Recognizing WSIS Impacts

(Click here for blog post version of this commentary)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Seth Johnson
Date: Tue, Nov 26, 2013 at 8:35 PM
Subject: WTDC/Plenipot: 3) Enabling Environment/Capacity Building/Inclusivity: Understanding Impacts on the Internet (was: Re: Critical Notes for WTDC Prep)
To: “[protected]” , “Zoller, Julie N”

Hi Julie, ITAC, and all:

Continuing from the previous email:

The following covers resolutions related to Programmes 3 and 4, on “the Enabling Environment, Capacity Building and Digital Inclusivity.” The analysis covers WTDC, WTSA and PP resolutions, while focusing on revisions to WTDC resolutions that are needed at the upcoming WTDC.

Part 3: the Enabling Environment, Capacity Building and Digital Inclusivity:
https://internetdistinction.com/wsisimpacts/2013/11/25/enabling-environment-capacity-inclusivity-understanding-impacts-on-the-internet/

Contributions:

I am attaching a number of contributions I have offered since the
US began its approach to the WTDC, both in the form of revisions to
WTDC resolutions and in the form of revisions to other inputs the US
Delegation is providing to the WTDC.

The US Delegation’s contribution on the topic of Conformance and
Interoperability is a matter of great concern. The US is promoting
the certification of ICTs under concepts of conformance and
interoperability that may easily be applied in concert with managed
service frameworks to implement policy, rather than in terms of more
flexible and open forms of interoperability made possible by the
Internet Protocol.

Conformance & Interoperability can be addressed in relation to
Capacity Building, so I attach it to this email. I also attach my
revisions to WTDC 47, the main WTDC resolution on this topic.
Conformance & Interoperability Study Question – ID Edits
WTDC 47 – ID Edits

You will also find my contributed revisions on WTDC 30, WTDC 13, and
WTDC 23 attached to this email.
WTDC 30 – ID Edits
WTDC 13 – ID Edits
WTDC 23 – ID Edits

I describe the purposes of each revision in the reply copy text further below.

