ISOC Member Newsletter - October 2010

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Community Grants Programme Project Showcase: Creation of an Up-to-Date Regional Community Internet Center

Contributed by: Margarita Solomonyan (Internet Society Armenia)

In order to develop the Internet in the Lori Region, the NGO “Business Development & Support Center” from the mid 90’s carried out several projects (Internet access, training, website development, network maintenance, etc.).

The idea to take pupils during summer vacation became the basis for the creation of the Summer Computer Club (2005), which in a short time turned into a permanent Regional Internet Centre (RIC), which was used not only by students but also teachers, representatives of the community, and businessmen. The distinguishing feature of the Centre was that it was, and continues to be, used by many different members of the community: the heads of schools, representatives of local and regional administrations, the business community (Chamber of commerce and industry of Lori Region, “SIM Tpagratun” Ltd., “Vanadzor shue factory” OJSC, “Arminco” Ltd., “Beeline” CJSC, WB Armenia, etc.) who have contributed to its development.

They have provided space, facilities, equipment and additional means of communication. Constant attention from the Internet Society Armenia Chapter (since 2007 http://www.isoc.am/events/vanadzor_ss.htm, http://www.isoc.am/events/vanadzor_april2007.htm) and support from the Internet Society Community Grants Programme provided for the expansion of the Internet Centre and for more recent programs to become traditional events:

-  Training (basic skills, programming, TOT, accounting, foreign languages, etc.)

-  Contests Programming

-  Organization of forums, videoconferencing

-  Presentations

Positive results of the RIP in Vanadzor is expected to translate to other cities in the Lori Region to spread and create a network of similar local centers.

 

[Russian]

 

С целью развития Интернета в Лорийском регионе Армении НПО “Центр развития и содействия предпринимательству” начиная с середины 90-х годов осуществила ряд проектов (Интернет-провайд, обучение, создание сайтов, обслуживание сетей и др.).

Идея занять школьников во время летних каникул стала основой для создания Летнего Компьютерного Клуба (2005г.), который за короткое время  превратился в постоянно действующий Региональный Интернет Центр (РИЦ), которым пользовались не только школьники, но и студенты, предприниматели. Отличительной чертой стало то, что в результатах работы этого Центра были заинтересованы многие структуры: руководители школ, представители местной и региональной администрации, бизнес-сообщество (Торгово-промышленная палата Лорийского региона, ООО “СИМ Тпагратун”, АООТ “Ванадзорская обувная фабрика”, ООО “Арминко”, АОЗТ “Билайн”, ВБ Армения и др.), которые содействовали его развитию: предоставили помещение, технику, связь. Постоянное внимание со стороны ISOC Armenia (с 2007г. http://www.isoc.am/events/vanadzor_ss.htm, http://www.isoc.am/events/vanadzor_april2007.htm)  и ISOC (2009г.) позволило расширить возможности Интернет Центра и осуществить за последние годы ставшие традиционными мероприятия:

Ø    обучение (базовые навыки, программирование, ТОТ, бухучет, иностранные языки и др.)

Ø    организация конкурсов по программированию

Ø    организация форумов, видеоконференций

Ø    организация презентаций

Положительные результаты работы РИЦ в г.Ванадзоре предполагается представить и в других городах Лорийского региона с целью распространеня и создания сети аналогичных локальных Центров.

Chapter Update: Cambodia

Contributed by: Norbert Klein

After a long period of preparation, the Internet Society Cambodia Chapter held its first membership meeting on 11 September 2010 with an initial registered membership of over 40 persons. Since that time the number of registered members has already reached 60. Members represent a cross-section of Cambodian society, a majority of them students – but also including journalists, ISP staff members, representatives from other computer related businesses and government agencies. In addition, the Director of the Center for Livestock and Agriculture Development – CeLAgriD – also become a member. He was the first person in Cambodia to have an Internet connection and he is now a key person to promote renewable tropical agriculture in Cambodia.

The meeting was held in two parts – during the first, the President of the Chapter, who has accompanied the Internet in Cambodia from the beginning, spoke about the Internet Society in general, and during the second the Secretary of the Chapter, a senior officer of an ISP, engaged in a discussion to find out major concerns of the membership, and how to respond to them.

While the creation of an Advisory Board is still under consideration, the first service to be offered to the community is one – or several – workshops on installing and using the UNICODE writing system for the Khmer language. A lot of Cambodian bloggers write in English, but many add also Cambodian sentences in Roman letter transliteration. The Chapter will try to help overcome related problems.

