[NA-Discuss] Fwd: [ALAC] Proposed statement of the ALAC regarding the current situation in Egypt

[Evan Leibovitch]

Hello everyone.

The following letter has been sent to the global At-Large email list as well
as the ALAC list.

I fully support Olivier's mail and this proposed action (I played a role in
its development), which has been supported unanimously by representatives
from all regions.

I will not myself support any other action (including Eric's letter), for
reasons stated by Olivier in his email and by myself in the NARALO list
yesterday. I note that AFRALO has deliberately taken no action itself
regarding making a statement, but its members have also endorsed the ISOC
release.

- Evan


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Olivier MJ Crepin-Leblond <ocl at gih.com>
Date: 1 February 2011 09:21
Subject: [ALAC] Proposed statement of the ALAC regarding the current
situation in Egypt
To: ALAC Working List <alac at atlarge-lists.icann.org>


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

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-- 
Evan Leibovitch, Toronto Canada
Em: evan at telly dot org
Sk: evanleibovitch
Tw: el56