We want TD64! ITU transparency begins at home

The U.S. government and U.S. companies have pretty much succeeded in framing the International Telecommunication Union’s WCIT-12 as an “attempt by the UN to take over the Internet.” Whether that frame is correct or not is another question. There is still a lot of vagueness and hand-waving about what is actually being proposed for the WCIT-12 negotiations. Civil society groups have responded appropriately, not accepting the premise that WCIT-12 is actually about Internet governance, but instead asking for greater transparency in the ITU process and more opportunities for participation.

Today, IGP has learned that the U.S. government is in possession of a document that brings together descriptions of all the WCIT proposals emerging from the ITU’s Council Working Group. The document, known as TD 64, compiles all the proposals on the table into a single document without attributing them to any specific government. No law or treaty stops the US government from making this document available to the public. We urge the U.S. government to release TD 64 of the ITU Council Working Group immediately.

The release of TD 64 would bolster our own government’s commitment to multi-stakeholder process, openness and transparency in international negotiations. If indeed the entire future of the Internet is at stake and the ITU WCIT proposals constitute a major threat to its openness and liberty, we need to know exactly what is being proposed.