*** Democracies Online Newswire - http://www.e-democracy.org/do *** ------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- Date sent: Wed, 02 Aug 2000 05:00:48 +0200 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: Hans Klein <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Launch of the Civil Society Internet Forum (CSIF) I am happy to announce the launch of the Civil Society Internet Forum! Members of civil society organizations from around the globe met in Yokohama Japan in July 2000 to launch a new framework for the creation of a global Internet community. Concerning the coming At Large Elections of the ICANN Board, the Civil Society Internet Forum will provide a global framework for promoting democratic participation in elections. It will provide both global and regional forums for information sharing and debate. The guiding values of the Civil Society Internet Forum include democratic participation in decision-making and a fair balance between rights of privacy, speech, consumers, and property in Internet governance. Please visit our web site: http://www.CivilSocietyInternetForum.org The full announcement and initial signatories list are below. =============================================== Announcement of the Launch of the Civil Society Internet Forum (CSIF) http://www.CivilSocietyInternetForum.org Mission Members of civil society organizations from around the globe met in Yokohama Japan in July 2000 to launch a new framework for the creation of a global Internet community. Participants in the meeting agreed to two basic goals of the Civil Society Internet Forum in principle: 1) to make the Internet as a ground and instrument for the global civil society beyond national boundaries and 2) to work for the democratization of the Internet and Internet governance. Concerning the coming At Large Elections of the ICANN Board, the Civil Society Internet Forum will provide a global framework for promoting democratic participation in elections. It will provide both global and regional forums for information sharing and debate. Values The guiding values of the Civil Society Internet Forum are those relevant to the Internet community all over the world. Those values include democratic participation in decision-making, open processes, the right to communicate, and a fair balance between rights of privacy, speech, consumers, and property in Internet governance. Actions Supporters of the Civil Society Internet Forum performed numerous activities at the Yokohama meeting of the ICANN Board of Directors, including: * presented a petition with over one hundred signatures to the ICANN Board calling for the staff and board to work with the Civil Society Internet Forum (CSIF) to facilitate broad participation in ICANN processes and to include CSIF sessions in its future meeting programmes (see web page). * approved in principle the "Civil Society Statement on ICANN Elections," a four-page document listing principles and issues in the At Large elections (see web page.) * organized a series of meeting to educate and organize civil society organizations and individuals. CSIF Supporters STEERING COMMITTEE (organizational affiliation for information purposes only) -Myung Koo Kang (Korean Internet Forum) (Interim Chair) -Wolfgang Kleinwaechter (ICANN Studienkreis, Germany) -Kimberly Heitman (Electronic Frontiers Australia) -Hans Klein (Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, USA) -Karen Higgs (Association for Progressive Communications, Uruguay) -Pierre Ouedraogo (Institut francophone des nouvelles technologies de l'information et de la formation/INTIF, Burkina Faso) (A more permanent committee will be elected at the next CSIF meeting at the Los Angeles ICANN meeting.) Additional signatories (organizational affiliation for information purposes only): AFRICA Pierre Dandjinou (United Nations Development Program, Benin) Dorothy Okello (Women of Uganda Net (WOUGNET), Uganda) Moussa Fall (Enda Tiers Monde, Senegal) ASIA AND PACIFIC Toshimaru Ogura (JCA-Net, Japan) Tony Hill (Internet Society Australia) Nobuo Sakiyama (Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, Japan) Hae-joang Cho Chat Garcia Ramilo (APC WNSP, Manila, Philippines) EUROPE Chris Bailey (Association for Progressive Communications, UK) Veni Markovski (Internet Society Bulgaria) Karen Banks (GreenNet, UK) LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN Roberto Roggiero, INTERCOM - Ecuanex, Ecuador Dafne Sabanes Plou (APC WNSP Latin America/Argentina) Felipe Alfonso Rincón Ospina, Colombia NORTH AMERICA Garret Sern (Educause) Barbara Simons (former President, Association of Computing Machinery, USA) Marc Rotenberg, (Electronic Privacy Information Center, USA) Barry Steinhardt (American Civil Liberties Union, USA) Chris Chiu (American Civil Liberties Union, USA) Maureen James (Association for Progressive Communications, Canada) A full list of signatories to the Yokohama Petition for "Civil Society Participation in ICANN" is available at the web site: http://www.CivilSocietyInternetForum.org ===== End of Announcement ========== ^ ^ ^ ^ Steven L. 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