Recognizing WSIS Impacts

Dear ITU Deputy Secretary Zhou and IEG Chair Kantchev,

We are writing to express our concern that the Internet Systems
Consortium's submission for the WTPF, the Opinion on Recognizing the
Internet in the Information Society, has not been posted to the IEG
site though it was submitted the same day Paul Vixie was admitted to
the group for the ISC, and in the evening prior to the beginning of
the group's discussion of submitted opinions last Thursday and Friday.

The opinion is entirely in keeping with the theme of the upcoming
WTPF, of capacity building for broadband, as well as with the topic
areas listed in Council Decision 562 and Resolutions 101, 102 and 133;
and it is eminently in keeping with the overall purpose of the WTPF as
given in Resolution 2.

The Opinion asserts that the World Summit for the Information Society
must identify the key characteristics that distinguish the Internet in
order to assure that the impact of its initiatives on the Internet can
be readily recognized. Without this measure, the Information
Society's initiatives may easily undermine the Internet.

We recognize that the basic conclusion of the Opinion has broad
implications, as it seeks to bring greater clarity and a clearer
foundation to the areas of public policy issues, development
initiatives, and governance in general that the Information Society
initiatives address, but this broadness is only a reflection of a
basic, fundamental oversight which needs to be corrected or else
introduce unnecessary doubts regarding the overall WSIS enterprise.

It is understandable to consider that the Opinion may elicit broader
ranging discussions than others presently being considered for
acceptance in the Secretary-General's Final Draft. However, it can be
considered and all questions answered satisfactorily in the remaining
time before the final draft is issued on March 1; or it can be added
to the remaining Opinions presently being considered for summary
acceptance.

This is a constructive Opinion, addressing an oversight for which the
WTPF is specifically designed to provide, by means of appropriately
framed opinions promoting informed views and responses that may guide
future Information Society activities.

We ask that you please accept the Opinion on Recognizing the Internet
in the Information Society, already submitted as the contribution of
the Internet Systems Consortium, and include it in the
Secretary-General's Report for the World Telecommunications/ICT Policy
Forum, so it can be considered for issuing this May.

Signed,

(Affiliations are listed for identification only)

Janna Anderson, Director of the Imagining the Internet Center, Elon University
Michel Bauwens, P2P Foundation
Scott Bradner, Harvard University, long time IETF and ISOC
participant, former ARIN board member and Network World columnist
Robin Chase, CEO, Buzzcar
Gene Gaines, Gaines Group
Robert Gregory, BSEE UCB, I.T. Director for a non-profit human
services agency, and BSD, open source and IP network evangelist
David S. Isenberg, Ph. D., Producer, F2C: Freedom to Connect
Seth P. Johnson, Information Quality Specialist
Sascha Meinrath, Director, Open Technology Institute
John Mitchell, Interaction Law
Hunter Newby, CEO, Allied Fiber
Bruce Perens, co-founder of the Open Source movement in software
David P. Reed, Ph.D., Participant in the original design of the
Internet Protocols and well-known expert in network and computing
architecture
Chuck Sherwood, Principal, Community Media Visioning
Aram Sinnreich, Author and Journalist, Assistant Professor, Rutgers
University School of Communication and Information
Brough Turner, Founder, netBlazr Inc., co-founder & former CTO of NMS
Communications and of Natural MicroSystems
John G. Waclawsky Ph.D., Technology Advisor and Consultant, Chicago
and Washington
David Weinberger, Ph.D., Senior Researcher at Harvard Berkman Center
for Internet & Society
Brett Wynkoop, First provider of public Internet access in New York City