Since 1994, the Cambodian Internet community has seen a lot of progress – not only on the level of available technologies – we now have everything others also have, though mostly at higher prices. But by now three BarCamp meetings have been held in 2008, 2009, and 2010 after a first Blogger Summit in 2007. Not only technology, but the promotion of its creative and society related use will be among the main concerns of the Internet Society Cambodia Chapter.

Chapter Update: New Chapter in Rwanda

Submitted by: Sabrina Wilmot

I am pleased to advise you that we have a new Chapter in Rwanda led by

Marie Paule Uwase and Chris Mulola. Information about the ISOC Rwanda

Chapter is available here.

A formal resolution to allow the Board to formally welcome the new

Chapter will be available for the next meeting of the Board of Trustees.

Chapter Update: Nepal

Contributed By: Eswari Pd. Sharma

Professionals speak out against Internet Regulation in Nepal

The Internet Society Nepal Chapter (ISOC Nepal) and Information First jointly organized an open discussion program on “Freedom of Expression and Internet Regulation in Nepal” on 12th September 2010 in Kathmandu, Nepal. The discussion focused on the controversial amendment proposal* of license agreement forwarded by the Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA) to Internet Service Providers on 27 August 2010.

Presenting their paper on “Freedom of Expression and Internet Regulation in Nepal” Advocate Baburam Aryal and Advocate Santosh Sigdel highlighted the legality, issues and consequences of the new amendments. They were concerned that any restriction on exercise of freedom of expression over cyberspace and access to Internet without clear legislative provision shall defeat the constitutional guarantee of the freedom of expression.

Speaking at the discussion, Vinay Kumar Kaszoo, Chief Commissioner of National Information Commission said, the internet should be neutral which has played a significant role in making success and stability of democracy. He further added: “Delegating responsibility to ISPs to control and policing the content in the name of controlling cyber crime is severe issue and it violates fundamental rights of people and press freedom”

Binaya Bohora, President of the Internet Service Provider Association of Nepal [ISPAN] said, “The new amendments of NTA are controversial in every aspect as using filter software are very expensive and there are around 40 ISPs operational in Nepal where the cost factor is a big hindrance. It is indeed a good step toward making policy firm but with the limited resources and lack of definition of obscenity and proper mechanism, it certainly holds controversies”.

Pratik Pradhan, editor of first economic daily news paper Karobar, Suresh Acharya, Former President of Federation of Nepali Journalists, Bishnu Nisturi, President of Asia Journalist Association Nepal Chapter, Mahendra Bista, Chairperson of Minimum wage fixation Committee, Gaurab Upadhaya , executive member of ISOC Nepal and Computer Association Nepal , Pravesh Subedi, general secretary of Online Journalist Association(OJAN), Dharma Raj Bhushal, General Secretary of Online Media Association (OMAN) and Basanta Ban, President of Forum for Digital Equality voiced their points against the amendments as it directly affects the “Freedom of Expression” and gives an opportunity to the ISPs to regulate the websites according to their will and there is a need of certain regulation under proper law.

Different professionals said the scrutiny of web sites should be brought in for broad discussion before taking steps to filter it. Apart from that in today’s world when the concept of multi stakeholder is gaining popularity in such scenario, the act of NTA to issue proposal of amendment in such a way without addressing the different stakeholders certainly raises question against its intentions and values.

Note :

* The amendment proposal of license agreement forwarded by Nepal Telecommunications Authority [NTA] to ISPs which includes following points :

  1. The Service Provider shall install Filtering Software; make other arrangements and work towards stopping access to its subscriber over the content that is punishable under section 47 of Electronic Transaction Act, 2007.
  2. The Service Provider shall make arrangement to deny publication, distribution, transmission, commercial exchange (sale) and consumption (use) of content which is horror, highly violent, or content which is against national interest.
  3. The service providers shall enter into such a contract with its subscriber that compels its subscriber to abide by aforementioned terms of this license agreement.
  4. ISPs shall inform NTA about blocking of website which is ordered by Nepal Government and NTA in writing to block the website.

Call for applications for ICANN GAC Chief Executive Secretary

ICANN recently published call for applications for the position of Chief Executive Secretary for the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC). The Chief Executive Secretary (CES) will manage a GAC Secretariat comprised of the CES, as well a Senior Advisor and an Office Manager, to ensure continuity of support and knowledge development of the GAC. This team will work closely with ICANN who will continue its general support to the GAC. The Chief Executive Secretary will work closely with the GAC chair in progressing the GAC’s work program.