Seth

On Tue, Nov 26, 2013 at 8:13 PM, Seth Johnson wrote:
> Hello Julie, ITAC, and all:
>
> As promised, here are parts 2 and 3 of my analysis of ITU Resolutions.
> This constitutes a comprehensive view of the implications of the
> failure of the WSIS project and the ITU to recognize the key
> characteristics that make the Internet unique. It is focused on WTDC
> resolutions and is organized in terms of the WTDC Action Plan, but
> also covers PP and WTSA Resolutions.
>
> Part 2: Cybersecurity, ICT Applications and IP-Based Network Issues:
> internetdistinction.com/wsisimpacts/2013/11/25/cybersecurity-ict-applications-ip-based-impacts-on-the-internet/
>
> Part 3: the Enabling Environment, Capacity Building and Digital Inclusivity:
> https://internetdistinction.com/wsisimpacts/2013/09/09/enabling-environment-capacity-inclusivity-understanding-impacts-on-the-internet/
>
> This analysis has guided my contributions since at least April,
> allowing me to prioritize the revisions needed and address the
> approach of the US Delegation as the WTDC approached.
>
> Only a few WTDC resolutions require revisions, and the most important
> of these are attached to this email and the next.
>
> The important part of the analysis turns out to be the relationship of
> the WTDC resolutions to a set of core PP Resolutions that present the
> key terms IP-based Networks, Internet and Next-generation Networks in
> a confused manner. I have placed commentary on this aspect under
> “IP-based Network Issues” at the above link for Part 2.
>
> Also as promised, you may find my comments on identifiers under that
> heading as well, which relates to several resolutions in Parts 2 and
> 3.
>
> Contributions:
>
> I am attaching a number of contributions I have offered since the
> US began its approach to the WTDC, both in the form of revisions to
> WTDC resolutions and in the form of revisions to other inputs the US
> Delegation is providing to the WTDC, notably those on Broadband and
> Conformance and Interoperability.
>
> The US Delegation’s contributions on the topics of Broadband and
> Conformance and Interoperability are matters of great concern. With
> the broadband contribution, the US is encouraging the implementation
> of ICT applications for the Information Society under the term
> “broadband,” by reference to the ITU’s work on 3G/4G, the managed
> service framework used by wireless providers. With the conformance
> and interoperability resolution, the US is promoting the certification
> of ICTs under concepts of conformance and interoperability that may
> easily be applied in concert with managed service frameworks to
> implement policy, rather than in terms of more flexible and open forms
> of interoperability made possible by the Internet Protocol.
>
> The last thing we want to do is roll out next-generation networks
> all over the world, without recognizing the tradeoffs brought by these
> types of networks as compared to the open Internet platform — and
> then to place that under a conformance and interoperability
> certification regime that fails to recognize the difference.
>
> The US proposal on broadband might be placed under the heading of
> ICT Applications in general, so I attach it to this email. Conformance
> & Interoperability can be addressed in relation to Capacity Building,
> so I attach it to my next email, under Part 3.
>
> Below I describe the purposes of all the revisions to WTDC resolutions
> I am attaching.
>
>
> Seth
>
> Further notes:
>
> The following covers resolutions related to Programme 2 of the
> Hyderabad Action Plan, in the areas of “Cybersecurity, ICT
> Applications and IP-Based Network Issues.” My next email will cover
> Programmes 3 and 4, on “the Enabling Environment, Capacity Building
> and Digital Inclusivity.” The analysis covers WTDC, WTSA and PP
> resolutions, while focusing on revisions to WTDC resolutions that are
> needed at the upcoming WTDC.
>
> You can find the first part of this analysis, on the Conformance and
> Interoperability initiative, here:
> https://internetdistinction.com/wsisimpacts/2013/04/28/wsis-impacts-conformance-interoperability/
> . I determined early on it is not necessary to address the Regulators
> Forum.
>
> Also as promised, you may find my comments on identifiers under
> “IP-based Network Issues” in Part 2 here:
> internetdistinction.com/wsisimpacts/2013/09/09/cybersecurity-ict-applications-ip-based-impacts-on-the-internet/#Identifiers
>
> On the Analysis:
>
> Only a few WTDC Resolutions need revisions in terms of their usage
> of the terms IP-based Networks, Internet, Next-generation Networks,
> etc. (though plenty of PP and WTSA resolutions do).
>
> The key part instead turns out to be the relationship of the WTDC
> resolutions to the core PP Resolutions that have guided the ITU’s
> activities since 2010. I address these core resolutions under the
> “IP-Based Network Issues” heading here:
> https://internetdistinction.com/wsisimpacts/2013/09/09/cybersecurity-ict-applications-ip-based-impacts-on-the-internet/#ITUInternet
> . There I describe the confusion in the key terms IP-based Networks,
> Internet and Next-generation Networks that PP 101, 102 and 133 convey,
> and the fact that PP 137 is much more explicit about the commitment by
> the 2010 Plenipotentiary Conference to deploying Next-generation
> Networks to developing countries.
>
> The remaining parts of the analysis end up being placeholders for
> important notes, listing PP, WTSA and WTDC resolutions in the
> Hyderabad Action Plan Programmes and commenting on them, but noting
> only a few WTDC Resolutions needing edits. Among these notes are
> comments illustrating how the failure to recognize the nature of the
> Internet in the Information Society project impacts both the Internet
> and the goals of the Information Society project itself, as expressed
> in the Geneva Action Lines.
>
> Not yet in place are some comments on the core resolutions on
> bridging the Digital Divide and the Standardization Gap, PP 139 and PP
> 123. I have already presented these points however, in the
> Conformance and Interoperability analysis:
> https://internetdistinction.com/wsisimpacts/2013/04/28/wsis-impacts-conformance-interoperability/#DigitalDivide
> https://internetdistinction.com/wsisimpacts/2013/04/28/wsis-impacts-conformance-interoperability/#StandardsGap
>
> Describing the Revisions:
>
> On this email you will find attached my contributed revisions on
> WTDC 45, WTDC 63, and the US’s Broadband proposal.
>
> On the next email you will find my contributed revisions on WTDC
> 23, WTDC 13, WTDC 30, and WTDC 47, and the US’s Conformance and
> Interoperability proposal.
>
> I describe the purposes of each revision below, along with other
> resolutions that need to be revised:
>
> US Proposal for a study question on Broadband:
> Revisions to recognize other modes besides wireless, in
