Invitation to NCUC Policy Conference 12 Oct in Toronto: ICANN & Internet Governance: Security & Freedom in a Connected World

[Robin Gross]

Dear All:

You are all invited to join the NCUC policy conference in Toronto on
12 October at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel.  For those not traveling
to Toronto, remote participation will be available from the event
website:
    http://www.amiando.com/NCUC-ICANN45

The event is free to attend and open to the public to participate,
but registration is required because space is limited.

Also, any help you can provide to promote the event would be greatly
appreciated.

Thank you,
Robin

---------------------------------------------------------------

NCUC Press Release  -  3 October 2012

Top Civil Society Leaders Converge in Toronto for "ICANN & Internet
Governance: Security and Freedom in a Connected World"

Cyber-Security Expert Ron Deibert and new ICANN CEO Fadi Chehade
Address Non-Commercial Users Policy Conference on Eve of ICANN #45

Public interest groups involved in ICANN will gather for the event,
"ICANN & Internet Governance: Security & Freedom in a Connected
World" on Friday 12 October at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in
Toronto, Canada. Sponsored by the Noncommercial Users Constituency
(NCUC), the voice of civil society in ICANN, the policy conference
will focus on key ICANN policy issues like the need to promote both
cyber-security and human rights in the development of global Internet
policies.   The event kicks-off with a morning address from cyber-
security expert Ron Deibert, Director of the Canada Centre for Global
Security Studies and The Citizen Lab, an inter-disciplinary research
and development hothouse at the University of Toronto.  Deibert will
address the need to establish a cyber-security strategy for global
civil society.

"Cyberspace is at a watershed moment.  Global civil society, now
increasingly recognised as an important stakeholder in cyberspace
governance, needs to step up to the challenge," said Deibert.  "What
is required is nothing less than a serious and comprehensive
security strategy for cyberspace that addresses  the very real
threats that plague governments and corporations, addresses national
and other security  concerns in a forthright manner, while
protecting  and preserving open networks of information and
communication."

The afternoon sessions begin with welcoming remarks from Fadi
Chehade, ICANN's new Chief Executive Officer, a Lebanese-Egyptian IT
entrepreneur, who took the helm of ICANN last month and pronounced he
was committed to strengthening the multi-stakeholder process of
Internet governance.  Additional speakers at NCUC's policy conference
include Fionna Alexander from the U.S. Commerce Department and other
governmental representatives.  The all-day event's four panel
sessions include participation from ICANN board members and senior
staff, civil society and Internet business leaders.

The conference will explore a broad range of ICANN policy issues
including privacy concerns related to the whois policy that requires
the publication of registrants' personal data and discussion of
ongoing negotiations with law enforcement agencies regarding a
related policy that privacy authorities have called "unlawful".  The
geopolitical landscape of Internet governance models and the shifting
role of stakeholders will be addressed by experts from around the
world.  NCUC's conference will also explore policy issues related to
controversial new domain names such as protection for freedom of
expression in the face of cultural differences and sensitivities.
Concerns about intellectual property rights and new top-level domain
names remains an area under rapid development and will be ripe for
discussion as well as activities related to extra-territorial domain
name seizures.  Including human rights principles in ICANN policy
development will be considered, in addition to ways civil society can
become involved in the development of ICANN policies, which impact
Internet users worldwide.

NCUC represents more than 250 noncommercial organizations and
individuals from around the world on ICANN policy matters and was
formed in 1999 in Berlin at one of ICANN's earliest meetings.
Currently NCUC represents a wide range of non-commercial interests in
ICANN policy development including universities and educational
institutions, human rights organizations, development, promotion of
the arts, children's welfare, scientific research, community
networking, and many other non-commercial interests.  NCUC
participates at ICANN as a constituency within the Non-Commercial
Stakeholder Group (NCSG) and the Generic Names Supporting
Organization (GNSO), which makes ICANN policy recommendations and
selects board members.

"The conference subtitle recognizes our shared twin goals of security
and freedom, and questions to what extent must we sacrifice one for
the other," said meeting organizer Robin Gross of NCUC and IP
Justice, a civil liberties organization based in San Francisco.  The
constituency's 2012 Toronto conference builds on the policy
conference NCUC held in 2011 in which craigslist.org founder Craig
Newmark addressed the ICANN community in San Francisco.

The 2012 conference concludes with an evening reception at the
historic Fairmont Royal York overlooking the beautiful Canadian
waterfront.  The event is free to attend and open the public, but
advance registration is required because space is limited.  NCUC's
conference is held with support from the Brazilian Internet Steering
Registry CGI.br, the Public Interest Registry (PIR), and ICANN.
Civil Society event partners include The Citizen Lab, the Association
for Progressive Communications (APC) and the Canadian Internet Policy
and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) based at the University of Ottawa.

Conference sessions will be audiocast live and archived for later
downloading, and remote participation will be available from the
event's website via Adobe Connect for those not able to travel to
Toronto on 12 October.

For event details including conference schedule, speaker list, remote
participation details, and to register to the event:
   http://www.amiando.com/NCUC-ICANN45

Contact for more information:

Robin Gross, IP Justice
   Email: Robin at ipjustice.org

Brenden Keurbis, Internet Governance Project & University of Syracuse
   Email:  bnkuerbi at syr.edu




IP JUSTICE
Robin Gross, Executive Director
1192 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA  94117  USA
p: +1-415-553-6261    f: +1-415-462-6451
w: http://www.ipjustice.org     e: robin at ipjustice.org



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