The Secretariat will be located in the Netherlands, and a start is foreseen between the 1st of January 2011 and the 41st ICANN/GAC meeting in San Francisco in June 2011, for which the team is expected to participate in its functioning capacity. Additional information may be found on the GAC website at: http://www.gac.icann.org/press-release/call-applications-gac-ces-chief-executive-secretary-position

23 Emerging Global Leaders Complete Internet Society’s Next Generation Leaders eLearning Course

The Internet Society is proud to announce that 23 emerging global leaders have successfully completed the inaugural eLearning online course, a central component of the Internet Society’s Next Generation Leaders (NGL) programme.

The Internet Society’s Next Generation Leaders programme blends coursework, practical experience and mentorship to help prepare young professionals from around the world to become the next generation of Internet technology, policy, and business leaders.

To create the NGL eLearning curriculum, the Internet Society has partnered
with the DiploFoundation. The DiploFoundation has long been a global leader in providing academic courses and training workshops on a variety of diplomacy-related topics.

During twenty four intensive weeks, our students learned the essential topics required for effective interactions and relationships within the Internet ecosystem, as well as key concepts and emerging issues in Internet governance.

2011 will see an expansion of the eLearning offerings: one class in English and a concurrent class in French. We intend to translate the course material into other official UN languages.

With the overwhelming response to the inaugural class (over 200 applications were received), the Internet Society expects to receive many more expressions of interest in the upcoming application round, slated to open in the first quarter of 2011.

The 2010 eLearning students join an ever-expanding pool of NGL talents that have already, or will, take the opportunity to apply their leadership skills through participating in the Internet Society’s Next Generation Leaders representation programmes, including fellowships to the Internet Governance Forum, Internet Engineering Task Force, World Bank, and Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development.

The NGL programme is sponsored by organizations including: Nominet Trust and the Association Française pour le Nommage Internet en Coopération (AFNIC) and the European Commission. Additional support has been provided by Microsoft, Intel, Afilias, and Google for the NGL’s Internet Society Fellowship to the IETF component.

Full details of the Next Generation Leaders programme and its other opportunities are available here:  http://www.InternetSociety.org/leaders/

Successful participants of the Next Generation Leaders 2010 eLearning course:

  • Rajendra Prasad Poudel (Nepal)
  • Towela Jere (Malawi)
  • Sorina Teleanu (Romania)
  • Dmitry Epstein (Israel, Russia)
  • Filiz Yilmaz (Turkey)
  • Freddy Linares Torres (Peru)
  • Paul Muchene (Kenya)
  • Fernando Gont (Argentina)
  • Bünyamin Atıcı (Turkey)
  • Ebenezer Dadzie (Ghana)
  • Grace Mutung’u (Kenya)
  • Fouad Bajwa (Pakistan)
  • Eswari Prasad K. Sharma (Nepal)
  • Rahat Sabyrbekov (Kyrgyztan)
  • Ricardo Patara (Brazil)
  • Stenio Fernandes (Brazil)
  • Mohibul Hasib Mahmud (Bangladesh)
  • Karim Attoumani Mohamed (Comoros)
  • Anupam Agrawal (India)
  • Cedrick Adrien Mbeyet (Congo)
  • Maria Casey (Ireland)
  • Maduka Attamah (Nigeria)
  • Srimal Andrahennadi (Sri Lanka)

Chapter Update: India Kolkata

Contributed by: Niel Hirjee

1. Internet Society India Kolkata Chapter held a members meet on the very binary Sunday of October 10 (10.10.10)  at CSC with fifteen members in attendance. Recent events and activities of the chapter were discussed and new initiatives were strategised upon.

2. Subsequent to the discussions at the monthly meeting and thanks to the introduction from Amitabh Choudhury, Chapter Chair Anupam Agarwal met Kamanashish Roy of webprachar.in to discuss how the Internet Society India Kolkata Chapter OWD2011 Blogging Contest could be promoted amongst the students of schools in the districts of West Bengal. WebPrachar has agreed to assist with this.

Chapter Update: Pacific Islands

Contributed by: Maureen Hilyard

A wide range of voices and expertise on Internet issues in the Pacific Islands region came together to share at PacINET 2010, the Pacific Islands Chapter annual conference held in Port Vila, Vanuatu from 13-17th September 2010. It was opened by the Prime Minister of Vanuatu who spoke about the value of cooperation as a foundation of the Internet. He expressed his hopes for the benefits that ICTs can bring to Vanuatu and the Pacific region. The Ministry of Education funded over 20 Principals and teachers from all over Vanuatu to attend PacINET and their first national ICT in Education conference. The involvement of 12 virtual participants offering global perspectives on IPV6 was a highlight. Presentations and photographs can be found at: http://pacinet-2010.org/.

