15 November, 2005, Tunisia
María Suárez Toro RIF/FIRE

One day before the start of the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunisia, scheduled for November 16-18, it is not yet known what governments will decide about the theme of Internet governance, which has dominated debates during the past three years leading up to this event. However, the long debated issue of the digital gender divide will be addressed in the Final Declaration, as a result of a vote of approval in the final preparatory meeting yesterday.

"We are facing in the last day of the preparatory meeting here today obstacles of powerful countries who are blocking efforts to make Internet governance participatory, transparent and inclusive of all interested parties," feminist Magali Pineda told Feminist International Radio Endeavour (FIRE) today. Pineda, who is part of the official delegation of the Dominican Republic, added that "the United States, business groups and some supporting governments have opposed taking steps toward this needed change.

The Internet cannot continue to remain in the hands of a private entity that responds only to a single government, [referring to ICANN, the California company that currently controls Web domain names].. The Internet is a public entity where all actors have the right to participate in its governance," declared Pineda.

Debates over Internet government resulted in a variety of proposals. At this time, the government of Brazil is leading a group who are asking for immediate changes in Internet governance. In contrast, the Dominican Republic is part of another group that has proposed a "third way," with gradual changes in how governments contribute to the public politics of the Internet, but with the daily management remaining in the hands of ICANN, a private company. Both positions call for new strategies for Internet governance involving public forums for ongoing debates about these issues.

Governance of the Internet includes the power to define policies and assign and remove IP (International Protocol) addresses or domain names. Until now, a private company called the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) headquartered in California has maintained the root servers that guide traffic for huge databases containing addresses for domains such as .com, .edu, and the country code domains such as .uk and .jp.

Pineda insists that it is important to remain vigilant, because the United States has declared its opposition to major changes, and the overall result could be that the Summit ends without a concrete resolution on the issue, which essentially would mean no change in governance of the Internet.

As for the gender digital divide issue, women achieved a major breakthrough yesterday on the eve of the official WSIS when governments in the final prepcom removed brackets (used to mark contested language) for Paragraph 24 regarding this issue.

The approved text in this paragraph recognizes that there is a digital gender gap in which women are affected differently, and notes the need to incorporate women in the Information Society with specific actions and programs designed to close that gap. "Up to now [the women’s movement] is the only social movement that has won mention in the final WSIS Statement, and it is due to the hard work of women in the negotiation process," declared Pineda.

Pineda also noted that a Declaration Letter by Women of Latin America and the Caribbean distributed at the WSIS "has given a face to the women of the region, although we are very few in number in our participation as eyewitnesses" at the conference.

According to Pineda, the Declaration Letter serves as an important political tool in the Summit and "is an instrument that should be celebrated, including for its role in the struggle over Paragraph 24 on the gender digital divide." Likewise, the debate over including gender and women in the WSIS process reflects similar struggles involving gender and other issues and environments, so a victory here may have important implications elsewhere.

The Declaration Letter by Women of Latin America and The Caribbean for the Summit can be accessed in English and Spanish on the FIRE webpage at www.radiofeminista.net and also be signed by individuals and organizations around the world. To listen to the complete interview by FIRE with Magali Peñeda and other interviews and read other information about WSIS, go to the FIRE webpage during the WSIS, November 16-18. Also to be posted by tomorrow is a report on the history of Internet governance.

Re-distribution of this press release is permitted by giving credit to FIRE—Feminist International Radio Endeavour/Radio Internacional Feminista, Apartado 239, Ciudad Colon, Costa Rica, email: oficina@radiofeminista.net.