[WSIS CS-Plenary] Canada: Preliminary position on Internet governance / Position provisoire au sujet de la gouvernance d'Internet [u]

[Robert Guerra [c]]

http://www.privaterra.org/activities/wsis/blog/internet- 
governance---38--canadians.html

I'd like to alert Canadians on this list of a message recently posted  
by Industry Canada. In summary - the message states  preliminary  
Canadian Government positions,  and calls upon Canadian citizens  
interested in internet governance to submit  comments related to the  
WGIG report by the end of July. It is a short , informal consultation  
- but one none the less.



regards

Robert


--
Robert Guerra <rguerra at privaterra.org>
Managing Director, Privaterra <http://www.privaterra.org>



Begin forwarded message:





> From: "Graham, Bill: DIT" <Graham.Bill at ic.gc.ca>
> Date: June 30, 2005 6:16:24 PM EDT (CA)
> To: "Graham, Bill: DIT" <Graham.Bill at ic.gc.ca>
> Subject: RE: Preliminary position on Internet governance / Position  
> provisoire au sujet de la gouvernance d'Internet
>
>
> What I did not say, but hope will be obvious, is that I would  
> appreciate it very much if you could forward this note to any  
> others you believe might be interested in commenting, or post to  
> relevant listservs.  We will be happy to see comments, and will be  
> sure to distribute the WGIG report when it is released.  It will be  
> sent out on July 18, and we will have to submit our official  
> comments to Geneva before August 15, so we will have to request  
> that any feedback on that report reach us within about 1 week, to  
> permit us to develop a response and to move it through the internal  
> approval process.
>
> Bill Graham
> Director, Industry Canada
> International Telecommunications Policy and Coordination
> 300 Slater Street
> Ontario, Canada
> K1A 0C8
>
>
>  -----Original Message-----
> From:   Graham, Bill: DIT
> Sent:   Thursday, June 30, 2005 3:23 PM
> To:     Graham, Bill: DIT
> Subject:        Preliminary position on Internet governance /  
> Position provisoire au sujet de la gouvernance d’Internet
>
> Le français suit.
> =======================================================
> To Canadians interested in international Internet governance issues:
>
> The purpose of this notice is to invite submissions from interested  
> Canadians regarding Internet governance, within the context of  
> Phase II of the UN World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).
>
> Comments can be submitted directly by e-mail to the Secretariat of  
> the UN Working Group on Internet Governance  at wgig at unog.ch or  
> through the “WGIG Web” site at http://www.wgig.org.
>
> There are a number of specific issue papers on the www.wgig.org  
> website, which the WGIG is considering in its process.  These are  
> open for comment and we are encouraging interested Canadians to  
> respond directly to the WGIG.  Submitted views and recommendations  
> that are both compatible with Canadian interests and effective on a  
> global scale would be of particular interest to the Government of  
> Canada.
>
> Interested Canadians making submissions to the Secretariat of the  
> WGIG should be aware that this is a process conducted under the  
> auspices of the UN WGIG Secretariat.  Parties making submissions  
> should not assume that the Government of Canada will directly  
> consult submissions made as a part of this separate process.   
> However, those parties wishing to copy Industry Canada on  
> submissions to the WGIG can cc their submissions to:
>
> wsis-smsi at ic.gc.ca.
>
> Preliminary Government of Canada position on Internet governance:
>
> No formal Government of Canada position yet tabled
> A Canadian contribution is planned for submission to the WSIS  
> Preparatory Committee Meeting III, after the WGIG final report for  
> release in mid-July, 2005 has been reviewed.
>
> WSIS process
> Canada strongly supports the letter and principle of the agreed- 
> upon WSIS Declaration of Principles and Plan of Action, in  
> particular, the work of the Working Group on Internet Governance.   
> We are satisfied that the UN Secretary General has successfully  
> sought inputs of all stakeholders in the WGIG.  We have followed  
> its work with interest and look forward to its final report to be  
> released mid-July, 2005.
>
> Economic, social and cultural success of the Internet
> Canada believes that the international community needs to  
> understand in concrete terms what problems exist before they can  
> enter into informed consideration of proposed solutions, especially  
> the possible creation of new treaty-based organizations.  Canada  
> strongly endorses the agreement in Geneva that “policy authority  
> for Internet-related public policy issues is the sovereign right of  
> States” (WSIS Declaration of Principles, article 49a) and that  
> “international Internet governance issues should be addressed in a  
> coordinated manner” (WSIS Declaration of Principles, article 50).   
> This does not imply, however, that new international bodies must be  
> created.
>
> Security and reliability of the internet
> Security and reliability of the internet are of paramount  
> importance.  In our domestic environment, we have developed a  
> policy approach to the internet based on laws of general  
> application and we believe there are international analogies.  For  
> example, the World Intellectual Property Office should address  
> intellectual property rights.  Thus, we believe it is not useful to  
> seek to have one forum to address all Internet governance issues.   
> It should be handled by a combination of local, national, regional,  
> international, public and private bodies.  We believe that such an  
> approach, pursued with care, will foster continued expansion of the  
> internet as a fundamental tool for innovation, economic growth and  
> social development.
>
> WSIS outcomes on Internet governance
> A possible outcome would be agreement to establish an informal  
> mechanism either to continue the work of the WGIG, or to provide a  
> forum for countries to discuss specific Internet governance issues  
> and to coordinate responses, as appropriate.  The Government of  
> Canada recognizes that some countries wish to have a forum to  
> discuss a range of issues related to Internet governance.  We  
> strongly supported the establishment of the Working Group on  
> Internet governance as a first step in that process.  The lack of  
> Internet-specific institutions does not mean that there are no  
> existing international mechanisms able to address problems in the  
> Internet environment.  Any approach to develop a forum ought to be  
> flexible, able to respond quickly and be inclusive of all  
> stakeholders (governments, private sector and civil society.)  An  
> understanding of how networks operate must also be reflected in any  
> established forum.
>
> Further information regarding Canada and the WSIS, including  
> further background on this issue, can be found at:
> <http://www.wsis-smsi.gc.ca/>
>
>
>