The Board of the Internet Society Pacific Islands Chapter would like to thank retired Board members Franck Martin, Les Allinson and Anju Mangal for the many years of work they contributed to the Chapter.

Chapter Update: Romania

Contributed by: Eduard Tric

1. eDiploma

An Internet Society-funded eDiploma project was selected among six finalists of ‘Startup Challenge’, the biggest venture capital and business event in Eastern Europe. We will present the project in Bucharest on the 3rd of November in front of of 500 VCs and business representatives.  http://www.how-to-web.net/ http://blog.how-to-web.net/ http://isoc.ro/ediploma.html

After sending the mid-term report to the Internet Society, eDiploma is ready  for expansion in the countries that agreed to participate via the community grant programe (Internet Society Chapters in Pakistan, Slovenia and Colorado).

2. Net Neutrality and Pax Digitalis

101010 Industiral era ends. 111111 Digital era begins

The Internet Society Future scenarios were presented to the European Commision, alongside a very personal vision of Internet of the future. A possible fp7 project idea was presented : Virtual Pantheon

http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/events/cf/fnc6/item-display.cfm?id=5027

Internet Society and Internet Society’s-ecc position on Net Neutrality:

http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/events/cf/fnc6/document.cfm?doc_id=15120

Virtual Pantheon project presentation :

From web of objects to directories of the future

http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/events/cf/fnc6/document.cfm?doc_id=15118

Internet SocietyFuture Scenarios :

http://www.isoc.org/internetfuture

3. Inet 2011 Bucarest edition 11/11/2011

111111 .Industrial era ends. Digital era begins.

We will put all our energy and drive into staging a “grand cru” Inet, with a target of 500 delegates.

We started the request for approval of a giant Jean-Michel Jarre or Massive Attack concert to be held immediately after the event, a concert that will mark the official entry into the Digital era.

There will possibly  be also a Ubuntu distribution 111111, celebrating also the Agence pour la Francophonie’s 50th anniversary and many other side-events (TEDx, Digital Renaissance, etc ). We have one more year to organise the event , so please mark 111111 in your agenda if you want to attend.

http://isoc.ro/111111

Chapter Update: Chad

Contributed by: Abdarahim Youssouf

From 2 to 4 October 2010, some members of the Internet Society Chad Chapter attended a global scientific conference on democracy, peace and development in Chad endorsed by His Excellency Idriss Déby, President of the Republic.

The conference participants addressed development projects and programmes in various cultural, economic, and technological areas.

More than 50 countries from Asia, Europe and Africa participated in the scientific conference and more than 90 research papers were presented.

Some members of the Internet Society Chad Chapter participated remotely in this conference, via video conferencing or other electronic means.

في الثاني إلى الرابع من أكتوبر 2010م حضر بعض من أعضاء جمعية

الانترنتالتشادية مؤتمر علمي عالمي حول الديمقراطية السلام والتنمية في

تشاد في عهد الرئيس إدريس ديبي اتنو .. حيث نظم المؤتمر تحت رعاية فخامة

رئيس الجمهورية.

تناول المؤتمرون جميع المشاريع والبرامج التنموية في شتى المجالات

الثقافية، الاقتصادية، والتكنولوجيا..

وشارك في هذا المؤتمر العلمي العالمي أكثر من 50 دولة من كل من آسيا،

وأوربا وإفريقيا، كما عرض في هذا المؤتمر أكثر من 90 ورقة بحثية.

كما ساهم بعض أعضاء جمعية الانترنت في الربط الالكتروني (فيديو المؤتمر وغيرها)

 

Business and Technical Communities Support Renewal of Internet Governance Forum Mandate

New York, N.Y., October 21, 2010 – With the United Nations General Assembly preparing to decide whether to renew the mandate of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), a multi-stakeholder body created by the UN for discussion of Internet policy issues, the IGF received a strong vote of confidence from the business and technical communities today.  At a joint event for UN delegates, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the Internet Society  urged UN member states to continue the mandate of the IGF, with its founding principles intact, as a unique space for exchange on important Internet governance policy matters.

“Global business strongly supports continuation of the IGF, viewing the current IGF model as uniquely flexible and effective in addressing challenging Internet policy issues,” stated Jeff Brueggeman, vice president of public policy with AT&T, speaking on behalf of ICC and its BASIS (Business Action to Support the Information Society) initiative.  “The IGF allows for candid discussion on Internet policy and emerging issues among governments, business, the Internet technical community and civil society, which has lasting impact on national, regional and global policy decisions.  Business is committed to continued improvement of the IGF process, such as greater participation of stakeholders from developing economies.  As demonstrated at the recent IGF session in Vilnius, Lithuania, there has been marked improvement in active participation in this unique forum.”

