The gem above, heard over lunch at IGF Egypt, illustrates the apparently tenuous ground upon which some feel the IGF now stands. But to understand why there was so much concern one needs to sort out the issues at play.

First, there is the issue of who will conduct the formal review of the IGF. The review will be the basis for any decision to continue the forum under the aegis of the UN and in what format (including any outputs).  Second, there is the issue of where financial support for the forum will come from going forward. That these issues are being tussled over within the UN bureaucracy importantly illustrates the soft power that the IGF has accumulated within Internet governance.   more »

This year’s IGF was characterized by intensified rivalry between the backers of the Internet Society/ICANN and the supporters of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), which would like to contest the former’s hegemony over Internet names and number governance. Many workshops and main sessions of the Forum get sucked into this polarity one way or the other, especially if they discuss critical internet resources. Talk to the ISOC/ICANN supporters and one will get the impression they are engaged in a fight for their life. I am skeptical of this.   more »

IGP releases today a new paper assessing the relationship between public participation and accountability in ICANN. It explains how ICANN has responded to accountability concerns by creating new opportunities for public comment, review, and participation. Is public participation an adequate means of making this global Internet governance organization accountable to the public?  ICANN is fundamentally a private corporation. Private corporations are held accountable in three ways: 1) directly through their membership or shareholders, 2) through competition, which gives the public the opportunity to avoid their products or services, and 3) through external regulation or supervision by judicial or public authorities. None of these forms of accountability apply to ICANN.  Instead, the public is given a wide range of opportunities to participate in ICANN’s processes and to voice their opinions. This paper questions whether participation is an adequate substitute for accountability. It analyzes three distinct reforms in ICANN’s history to show how participation can displace accountability rather than improve it.

The problem with linking inter-governmental organizations and Internet governance were on display today, the very first day of the Egypt Internet Governance Forum. The Open Network Initiative (ONI) planned a reception to launch its new edited collection book, Access Controlled. Outside the room a banner with the book cover graphics and your standard promotional blurb was on display. The blurb mentioned "the great Chinese firewall." Apparently a representative of the Chinese government complained and someone from the UN or the government of Egypt brought in security and (after about 15 minutes of bizarre discussions) insisted that the banner be taken away.   more »

WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 -- The following federal contracts were announced by federal agencies as having been awarded to companies operating in Maryland.
***
MILITARY $4.1 Million Federal Contract Awarded to Shinkuro Inc.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 5 -- Shinkuro Inc., Bethesda, Md., won a $4,103,348 federal contract from the U.S. Air Force Materiel Command, Rome, N.Y., for the Domain Name System Security Protocol (DNSSEC) deployment.

View more detail.

[Founder and CEO of Shinkuro, Inc. is ICANN Board member and SSAC chair Steve Crocker]

IGP's Brenden Kuerbis will convene a break out group of civil society participants from the Noncommercial Users Constituency during the Code of Good Practice workshop. The workshop, hosted by the Association for Progressive Communications, along with the UNECE and Council of Europe, will be held at the Internet Governance Forum at Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt on Wednesday 18 November from 9:00-10:30 (local time, 7:00-9:30 UTC) in Room 3 (Suez Canal).   more »