> particular addressing the Internet platform created on the basis of
> competitive access by autonomous, interoperating providers to
> infrastructure installed in the public right of way.
>
> US Proposal for a study question on Conformance and Interoperability +
> WTDC 47 (Conformance and Interoperability):
> Revisions to recognize different types of conformance and
> interoperability relevant to different types of networks, including
> general purpose interoperability among autonomous networks and
> interoperability by the application of a common policy across routers
> subject to a core authority.
>
> WTDC 13 and WTDC 30 (Funding Mechanisms and Partnerships):
> Revisions to recognize that funding mechanisms and partnership
> schemes must be developed to support contexts providing competitive
> access at the physical layer, that funding and partnerships in
> vertically integrated telecommunications contexts may differ markedly
> from those that would serve to support competitive access at the
> physical layer, that public-private partnerships that incorporate
> explicit recognition of the role of public oversight may better
> support competitive access to the physical layer, and that recognizing
> the distinction between the open Internet platform and specialized or
> managed services allows for clear understanding of when practices,
> policies and technologies may affect the Internet and its unique
> characteristics and advantages.
> (WTDC 52 and WTDC 71 may also be revised similarly)
>
> WTDC 23 (International Internet Connectivity):
> Revised to recognize that connectivity to the broader
> international Internet does not mean there is an Internet at the
> national or lower levels, and particularly noting that the commercial
> initiatives to deliver cost savings that the resolution suggests might
> address the resolution’s concern for pricing of international
> connectivity for developing countries are not necessarily compatible
> with the general purpose form of connectivity of the Internet.
>
> WTDC 45, WTDC 63, WTDC 47 (Identifiers):
> Revisions to acknowledge that policy associated with
> identifiers may affect the flexibility and openness of the Internet
> unless recognition of its basic nature is incorporated:
>
> WTDC 45 (Cybersecurity): Cryptographic measures may serve as
> part of an implementation of security-related policy in infrastructure
> in ways that may impact the free flow of information, ideas and
> knowledge and the flexible modes of interaction with and collaborative
> use of information the Internet makes possible.
>
> WTDC 63 (IP Address Allocation and IPv6 Deployment): Revisions
> recommending that the ITU Council support both the open Internet
> platform and specialized services networks in its approval of the BDT
> Director’s guidelines for changes in organizational frameworks and
> policies necessitated by migrating to IPv6.
>
> WTDC 47 (Conformance and Interoperability): Revisions to
> recognize different types of conformance and interoperability may
> suffice to address concerns regarding use of identifiers for
> enforcement of policy that may be implied in references to
> counterfeiting in this resolution
>
> (WTDC 22 may also be revised similarly)
>
> WTDC 64 (Consumer Protection):
> Revisions to assure that consumers are able to recognize the
> difference between Internet connectivity and other types of
> connectivity.
>
> WTDC 37 (Digital Divide):
> Revisions to recognize the role of the Internet’s special
> characteristics in bridging the digital divide, including its
> empowerment of end users and independent providers, and to assure that
> references to pro-competitive policies and regulatory contexts
> recognize the role of competitive access to the physical layer in
> producing the Internet platform among autonomous providers, and in
> incentivizing infrastructure development.
>
> WTDC 15, WTDC 20 (Technology Transfer and Non-discriminatory Access):
> Revisions to assure references to partnerships should
> recognize the inherently public nature of publicly-funded research and
> shared infrastructure, and to assure that the value of
> non-discriminatory access does not substitute for recognition of the
> advantages of competition among providers.
>
>
> The Upshot:
>
> In developing my contributions, I have been able to prioritize and
> focus on parts that needed addressing in terms of the approach of the
> US Delegation. The analysis should now serve others in understanding
> where the defects are in the ITU Resolutions that need to be
> corrected.
>
> However, proceeding in a manner that continues to follow through
> according to the process the ITU has laid out will not correct the
> basic problem in the approach, which simply reaffirms WSIS goals
> without adding the critical insights needed to understand what the
> Internet adds to the equation. It will not only undermine the
> Internet to continue to pursue the Information Society project the way
> it has been, but establishing a form of Internet Governance at the
> international level in this way presents the distinct prospect of
> undermining efforts within the US to place the Internet back on a
> sound foundation by recourse to the law.
>
> The US needs to act at the WTDC to correct the oversight regarding
> the Internet in the WSIS project. The US needs to recognize the
> difference between a truly competitive Internet and the types of
> specially tailored services that are offered within individual
> networks — whether they may be individual wireless providers or
> incumbents in other modes who enjoy a privileged status in relation to
> infrastructure — and in the course of the next year help enable those
> engaged in furthering the Information Society project to receive a
> proper understanding of its status in those terms.
>
>
> Seth
>
> On Fri, May 3, 2013 at 9:55 AM, Minard, Julian E wrote:
>> ———- Forwarded message ———-
>> From: Seth Johnson
>> Date: Mon, Apr 29, 2013 at 4:58 PM
>> Subject: WTDC/Plenipot: 1) Conformance and Interoperability:
>> Understanding Impacts on the Internet (was: Re: Critical Notes for WTDC Prep)
>> To: “[protected]”
>> Cc: “[protected]”
>>
>>
>> At the link below is an analysis showing where the Conformance and Interoperability resolutions open up the risk of the Information Society undermining the Internet. I have pasted the introductory text below, including general concerns and some key points.
>>
>> The analysis is designed to contribute to upcoming proceedings such as the WTPF, the WTDC and High Level WSIS Review in April 2014, preparing the way to the Plenipotentiary Meeting in October/November 2014, where the necessary actions can be taken.
>>
>> The full analysis is here:
>>> https://internetdistinction.com/wsisimpacts/2013/04/28/wsis-impacts-conformance-interoperability/
>>
>> Please take it into account on the next WTDC Prep, general ITAC, and Council calls.

<< SNIP >>