The Internet Society echoed these sentiments: “The Internet Society and its membership believe that the IGF is one of the most effective and successful outcomes from the UN’s World Summit on Information Society (WSIS),” commented Constance Bommelaer, Senior Manager, Strategic Global Engagement, “The IGF inspires people to work effectively in support of multi-stakeholder and people-centered development of the Internet – a key goal of the WSIS. It promotes and supports work in communities, in countries, in all regions and at the global level. The IGF provides an opportunity for governments, business, civil society and the Internet community to share experiences and best practices that can inform decision making in their home communities to address the issues of economic and social growth and development that are essential to achieving the Millennium Development Goals.”

Today’s event, organized with the support of the French government, focused on the IGF’s benefits from the perspectives of different stakeholder groups and underscored the importance of “enhanced cooperation” in matters of Internet governance.

It featured a panel discussion including speakers from ICC, the Internet Society, the U.K. government and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which administers the global Internet domain name system.

Since the conclusion of the Tunis UN World Summit on Information Society in 2005, ICC and the Internet Society have actively supported the implementation of WSIS’s Internet-related commitments, including improved Internet governance, capacity-building and support of Internet standards organizations.  The diverse and global communities represented by these two organizations continue to enhance their cooperation and their contribution to the development of Internet-related public policy solutions around the world.

About the Internet Governance Forum

The UN World Summit on Information Society (Tunis 2005 preceded by Geneva 2003) created the Internet Governance Forum, a multi-stakeholder forum for the discussion of “public policy issues related to key elements of Internet governance in order to foster the sustainability, robustness, security, stability and development of the Internet.”

At Tunis, UN member states also recognized “the need for enhanced cooperation in the future, to enable governments, on an equal footing, to carry out their roles and responsibilities, in international public policy issues pertaining to the Internet, but not in the day-to-day technical and operational matters, that do not impact on international public policy issues.”

The IGF encourages open dialogue among all relevant stakeholders at the national, regional, and international levels.  This open debate is essential to the process of developing people-centric public policy related to the Internet and to the ongoing effective management of Internet resources. For more information about the workshop organized by ISOC and ICC, see:

http://www.isoc.org/isoc/conferences/wsis/IGF.shtml

About the Internet Society

The Internet Society (ISOC) is a non-profit organization founded in 1992 to provide leadership in Internet related standards, education, and policy. The Internet Society is the organizational home of the Internet Engineering Task Force, the Internet’s premier technical standards body. With offices in Washington, D.C., and Geneva, Switzerland, it is dedicated to ensuring the open development, evolution, and use of the Internet for the benefit of people throughout the world. For more information see http://InternetSociety.org.

About the International Chamber of Commerce

The International Chamber of Commerce is the largest, most representative business organization in the world. Its hundreds of thousands of member companies in over 120 countries have interests spanning every sector of private enterprise. A world network of national committees keeps the ICC International Secretariat in Paris informed about national and regional business priorities. More than 2,000 experts drawn from ICC’s member companies feed their knowledge and experience into crafting the ICC stance on specific business issues. The United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the G20 and many other intergovernmental bodies, both international and regional, are kept in touch with the views of international business through ICC. For more information please visit: www.iccwbo.org

The United States Council for International Business (USCIB), based in New York, serves as ICC’s American affiliate.  More at www.uscib.org.

Chapter Update: Liberia

Contributed by: Charles Gaye

Internet Society Liberia Chapter Rejuvenation Project

Event Title: “Get Connected”

Event Dates: 28-29 August 2010

  • Goals and Purpose of the Event: Bring members together, recruit new members and increase awareness.
  • Organizers: The Liberia Chapter of the nternet Society
  • Partners: WEN Inc. and three other Internet Service Providers.
  • Sponsors: The Global Internet Society and WEN Inc.
  • Venue: We hired four Cyber cafes for two days each (August 28-29), @ $150.00 for each Cyber café per day.

Short terms of reference for the instructors/speaker for the event were as follows:

  • Serve as chief facilitators for the event;
  • Make sure the goal of the event is met, keeping in line with the Internet Society’s mission and objective;
  • Help foster a friendly atmosphere that promotes organizational and team spirit amongst the Internet Society Liberia Chapter members and incoming members;
  • We made the event friendly, had fun, created new e-mail addresses for first time users, provided meals for participants and encouraged them to start their own personal networks by linking to each other.

Participant numbers: We expected 300 participants but were delighted to welcome 564.

