[NCUC-DISCUSS] RightsCon Session Update

[Ayden Férdeline]

Hi,

Thanks for the update. Just on the panellists — Susan left Facebook last March, so it might be advisable to find someone else (with her change in affiliation I don't think she will be attending RightsCon). I guess the challenge here is that the private sector does not engage as much in RightsCon as civil society does, so trying to find private sector speakers already going, or with a desire to attend and to speak on this topic, is going to be challenging.

That said, any chance we can extend an invitation to Rachel Pollack to speak? I'm not sure if she can attend, but she is an NCUC member who works for UNESCO and is very knowledgeable on this (and other) topics.

Ayden

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
On 6 March 2018 1:56 PM, Michael Karanicolas <mkaranicolas at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> Just writing with an update on the NCUC RightsCon session. As I mentioned last month, the proposal has been accepted. The RightsCon folks followed up requesting that we collaborate with UNESCO on it, merging our session with one they had proposed based on last year's [publication on multistakeholderism](https://en.unesco.org/news/unesco-releases-new-publication-advancing-multistakeholder-participation-internet-governance). As a result, the session will now be co-moderated by Xianhong Hu, alongside myself, but the session description, structure, and speakers are basically unchanged from the version we submitted. I am attaching our revised description below, along with initial the list of proposed panelists. Happy to hear any thoughts or feedback.
>
> Best,
>
> Michael
>
> PS: Our NCUC outreach booth for RightsCon has also been approved. No details on the timing of that as of yet, but please let me know if any of you are planning to attend RightsCon, and might be willing to join me there for a bit.
>
> Title: Is Multistakeholder Internet Governance Advancing, Dying, or Evolving?
>
> This session, jointly organized by UNESCO and ICANN’s Non-Commercial Users’ Constituency, aims to foster a robust discussion on the strengths and weaknesses of multistakeholder models and to develop recommendations to improve these processes in the future. Multistakeholder governance models are built around the idea of bringing diverse stakeholders together to collaborate on policy making solutions. These models have become particularly prevalent in Internet governance, where representatives from the commercial, technical, academic, governmental and civil society sectors all have a seat at the table and share a role in policymaking. However, systems that are designed to be egalitarian can nonetheless manifest biases in practice. In ICANN’s case, although the IANA transition has already occurred, uncertainty persists over where governments’ role in Internet governance ends and ICANN’s begins, allowing the former to wield a powerful stick over the process. Meanwhile, human rights advocates and other non-commercial interests, who in theory engage on an equal footing with their counterparts from the business community, can be placed at a natural disadvantage by the fact that they generally have fewer resources to work with. The session will welcome participants from ICANN staff, its Governmental Advisory Committee, and commercial and non-commercial (civil society) participants in the ICANN process. Among the entry points to the discussion will be a recent study released by UNESCO, “What if we all governed the Internet? Advancing multistakeholder participation in Internet governance”, which was developed as part of the UNESCO Series on Internet Freedom. The session will be moderated by UNESCO representative Ms. Xianhong Hu and Mr. Michael Karanicolas of the Executive Committee of ICANN's Non-Commercial Users’ Constituency.
>
> Speakers (all TBC):
>
> Ms. Anri van der Spuy, Research ICT Africa, civil society, South Africa
> Mr. Benedicto Fonseca (Brazilian Ambassador for Internet issues), Brazil
> Mr. Jeremy Malcolm (Australian, M), Senior Global Policy Analyst at Electronic Frontier Foundation
> Ms. Susan Kawaguchi (American, F), Facebook representative to ICANN
> Ms. Theresa Swinehart (American, F), Senior Vice President, Multistakeholder Strategy And Strategic Initiatives, ICANN
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