calls for unity among poor nations

A single country will not be allowed to govern the internet, speakers at
a national seminar vowed adding expectation of the poor countries should
be addressed in the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) meet. The seminar
took place in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on October 14. - Bangladesh ICT Policy
Monitor Network
http://bangladeshictpolicy.bytesforall.net/?q=node/222

REGIONAL REPRESENTATION: Latin America makes noise at the Forum on
Internet Governance

What were they key priorities for Latin America at the first Forum on
Internet Governance? How is each sector approaching the pioneering
event? APCNews spoke to Raúl Echeberría, LACNIC executive director, the
Latin America and the Caribbean internet address registry. - APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=5043143

DIVERSITY: Utopia called diversity?

What does diversity mean on the internet? The organising committee for
the Internet Governance Forum chose to focus on linguistic and content
plurality. - APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=5043145

ACCESSIBILITY: Accessibility for all, central to internet forum

Aside from 'access to the internet' - the single most important issue at
the first Internet Governance Forum - was 'accessibility'. In fact,
access to the internet deals with submarine fibre optic cables, gigantic
satellite dishes and other infrastructure considerations. That has to
come first. But when you break down the story of internet access to the
personal level, what is needed, is a strong commitment towards getting
women, the underprivileged and people with disabilities on board. - APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=5043085

APC to IGF: Cyberspace should promote maximum sharing, creativity and
innovation

APC executive director Anriette Esterhuysen has told the Internet
Governance Forum that it has a duty play a much bigger role in spreading
the sharing of ideas and encouraging innovation. Copyrighting and
limiting the rights of teachers and learners in the developing world
from share information would add only "limited value" to harnessing the
internet for development, Esterhuysen said in the Greek capital. - APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=5043092

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: Blatant censorship is one thing. But who controls
the controllers?

Blatant censorship is one thing, and can be fought. But who controls the
controllers? APC member-organisation RITS's Carlos Afonso, made this
point articulately at the Internet Governance Forum in Athens. Afonso
underlined that it was difficult to deal internet-related issues
"without considering the situation of regulation, legislation and
control of the network itself." He questioned the view that "the
technical question is not as relevant as the other issues." What is the
responsibility of network operators? Controlling players decide if voice
over IP traffic can pass through an exchange point or not. - APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=5043104

OPENNESS: In the activist's eye

The twist this IGF is giving to this old debate about 'openness' makes
it that more relevant since it calls into life a confrontation, not only
involving national law, but also market law. This is why corporations
like Google have been taken to task at the IGF by those arguing that it
is unacceptable that this advertisement firm - know for its flagship
research engine - started operations in China, where restrictions on
free speech are, to say the least, restrictive. - APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=5042912

OPEN STANDARDS: Think standards are boring? Think again!

If you think standards are boring, you had to be in Greece this week,
where a loose coalition of researchers, librarians and corporate
representatives launched a campaign on open standards. - APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=5042920

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: Greening IT? Not really!

"Someone from the Pacific Islands expressed that the single main
challenge with which his region is increasingly faced with is global
warming," Milena Bokova said. Quite striking indeed that the very first
workshop at the IGF would list this major environmental phenomenon as
the greatest obstacle to making the internet accessible. - APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=5042942

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-- BLOGGING FROM ATHENS --

INTRODUCTION: The IGF is on, does that mean we'll get an "internet as a
free-zone"?
By Frédéric Dubois
Here I am, sitting in a plenary room at the opening session of the
Internet Governance Forum in Athens. This forum was set a couple of
months back, in Tunisia, where the second summit on the information
society (WSIS) was drawing to a close. Some of you might have noted back
then that the two main issues discussed in that UN-organised summit were
internet governance and ICTs for development. Well just about eleven
months later, what appears to be the legitimate space for continuing the
debate on the future of the internet is called the Internet Governance
Forum. - APC blog
http://blog.apc.org/en/index.shtml?x=5042819

INTERVIEWS: Internet Governance Forum - What is it All About?
By Mavic Cabrera-Balleza
Internet Governance is a difficult concept to grapple with for many of
us. Even those who have been keeping track of discussions on gender and
the new information and communication technologies (ICTs). Naturally,
people who know or who have heard about the Internet Governance Forum,
are asking what this meeting is all about. - Feminist Talk
http://www.genderit.org/en/index.shtml?apc=f--e--1&x=94976