Chapter Update: Ecuador

Contributed by: Roberto Roggiero

Únete a plaTICando, una comunidad Latinoamericana de ICT4D http://platicando.org/

Ponemos a tu consideración plaTICando, una plataforma orientada a facilitar el intercambio sobre temas de TIC para el desarrollo en América Latina. Te invito a que te unas y participes de esta comunidad, elregistro es libre y gratuito:

http://platicando.org/register.php

plaTICando es una Plataforma Latino Americana para el aprendizaje, intercambio y colaboración en Tecnologías de Información y Comunicación para el Desarrollo.

plaTICando es una solución avanzada Web 2.0 de Software Libre para la colaboración en línea, que ofrece Grupos, Foros, Blogs, Portafolios electrónicos y un sistema de Redes Sociales, conectando usuarios con intereses similares y creando comunidades en línea.

Más información: http://platicando.org/about.php

Chapter Update: Armenia

Contributed by: Igor Mkrtumyan

The annual General Assembly (GA) of the ISOC Armenia Chapter took place with more than 70 members present. The agenda included a report from the President of the Chapter, I. Mkrtumyan, on Chapter’s 2009 activity and future plans.

I.Mkrtumyan analyzed the Internet development in Armenia highlighting the following figures:

- Internet penetration: 7% (ITU estimate), 20% (government estimate).

- Number of registered domains: 12,000 (end of 2009)

- Low Internet penetration in Armenia was explained by comparatively high Internet connection prices and low incomes.

Although the situation is gradually improving, Armenia is still far behind the advanced countries. The importance of reliable statistics for Internet and PC penetration of the country was stressed. The ITU published figures are too pessimistic and use unknown methods. There’s a need for an all-country survey but the high estimated cost (about $30,000-$40,000) is prohibitive.

It was pointed out that the Internet penetration increase is mostly due to social networks and mobile phones. Nearly all young people are currently socializing through networks. There are also many Internet cafes and clubs with acceptable prices. Mobile phones are also contributing to the increase of Internet penetration; according to figures of the leading mobile operator of Armenia, Vivacell, out of 2.4 mln.users, 600,000 are Internet connected.

This factor completely changes the country’s Internet penetration statistics. It was stated that domain registration fees in Armenia are higher than average European charges. Considering a ten percent growth rate in the number of domains, the GA has recommended that the Armenian Registry decrease the domain registration fee by 10%.

Concerning Internet developments in regions of Armenia the GA was informed about the establishment of the Regional Internet Community Center in Vanadzor. M.Solomonyan, Internet Society Armenia member, led the project and achieved tangible results. The role of the Internet Society and the Community Grants Program in the development of Internet in developing countries washighly appreciated.

The GA was informed of new developments within the Internet Society, such as the AMS portal and the Next Generation Leaders program. Unfortunately I Internet Society Armenia Chapter members were passive in responding to several reminders on the possibility of participation in the programme. The Internet Society Armenia Chapter’s Freenet portal (www.freenet.am) providing free dial-up access, e-mail, and WebPages for low income people was redesigned and is currently re-regisetring all users. It was proposed that Freenet.am which formerly provided web access to the Armenian Internet only should start to make available world-wide Internet access with a bandwidth that Internet Society Armenia Chapter can pay for. The proposal was supported by GA.

The GA was informed about a joint initiative of the Union of IT enterprises of Armenia (UITE) and the Internet Society Armenia Chapter to establish an Internet Exchange (ARMIX) foundation and collaborate with the Armenian Media Education Center in another project called Safer Internet (www.safe.am). The activity of CERT Armedia working within the Internet Society Armenia Chapter was reported mentioning the CSIRT 2009 Security Workshop organized together with the National Academy of Sciences. The necessity of everyday monitoring of incidents in Armenian segment of Internet and publishing them on the CERT AM web site (www.cert.am) was stressed.

The Concept of Internet Development in Armenia based on Sharm El Sheikh IGF decisions (http://www.isoc.am/publ/concept.pdf) was presented for consideration to the Ministry of Transport and Communications. The Internet Society Armenia Chapter’s work in governing critical Internet resources in Armenia, namely IPv6 was reported. Internet Society Armenia Chapter representatives participated in the IPv6 training in Tbilisi and RIPE meetings. Country DNS will be IPv6 ready by the end of 2010.

Measures taken by the Internet Society Armenia Chapter in collaboration with AM TLD Registry to ensure the security, stability and resiliency of country DNS, among them timely introducing of DNSSEC (by the end of 2010) were reported. The GA was informed about a Community DNS anycast server installed at AMNIC and a plan to install another AM anycast server in Greece. It will improve the country DNS resilience to attacks.

