The top three choices for public policy issues to be
discussed at the first meeting of the IGF, from the
perspective of SIUG (the Swiss Internet User Group)

SIUG believes that a wholehearted effort should be
undertaken to use the opportunity of the IGF for working
towards bridging the digital divide.  This is mandated
for the IGF by the Tunis agenda, but worthwhile results
in this direction can be achieved only through making a
serious effort.  Therefore, the possible topics for IGF
meetings should be evaluated according to these criteria:

(a) Will this topic attract the right people to the IGF
    who are genuinely interested in bridging the digital
    divide?

(b) Will discussion of this topic facilitate the informal
    forging of valuable contacts between IGF participants
    through which valuable work towards bridging the digital
    divide can be achieved?

(c) Is this a topic where the resulting report produced by
    the IGF will be valuable for work towards bridging the
    digital divide?

Based on these criteria, SIUG recommends the following
three topics for the first meeting of the IGF in Athens,
with the highest-priority suggestion listed first:


1. Net Neutrality, which means that companies which control
internet infrastructure must not be allowed to discriminate
in their provision of internet services by favoring content
and internet-based services of companies with whom they have
made special agreements.  For example in the USA this is a
serious threat.  In a recent letter signed by 64 companies
and groups, including Microsoft, Amazon, Google and Yahoo,
it has been stated that unless strong Net Neutrality
principles are adopted, "the Internet is at risk of losing
the openness that has made it an engine for phenomenal
social and economic growth."  This letter is here:
http://static.publicknowledge.org/pdf/nn-letter-20060301.pdf

2. Access to Knowledge, as described in the proposed draft
treaty http://www.cptech.org/a2k/consolidatedtext-may9.pdf
There are many ways in which technologists in developing
countries are needlessly hindered in accessing important
information.  The situation with ISO standards and draft
standards is particularly bad.

3. SIUG supports the "Strengthening the Trust Framework 
through People-Centred Digital Privacy and Identity" proposal
submitted by the WSIS Civil Society Privacy and Security
Working Group.  As explained in that proposal document,
Digital Identity is an issue that can serve to reorient the
IGF towards thinking more long term about the Internet's role
in the future development of an Information Society, rather
than dwelling completely on current issues understood
negatively as problems.



Contact:  Norbert Bollow <nb@bollow.ch>