[Sigiii-l] (Fwd) Counter Summit Listserv

[Nadia Caidi]

FYI
------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date sent:      	Tue, 11 Feb 2003 11:06:15 -0600
Send reply to:  	"Rodriguez, Clemencia" <clemencia at OU.EDU>
From:           	"Rodriguez, Clemencia" <clemencia at OU.EDU>
Subject:        	Counter Summit Listserv
To:             	IDC-L at LISTS.OU.EDU

Dear Division members

As some of you already know, the World Summit of the Information Society
(12/2003) is being organized by the UN and the ITU.  I have been following
the preparatory process very close and recently many organizations
representing civil society have begun resisting and protesting the
conditions under which the WSIS is being prepared.  Although the ITU talks
and talks about the importance of participation, all types of strategies are
being implemented to keep civil society out of the decision-making room.
Thus, the Information Society will be shaped by business and government, and
we know well where this leads: more privatization, conglomerates, etc.

A discussion list for those interested in organizing an 'outside' activity
(alternative/counter/protest summit) has been created:
alt.wsis at lists.riseup.net. To join: send a message to
alt.wsis-subscribe at lists.riseup.net
<mailto:alt.wsis-subscribe at lists.riseup.net>   (please circulate as much as
you can to those who need to know about this).

Below is one of the first messages circulated in this new listsev, from
Sasha Constanza-Chock from CRIS-Youth and the Annenberg School for Comm, U
Penn.



Clemencia Rodriguez
Associate Professor
Department of Communication
University of Oklahoma
610 Elm Avenue
Norman OK 73019 USA
405 325 1570
clemencia at ou.edu <mailto:clemencia at ou.edu>

-----Original Message-----
From: Sasha Costanza-Chock [mailto:schock at asc.upenn.edu]
Sent: Monday, February 10, 2003 3:40 PM
To: 'alt.wsis at lists.riseup.net'
Subject: [alt.wsis] questions

Greetings everyone,

As you know, this list was created as a space dedicated to organizing
alternatives to the WSIS process. There are a variety of reasons people
coming from different places feel this to be necessary. Some were hopeful at
first but are now frustrated with being shut out of real input to the
official process so far; some felt from the beginning that certain voices
would not be heard without an alternative process; some are concerned with
the Bush admin plans for a 'cyberterror' initiative within WSIS. Many feel
the language of 'public-private-partnership' and 'fair competition' that
pervades WSIS is euphemismm for privatization and domination of
information/communication by the multinationals.

As for what form alternatives might take, there have been various proposals.
A single alternative summit to take place in Geneva 2003 or elsewhere; a
conscious avoidance of a 'large meeting' format and attempt to make an
alternative with as broad-as-possible participation in networked/distributed
form; coordinated protests, street and virtual; combinations of these and
other forms, etc.

Most agree that any alternatives will be most effective if well-coordinated
together with those acting inside the process.

So, to kickstart the discussion here are some concrete questions that keep
coming up, followed by some concrete needs/tasks for us to proceed most
effectively. Obviously these are far from exhaustive but they'll get the
ball rolling...

Questions:

-Should there be an 'umbrella' for alternative/protest/counter WSIS
activity? IE an attempt to coordinate as much of this activity under some
common name/theme/structure vs. simply an effort to encourage dispersed
protest/counter activity

-If there's an umbrella, what should it be called? For example,
Intercontinental Encounter on Communication Rights; World Summit on
Communication Societies; CounterWSIS; Another Communication Society is
Possible; etc. etc.

-How should it be organized? For example, a coordinating body with
representatives of participating organizations vs. coordinated by as many
people as possible via some kind of 'referendum' or other tool, etc.

-Is it open to all, or only to those who agree on a certain set of ideas,
statements, positions? For example, open to all vs. open to those who
explicitly oppose neoliberalism; open only to social movements; open to
everyone but private sector; etc. etc.

Needs:

-Translation. This discussion can't happen in English only. We probably need
people to administer parallel discussion lists in other languages; it would
be great for this list to be a multilingual place though.

-Outreach. We will want to get as many movements, organizations, and people
on board as possible. For now, outreach means spreading the idea that
alternatives are being developed and letting people know about this list.

-Funds.

-Website.  At some point soon, we'll want a shared information space besides
the listserv where those working on the alternative(s) can collaborate on
documents, statements, scheduling, analysis of WSIS developments, etc. etc.
This will also be an important tool for transparency of the alternative
process. As such, it would ideally be set up on a collaborative publishing
model.

OK that's enough info overload for now. Peace
Sasha



Sasha Costanza-Chock

215.476.2064
schock at asc.upenn.edu <mailto:schock at asc.upenn.edu>



------- End of forwarded message -------+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Nadia Caidi
Assistant Professor
Faculty of Information Studies
University of Toronto
140 St. George Street
Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G6
Canada
Tel: (416) 978 4664
Fax: (416) 971 1399
Email: caidi at fis.utoronto.ca