[WSIS CS-Plenary] speakers list transmitted to the ITU

[Vittorio Bertola]

Rik Panganiban ha scritto:
> One easy way to do this is to include in the Annex the contact 
> information for each speaker, so that once we know the final list, we 
> can contact each person individually and make sure that they have the 
> broadest possible view on their given subject area.  I.e. if someone 
> plans to speak on telecentres, that they be thoroughly briefed on the 
> privacy and security working group's concerns about data retention and 
> surveillance.

I don't know what was the procedure in Geneva, but I expect that all 
speakers who will have to make pre-prepared interventions (i.e., not 
those who will have to participate to open discussions) will agree the 
text with the relevant caucuses. Briefing is not enough: I think we must 
avoid to have speakers that express personal opinions that conflict with 
the positions taken by civil society throughout the entire process; 
that, apart from being extremely divisive, would only make ourselves 
ridiculous.

 > Beyond that, if there are emerging global civil society statements on
 > given matters such as internet governance, we want to make sure that
 > as many speakers as possible mention this in their interventions.

My specific concern on this is that, in a Summit in which one of the 
main subjects of discussion is going to be the rearrangement of the 
administration of the Internet, I don't see in the list anyone who ever 
participated actively in the Internet Governance caucus. This is weird 
but not bad per se - but implies the need for some coordination :-)

> Obviously, we respect everyone's right to speak their mind.  

Well, no, these are people selected by the entire set of civil society 
participants to represent them and speak on their behalf, not in a 
personal capacity or on behalf of their organizations. I don't think 
they have any right to express personal opinions when speaking on behalf 
of civil society.
-- 
vb.             [Vittorio Bertola - v.bertola [a] bertola.eu.org]<-----
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