O Comitê Consultivo At-Large da ICANN Convida os Usuários Brasileiros da Internet para Reunião no Rio, Domingo, 23 de Março, 16:30, na sala Botafogo do Hotel Sofitel (18 March 2003)

• ALAC Invites Brazilian Internet Users To Meet in Rio, Sunday, March 2003 at 16:30 in Hotel Sofitel's Botafogo Room

Meeting Notes

• What do we want to see from/for at-large?
• Omar Kaminski:
  • Democracy
    • reduce language barriers
  • Take the internet seriously
  • ICANN important to prevent censorship, for example, war reporting
  • popular participation in ICANN issues, such as domain names;
    • Brazil has no active participation in the ICANN process
    • Brazil doesn't get represented in ICANN, though it has many Internet users.
  • independent Internet structure not dependent on foreign backbones
  • Make clear that we don't need new legislation to regulate the Internet
• Carlos Alfonso:
  • representing user communities
    • regional boundaries have been constricting; countries' numbers vary widely
    • think beyond "regional" representation
    • as international organization, should have equal representation from each country
    • or replace hierarchy with network (peer-to-peer) model
  • de-genericize representation
• Harmut Glazer, .br
  • technical support, LACNIC;
  • education: need to show users implications of the new technology
  • icann.org.br: translating the ICANN website
  • improve Internet penetration, access
  • educate lawyers, judges, about the Internet
  • LACNIC: works as a region, not based on national or linguistic boundaries
    • high technical standards;
    • high process standards: open, transparent

How should we represent Brazilian Internet users?

• inclusion, not just representation of existing users: How to make policy fora all?
• organized groups or individuals? in Brazil, civil society orgs.

• complex problem;
• multiple levels of policy: focus where we can have an effect.
  • gTLDs, privacy, etc.
• This is the first time we're hearing about representation here - need to give more notice to ordinary users;

Amadeu Abril i Abril

• This sounds like a lawyers' debate.
• More modest problem: we have an ICANN, how do we get the users involved?
• government, industries, users, all have a place
• democracy starts with citizenship; no notion of citizenship of the Internet.
• compare the industry, which goes to ICANN to advocate business interests, not to "represent"
• build structures to represent Internet users in their legislatures, then bring those to ICANN

Carlos Alfonso (2):

• domain name disputes
• UDRP doesn't apply to .br; have to bring these disputes before courts;

We are the interim At-Large Advisory Committee:

Working to set up Regional At-Large Structures, Organizations (RALOs): What should these structures look like - to address your issues?

The immediate question: What structures can we build to address the policy questions?

Watch for filters, exclusion (e.g., timing of meetings, notice)

Work toward inclusion, at the same time as we work to represent the users now.

• Set up a forum with elections: government, industry, civil society
• Delegate problem of defining representation to these (national) bodies, not ICANN

Sebastian Riccardi:

• Many ways for users to participate; join the at-large structures

Use the Internet's communication technology for these decisions; e-government.

[Some of our decisions are constrained by the ICANN reform process, bylaws]

Vittorio Bertola:

• ICANN history: flat participation didn't work.
• Most users just want the Internet to work; this process is designed to involve those who want to participate more.

Thomas Roessler:

• This structure comes from those involved when it was created, attempts to include by relying on existing organizations (not reinventing the wheel, or trying to invent a new, better wheel tomorrow).
• Is it relevant for Brazil to participate in Latin American context?
• Perhaps useful for Brazil to create a structure for Brazilian participation. Direct contact with government branches structure could go in two directions: refer Brazilian input to ICANN; convey ICANN policy to users, government.