It was stated that there is no interest of local Internet community in introducing of IDN in Armenian. Opinion was expressed that IDN is mostly a political decision rather than a necessity. The importance of creating a national IGF was stressed and a plan to launch www.igf.am web site was announced. The GA approved the activity of ISOC AM administration and affirmed a plan for 2010.

Internet Society Helps Convene First Latin American Network Operators Group

SAO PAULO BRAZIL – 19 October 2010 – The Internet Society today announced the first meeting of the Network Operators Group of Latin America and the Caribbean (LACNOG), taking place in Sao Paulo 19 to 22 October 2010. The event will convene technologist and operational experts from leading Internet providers, equipment manufactures, organizations responsible for Internet coordination and the academic networking community and will provide a forum for the discussion and exchange of information on key operational issues impacting the Internet in the region.

Christian O’ Flaherty, Internet Society Regional Development Manager for Latin America, commented: “There was a need for a pan-regional network operators group in Latin America so the Internet Society worked together with the Internet community in the region to make it happen. We look forward to advancing information sharing and the discussions of mutual opportunities and threats to the industry in the region.”

The event will for the first time bring together people in the region responsible for the creation, maintenance and operation of Internet networks and provides a forum for discussion, coordination, and the exchange of best practices between networking professionals. The event is co-located with related events: the Latin American and Caribbean Internet Addresses Registry meeting, LACNIC XIV, which includes its Public Policy Forum, and the Forum of the Brazilian Autonomous System Networks (PTT Forum 2010), organized by the Brazilian Network Information Center (NIC.br).

The Internet Society, as part of its Regional Development program, strives to advance the Internet landscape in emerging Internet regions and the collaborations that create the right environment for the Internet to flourish. In the case of the LACNOG event, the Internet Society convened together a broad range of Latin American organizations to deliver the inaugural event. The program committee, comprising individuals from Internet companies, coordinating bodies, and academia in Latin America, issued a regional and international Call for Presentations and selected the most topical and relevant to the region to create the agenda. The resulting programme will give participants the opportunity to dive into key areas, such as IPv6 deployment, Security, Mobile, and traffic exchange issues that affect the industry. Additional sessions will cover interesting and relevant topics including case studies relating to Emergency Recovery following Earthquakes in Chile and Haiti and DNSSEC deployment.

The staging of the first LACNOG event and the creation of a pan Latin American Network Operators community will be further strengthened through additional meetings and online discussions.

About the Internet Society

The Internet Society is a non-profit organization founded in 1992 to provide leadership in Internet related standards, education, and policy. With offices in Washington, D.C., and Geneva, Switzerland, it is dedicated to ensuring the open development, evolution, and use of the Internet for the benefit of people throughout the world. More information is available at: www.internetsociety.org

About the Brazilian Network Information Center – NIC.br

The Brazilian Network Information Center (http://www.nic.br/) is a civil, non-profit organization that implements the decisions and projects of the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee in Brazil. Ongoing activities of NIC.br include to coordinate registration of domain names – Registro.br (http://www.registro.br/), handling computer security incident reports and activity related to networks connected to the Brazilian Internet – CERT.br (http://www.cert.br/), study and research technologies and network operations – CEPTRO.br (http://www.ceptro.br/), to produce indicators on information and communication technologies – CETIC.br (http://www.cetic.br/) and to host the W3C Office in Brazil (http://www.w3c.br/).

About the Latin American and Caribbean Internet Addresses Registry - LACNIC, the Internet Addresses Registry for Latin America and the Caribbean, is the organization responsible for allocating and administrating IP Addresses and other related resources (Autonomous System Numbers and Reverse Resolution) for the region of Latin America and the Caribbean and is one of the five Regional Internet Registries that exist worldwide. LACNIC’s main objectives include contributing to the development of the Internet within the region. More information is available at: www.lacnic.net

Chapter Update: Bulgaria

Contributed by: Julia Velkova

Report on the Socioeconomic Benefits of Bulgarian Fiber Broadband – a survey by the Yankee group in cooperation with Stratix Consulting and the Internet Society Bulgaria Chapter.

In September 2009, the Fiber to the Home Council Europe commissioned a study of the Bulgarian fiber market to evaluate the impact of the FTTB offerings in Bulgaria. The qualitative and quantitative study was undertaken by Yankee Group, in cooperation with Stratix Consulting and the Internet Society Bulgaria Chapter, between September and December 2009. The document describes the main results and examines in particular the socioeconomic impacts of FTTB on Bulgarian broadband users. The results of the study are now publicly available. We believe that the study may be of interest for a wide number of people from the worldwide Internet community.

