[At-Large] Proposed statement of the ALAC regarding the current situation in Egypt

[Dev Anand Teelucksingh]

+1

I support the ALAC note

Regards,
Dev Anand Teelucksingh



On Tue, Feb 1, 2011 at 10:24 AM, Olivier MJ Crepin-Leblond <ocl at gih.com> wrote:
> Dear all,
>
> sustained discussions have recently taken place on one of the RALO
> lists, whether the ALAC should comment on the current political
> situation in Egypt, focussing in particular on the suspension of
> Internet service in the country. I have personally monitored the
> discussion and members of the ALAC ExCom have held daily discussions
> about the matter. I have also discussed the possibility of a statement
> with other constituency Chairs and some Board members.
> Rod Beckstrom has published a Blog post on:
> http://blog.icann.org/2011/01/status-report-on-the-dns-in-egypt/
> He has steered away from making any kind of political statement, and I
> suspect that this was for a reason.
>
> Egypt's GAC representative is Ms. Manal Ismail. She works for the
> Telecom Regulation Authority (TRA) - but their Internet is cut too.
> The ccNSO representative is EGregistry.eg - and they are cut from the
> Internet as well.
> The ICANN manager for relations in the Middle East, Mr. Baher Esmat, is
> also based in Cairo - and he's also off-line.
> Many more participants in ICANN Supporting Organisations and Advisory
> Committees, including ICANN fellows are also based in Egypt.
>
> I have managed to speak to a couple of my own friends in Cairo. They
> explained that, like all Egyptians, they are worried about the security
> situation, their own personal security included. This is particularly
> important.
>
> Whilst I understand that the current action by Egypt breaks ICANN's Core
> Value #1, it is my firm view that any statement might bring more harm
> that good to ICANN and its friends at the present moment, if it is not
> crafted with caution. This is a complex political situation which
> surpasses ICANN's sphere of influence, and I should seriously recommend
> that ALAC keeps a low profile about this because of the political
> implications for our friends on the ground.
>
> That said, the Internet Society has released a Q&A document focussing
> primarily on the technical implications of the shut-down of Internet
> services in Egypt. It is very useful, and I propose that for the time
> being, we support this Q&A and point our members to it.
>
> I am therefore asking the ALAC to endorse the following statement in an
> accelerated vote and procedure:
>
> --- cut here ---
>
> Statement of the ALAC regarding current situation in Egypt
>
> The ALAC is concerned by the impact of developments in Egypt on the
> ordinary Internet user. In the light of ICANN's responsibility for IP
> address  and AS number policy, and its core value of 'preserving and
> enhancing the operational stability, reliability, security, and global
> interoperability of the Internet', we endorse the ISOC statement and Q&A
> as expressed at http://isoc.org/wp/newsletter/?p=3100
>
> Signed: The At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC)
>
> --- cut here ---
>
> I hope that this will receive support and in this case, Heidi will
> swiftly follow-up with regards to voting procedures.
>
> In the meantime, and until the situation on the ground gets resolved, we
> wish all the Best to our Egyptian friends in this time of troubled
> politics in their country.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Olivier Crepin-Leblond
> ALAC Chair
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> At-Large mailing list
> At-Large at atlarge-lists.icann.org
> https://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/at-large
>
> At-Large Official Site: http://atlarge.icann.org
>