What actually brought about the WSIS deal on internet governance, in the way it evolved? An explanation from Canada… And, from Italy, a demand from the Greens for a href=“http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Trends&loid=8.0.230178282&par…;>Charter of Web Rights. WSIS.ecommons.ca has this article The WSIS 2 Deal on Internet Governance by Michael Geist focussing on “on the last minute WSIS deal struck … (and how) the U.S. emerged with the compromise they were looking for as the delegates agreed to retain ICANN and the ultimate U.S. control that comes with it”. This article argues that there were at least four factors at play — the US’s “very strong hand” played well; the lack of EU commitment to change; finding a diplomatic way to leave this issue for a future fight; and the fact that the “deal may not be as great for the U.S. as the current spin suggests”.
It says the US gains ongoing control over ICANN, and the power to administer the domain name system and more… but this “deal does not leave the other side empty-handed, however, as there is language that supports global concerns involving sovereignty and oversight.” Its author Michael A Geist is a href=“http://www.michaelgeist.ca”>prof at the Univ of Ottawa’s Faulty of Law. Another report href=“http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Trends&loid=8.0.230178282&par…;> Internet: Appeal for Charter of Web Rights reports that the Italian pavillion at WSIS “has presented an appeal for the creation of an Internet charter of Rights which guarantees all citizens fundamental rights in the use of new technologies, from the right to privacy to the right of access to freedom of expression”. Says the report: “The appeal, sponsored by Green party senator Fiorello Cortiana, has been supported by the Brazilian culture minsiter Gilberto Gil. Cortiana underlined how, thanks to the Forum on Internet Governance which has been created at the Tunis summit, ‘there is today a space where a charter of rights can become a concrete opportunity’.”
Cortiana visited India last May, and sported a yellow-and-green tee-shirt which spoke out bluntly against software patents — an issue one would expect few senators to come to terms with.