07/06/2008 submitted by Christopher Wilkinson (Christopher.wilkinson@skynet.be):

This reply is on behalf of ISOC-Belgium-Wallonia.
ISOC France has also endorsed this reply.

As Chair of ISOC-ECC, I have also consulted all our member ISOC-Chapters, including several ICANN ALS, during the last few days. There have been no other comments or demur, so you may consider this reply as reflecting a broader opinion than the two signing Chapters.

ISOC-ECC would be very interested in due course in your feedback as to the results of your enquiries, and how ICANN might plan to put them into practice.

With many thanks for your consideration, and regards,

Christopher Wilkinson.

REPLY TO ICANN ABOUT THE "WIN-WIN" SCENARIO

This response to the questions from the ICANN ALAC/RALO Secretariat focuses on the relevant aspects of ICANN's activities. Thus, it is not an exhaustive description of the priorities that could be identified for a typical ISOC Chapter in Europe, which normally engages in a much wider range of issues than those addressed by ICANN, ALAC and the RALOS.

Accordingly, issues such as international standardisation, IETF, Open Source Software, Internet Governance (apart from the ICANN/GAC relationship), Consumer rights (apart from Registrant issues), educational applications, protection of minors etc. do not figure prominently in the following check-list, not because they are not important, but because they do not enter into the mainstream of ICANN responsibilities and consequently onto the agenda of ALAC and the RALOS.

1.What issues are most important to your RALO and your region?

IPv6; Multilingualism; IDN; management of ccTLDs. Protection of Registrant interests in the gTLDs and new TLDs in particular.

2. How can we (i.e. ICANN Staff) help make your time efficient?

No specific suggestions. It is a problem to fit in conference calls and careful reading of e-mail lists coming from several distinct fora and organisations, on top of a normally full professional and/or family life. Substantial ICANN documents need a summary in English and a translation in other languages.

3. What challenges and opportunities do you see for your region?

Opportunities:

• Continued development of .EU and Eurid
• Europe-wide implementation of IDN
• Accelerating broad-band access throughout Europe.
• Accelerating Ipv6 implementation.

Challenges:

• Creating a consciousness about the issues surrounding Internet management among a younger public of users who increasingly "take the Internet for granted".
• Technological development, participation in cooperative reseach and related competences for the future of the Internet, including Ipv6.
• Articulating an efficient relationship between Civil Society and Governments, particularly the GAC Members. In principle there is adequate good will, but geography, languages, the general shortage of time and the specific competences of the EU Institutions and Member States, results in sub-optimal input to the EU Institutions and output towards the GAC and other Internet Governance fora.
• There should be at least one ALS in each country.

4. How could we increase interaction between communities?

In general this role has been partially fulfilled in the past by neutral, resourced, academic entities. Certain ICANN mailing lists have also contributed to interaction e.g. AfrICANN. Perhaps the ICANN European Bureau in Brussels could be more pro-active in this area. During ICANN's formative period, interaction among the Internet community in Europe was organised by the European Commission through the European Community Panel of Participants (EC-POP).

For several years, the ICANN-GAC Regional Forums, which took place in open session at each ICANN meeting, also achieved a significant degree of global inter-action among several ICANN constituencies, including governments.

In the future, ICANN leadership could increase their personal participation in the ALAC and EURALO meetings and mailing lists. (e.g. certain past and present ICANN Board members are indeed in evidence on the IGF governance mailing list.)

5. What are the top three priorities you would list for your regions?

6. What are the top three objectives you would lito see achieved for your regions?

7. What are the top three activities you would like to see implemented and practiced in your region?

These questions are very closely inter-related with each other and to the first question, above. The top issues with reference to ICANN are probably: Ipv6; IDN; new gTLDs; improved inter-action within Europe between GAC members and Civil Society.

Christopher Wilkinson

Chair, ISOC-ECC.

ISOC Belgium-Wallonia Chapter; ISOC-France Chapter.