View the executive summary of the report.
Download the full document here.

Chapter Update: Pakistan

Contributed by: Naveed-ul-Haq

Keeping in view the dire need of Internet Governance issues understanding and capacity building among our youth and Internet professionals, NUST SEECS in collaboration with the Internet Society Pakistan Chapter, established a remote participation hub for the fifth annual IGF Meeting at the NUST School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Sector H-12, Islamabad.

Overall the remote hub was a real success, the participants were excited to attend  various workshops covering Internet Governance themes. The most encouraging part was the participation of young students who were particularly interested in youth participation in Internet governance debates.

The most successful workshops were:  ”IPv6 around the world; surveying the current and future deployment” and “Cyber Crime  Common Standards and Joint Action”. The IPv6 workshop was attended by a number of representatives from Internet service providers. The panelists were asked several questions relating to IPv6 and International connectivity providers. Participants were of the view that one of the major hurdles for IPv6 development in developing countries is the lack of availability of IPv6 connectivity from the international Internet bandwidth providers. The technical attendees also gave a short IPV6 basics demonstration.

The workshop on cyber crime was attended by several legal representatives from the country’s  telecommunication regulator and the Ministry of Information Technology. The participants focussed on clarifying their understanding of the Budapest convention. The panel was questioned regarding the liklihood of Pakistan and other countries signing the convention

This was the first experiences of a remote hub in Islamabad. The participants appreciated such great organization by Internet Governance remote participation group. Participants said that they felt no difference between participating remotely and  actually attending the workshop or main session in Vilnius.

Chapter Update: Ecuador

Contributed by: Carlos Vera

ISOC Ecuador participa en la elaboracion de los principios de relacion de ISOC con los capitulos

A partir del requerimiento de ISOC para aportar con comentarios al contenido del borrador de acuerdo de afiliacion para el intercambio de valor entre ISOC HQ y los capitulos, ISOC Ecuador ha realizado la consulta interna y remitido los respectivos aportes que seran posteriormente incluidos en el resumen de aportes para su discussion posterior.

En ISOC Ecuador consideramos importante la existencia de un marco de trabajo y de estandares para ser considerados un capitulo activo de ISOC, y en esta linea hemos realizado propuestas que estaran a discussion proximamente por los canales respectivos.

Para los interesados en aportar al desarrollo del acuerdo de afiliacion, el material en español puede accederse desde:

http://wiki.chapters.isoc.org/tiki-index.php?page=Spanish+version&bl=y

El trabajo de ISOC es la suma de los trabajos de cada uno de los actores que integramos esta comunidad y la suma de los valores que podemos aportar al mismo.

ISOC Ecuador

Chapter Update: Bulgaria

On the 17th September in Sofia, Bulgaria, the Internet Society Bulgaria Chapter organized an international seminar to discuss: “Business on the Internet: risks and management”. The seminar was organized in partnership with the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and the EU consortium Pandora and was co-funded by the Internet Society. The event attracted more than 80 representatives of SMEs from Bulgaria and Europe and was evaluated extremely positively by the participants.

The event was an opportunity to present the goals and activities of both Internet Society and Internet Society Bulgaria Chapter, address a new target group and recruit new members from the Bulgarian SMEs active in sectors other than IT. The seminar also addressed in detail the topic of risk management in collaboration with the EU project consortium Pandora (www.pandora-project.eu) and presented an online platform for self-training on risk management targeted at the management of SMEs. The platform is localized to Bulgarian and tested by the Internet Society Bulgaria Chapter.

Chapter Update: Finland

Contributed by: Tommi Karttaavi

The Finnish Internet Forum, organised September 20 – 21, 2010 in
Helsinki, was the first national Internet Governance meeting in Finland.
It took place immediately following the 5th international Internet
Governance Forum (IGF) in Vilnius, and many participants
of the latter also attended the Finnish forum. The main organizers of
the Finnish Internet Forum are; the Committee of the Future and the
Information Society Group of the Parliament, the Ministry for Foreign
Affairs, the Ministry of Transport and Communications, the Internet Society Finland Chapter and the Finnish Information Society Development Centre (TIEKE). The event was
held in the Auditorium of the “Little Parliament”, the new Parliament building annex.

The event was webcasted live. The recording of the webcast can be
watched here: http://internetforum.fi/

ISOC Member Newsletter. Suggestions, comments, and questions welcome to, newsletter@isoc.org

ISOC's key initiatives target the critical issues that affect all aspects of Internet development and growth. They embody ISOC's philosophy that the Internet is for everyone and they provide the organization with a solid foundation from which to positively influence standards development, access, business practices, and government policies.

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