PRIVACY: Privacy and Data Retention Related Concerns at IGF
By Namita Malhotra
The session on privacy and data protection and retention was a follow-up
on the session on free flow of information in cyberspace. It was
interesting to have issues regarding free speech set up in the previous
session, which revolved primarily around the application and protection
of rights under Article 19 in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
and its counterpart in European law. - Feminist Talk
http://www.genderit.org/en/index.shtml?apc=f--e--1&x=94998

ACCESS: Highways, roads, and byways
By Anriette Esterhuysen
There are many different dimensions of access and the IGF panel here in
Athens certainly touched on many of them... from access for people with
disability, for people that are not literate, access for scientists and
researchers. - APC blog
http://blog.apc.org/en/index.shtml?x=5043133

OPEN SHARING: Piracy, FLOSS, peer production, new models, innovation...
a voice at the IGF
By FN
Of all the many bytes emerging out of Athens and the IGF, this one made
the most sense to me: Piracy creates jobs, but [Free Software and] Open
Source and Open Standards create opportunity, create entrepreneurs. And
I think that's the challenge for the IGF as well, how to look at it is a
public interest forum, the Internet is a public space, and how can we
facilitate maximum sharing, maximum creativity, peer production, new
models, innovation. - APC blog
http://blog.apc.org/en/index.shtml?x=5043035

GENDER: Setting the scene at IGF without gender perspective?
By Danijela Babic
The first IGF session entitled Multistakehoder Policy Dialogue / Setting
the Scene, was facilitated by Kenneth Cukier and spectacularly ignored
the question on gender and ICTs. - APC blog
http://blog.apc.org/en/index.shtml?x=5042997

CONTENT REGULATION: Good or bad? Harmful or not? Legal or illegal? - the
challenge of regulating internet content
By Mavic Cabrera-Balleza
Who defines what is harmful and illegal internet content? How do we
regulate online content? Participants in the panel discussion "Content
regulations from gender and development perspective" organized by the
Association for Progressive Communications - Women's Networking Support
Programme (APC WNSP) in the ongoing Internet Governance Forum debate on
these contentious points. - Feminist Talk
http://www.genderit.org/en/index.shtml?apc=f--e94984-1&x=94984

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: Environment as part of internet governance
By Frédéric Dubois
I just ran into Pavel Antonov from APC-member organisation BlueLink in
Bulgaria. He just flew into Athens from Riga where he was giving a
training to leading Latvian state-TV and national newspaper journalists
in how to report on sustainable energy. Pavel is the chair of a workshop
here at the IGF in Athens. It's called "Greening Development through ICT
and Civic Engagement" and includes a brochette of five speakers. One
them is Julian Casasbuenas, the director of APC-member in Colombia,
Colnodo. - APC blog
http://blog.apc.org/en/index.shtml?x=5042833

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-- NEWS ABOUT APC --

EURACTIV.COM: Internet Governance
November 2, 2006

[...] The Association for Progressive Communications (APC), an
international network of civil society organisations, said: "The
Internet [...] must be seen as a global public infrastructure. In this
regard we recognise the Internet to be a global public good and access
to it is in the public interest, and must be provided as a public
provision." - Euractiv.com
http://www.euractiv.com/en/infosociety/internet-governance/article-142724

TECTONIC, South Africa: Piracy creates jobs, FOSS creates opportunities
By Frederick Noronha. November 2, 2006

[...] That was the word from Johannesburg-based Anriette Esterhuysen,
executive director of the Association for Progressive Communications
(APC). - Tectonic.co.za
http://www.tectonic.co.za/view.php?id=1247

IP-WATCH, Switzerland: Online Content Among Many Issues At Internet
Governance Forum
By William New. October 31, 2006.

[...] For instance, Cerf and Karen Banks of the Association for
Progressive Communications raised jurisdictional issues in cases of
copyright infringement on a cross-border website. - Intellectual
Property Watch
http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=437

IP-WATCH, Switzerland: UN-led Conference Grills Corporations On Support
For Restrictive Internet Regimes
By William New. October 31, 2006.

[...] But Anriette Esterhuysen of the Association for Progressive
Communications said she opposes her government, South Africa, having to
prosecute people who pirate Microsoft products. - Intellectual Property
Watch
http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=440

CNET News.com, USA: UN blasts Cisco, others on China cooperation
By Staff Writer Declan McCullagh. October 31, 2006

[...] Anriette Esterhuysen, executive director of the left-leaning
Association for Progressive Communications, said it is time to "begin to
create an international policy and principle framework that stops that
from happening." - CNET News.com
http://news.com.com/U.N.+blasts+Cisco,+others+on+China+cooperation/2100-1028_3-6131010.html

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-- ARTICLES & BLOG POSTS FROM ROME --

 From October 25-27 2006, Rome hosted the World Congress on
Communication for Development, bringing together the "development
community (funding agencies, non governmental organisations, academic
sector, international organisations) to discuss how to better
circumscribe development efforts that rhyme with communications. APCNews
was on the ground to make the links between this event and the IGF in
Athens.

