Brazil's statement - subcommitte on IG

[carlos a. afonso]

Below is the statement from the government of Brazil at the opening
meeting of Prepcom 3's subcommittee A (Internet governance).

--c.a.

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Brazilian Statement
On Internet Governance to the WSIS Prepcom III 
Geneva, September 20th, 2005

Thank you Mr. Chairman,

On Internet Governance three words tend to come to our mind: “Lack of
Legitimacy”. Despite the success in ensuring high availability and great
stability to the operation of the network, the current structure for
global governance of the Internet presents significant limitations and a
clear lack of legitimacy. In what concerns Internet Governance, in our
digital world, only one nation decides on behalf of us all.  

How those in favor of this power concentration explain this awkward
situation? The most common one is the well known 1984 George Orwell type
of mantra, which says: “If it is not broken, do not fix it”. Even if we
agree that there is nothing to be fixed – which is not the case for
Brazil – this indoctrination argument makes no sense. It makes no sense
for a simple reason: we are not debating industrial mass production
through assembly lines; we are trying to build a democratic, transparent
and multilateral decision making process in our digital world.

In order to see things from another perspective, Brazil proposes a new
mantra based on an often quoted Stein's Law, a principle enunciated by
the late Herbert Stein, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers
during the Nixon administration: "Things that can't go on forever, don't." 

Mr.  Chairman, the WGIG Report calls our attention to a number of issues
related to Internet Governance that cannot go on forever. Allow me to
quote a few of them: 

a) On administration of the root zone files and system, the unilateral
control by one Government, as well as the lack of formal relationship
with root server operators.

b) On Interconnection costs, an uneven distribution of cost and an
absence of an appropriate and effective global Internet governance
mechanism to resolve the issue. 

c) On Internet security, a lack of multilateral mechanisms to ensure
network stability and security of Internet infrastructure services and
applications and a lack of efficient tools and mechanisms to be used by
countries to prevent and prosecute crimes committed in other
jurisdictions using technological means that might be located within or
outside the territory where the crime caused the negative effect.

d) On Spam, no unified, coordinated approach.

e) In what concerns participation in global policy development, there
are significant barriers to multi-stakeholder participation in
governance mechanisms. There is often a lack of transparency, openness
and participatory processes. 

f) On Allocation of domain names, there is a need for further
development of policies and procedures for generic top-level domain
names (gTLDs).

g) On IP addressing, concerns over allocation policies for IP addresses.

h) In what concerns Freedom of expression, restrictions on freedom of
expression.

i) In relation to Consumer rights, there is a lack of global standards
for consumer rights over the Internet. The recent case of triple X
domain name is a good example of lack of accountability.

Mr. Chairman, we cannot  ignore reality;  neither should we expect magic
solutions. The WGIG Report proposes a number of ways out of this
dilemma. The first one is the creation of a Global Forum – a place of
dialog and decision, with all stakeholders. Let me stress the world
“decision” – otherwise it will be seen as nothing but a kindergarten.
The second proposal is the creation of a Global Public Policy Oversight
Function System. Three of the four models proposed by the WGIG report
are worth being implemented.  

In this regard, Brazil is of the opinion that the WGIG’s report shall be
a base for our work here at Prepcom III. It’s a good and sound step forward.

In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, Brazil supports a new organization model
for Internet Governance. One that is democratic, transparent and
multilateral, as we all have already agreed upon in the Declaration of
Principles, at the Geneva Summit, two years ago. Current policies on
Internet Governance are unsustainable. We can't go on like this
indefinitely. And things that can't go on forever, don't.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.


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Carlos A. Afonso
diretor de planejamento
Rede de Informações para o Terceiro Setor - Rits
Rua Guilhermina Guinle, 272 - sexto andar
22270-060 Rio de Janeiro Brasil
tel +55-21-2527-5494
fax +55-21-2527-5460
http://www.rits.org.br
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