BLOG POST: Open spectrum, same struggle for open access?
By Frédéric Dubois
Interestingly enough, being present at the first Communication for
Development (C4D, in NGO slang) conference in Rome gives me some
insights for the upcoming Internet Governance Forum, a space where the
future is supposed to be discussed. - APC blog
http://blog.apc.org/en/index.shtml?x=5042447

ARTICLE: World congress on communication for development shopping for an
identity

The very first World Congress on Communication for Development got
underway on October 25 in Rome. In the course of the WCCD, we will be
able to measure if the participants will be able to give 'communication
for development' a clear focus and genuine identity. With the diversity
of voices in the audience though, one might scratch one's head, doubting
about the feasibility of this objective. APCNews is on the ground and
offers an introduction here. - APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=5042338

ARTICLE: BBC panel on media left audience laughing and out of breath

In a packed plenary room of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)
in Rome this week, the BBC's World Service Trust organised a world
debate, hosted by BBC World star moderator Stephen Sackur. "Is a Free
Media Essential for Development?" was the question asked. Trigger-happy
panellists did not loose a second to get in debating mode. - APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=5042449

BLOG POST: Enabling The Voice of Those Most Affected by Ill Health
By Nicholas Perkins
In an attempt to blend 'symbolic' communication with 'organic'
communication we structured the session like a live talk show, allowing
our 'in-studio' guests panellists to respond to the radio audience as
they attempt to 'call-in'. - APC blog
http://blog.apc.org/en/index.shtml?x=5042473

ARTICLE: "C4D needs to embrace the world of technology infrastructure"

Politically, the World Congress on Communication for Development might
not seem to be the most relevant event. No gender perspective to report
on, little debate on the value of telecom infrastructure, almost no
inclusion of information and communication technology for development on
the agenda. In one seminar, APC nevertheless felt like going political.
- APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=5042446

BLOG POST: Indigenous Peoples and the Right to Communicate
By Chat Garcia Ramilo

The session started with music and song, a rarity in conferences,
especially one that is convened by international bodies like the World
Bank. But so is a panel of indigenous peoples in forums on communication
and development. The invisibility and marginalisation of indigenous
peoples from the development and communication systems were the main
issues that representatives of indigenous nations from Asia, Latin
America and Africa highlighted in a special session at the World
Conference on Communication for Development currently ongoing in Rome. -
APC blog
http://blog.apc.org/en/index.shtml?x=5042454

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-- WHERE IN THE WORLD IS APC ? --

NOVEMBER 8-10: APC/UNDP "Dialogue and exchange on promising options and
critical issues for national policy and advocacy on 'open access' at the
local and national levels"	 and APC Africa regional meeting
Johannesburg, South Africa	  	  	  	

NOVEMBER 8-10: Forum ICT4D research in contribution to the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) 	
Lima, Peru 		  	  	  	

NOVEMBER 11-17: AMARC 9 world conference (APC hosts a training on
wireless internet access Nov 11-13)	
Amman, Jordan	  	  	
http://www.amarc9.amarc.org/ 	  	

NOVEMBER 12-14: Women and ICT Task Force meeting 	
Paris, France 	

NOVEMBER 17-19: LaborTech: The digital revolution and a labour media
strategy 	
San Francisco, United States of America	
www.labortech.net	  	  	

NOVEMBER 29-DECEMBER 3: APC Latin America and the Caribbean regional
meeting	
Montevideo, Uruguay	  	  	  	

DECEMBER 4-5: Building communication opportunities (BCO) APC-IICD impact
assessment meeting 	
Johannesburg, South Africa

DECEMBER 9-10: APC wireless capacity building meeting
London, United Kingdom  	  	 	  	

DECEMBER 12-15: Lead-Bangui ICT workshop for journalists
Bangui, Central African Republic	  		

DECEMBER 15-16: APC women's programme (APC WNSP) planning & evaluation
meeting
Barcelona, Spain 	

The APC offices will be closed from December 20 2006 to January 7 2007.

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APCNews, in English, and APCNoticias, in Spanish, are distributed
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ICTs for social justice and sustainable development since 1990.

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Association for Progressive Communications (APC), 2006