Summary of Brazilian proposal
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[revision date: June 03, 2005] [full document is currently available only in Portuguese]
[translated by Carlos Afonso -- translator's notes are at the end of the document and in brackets in the text]

1. Despite the success in ensuring high availability and great stability to the operation of the network, the current structure for global governance of the Internet presents significant limitations.

2. The governance issue involves challenges which go beyond ICANN's (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the most visible face of the current structure) mandate. Several themes are not treated by it nor contemplated in any other existing forum (for example, interconnection, spam, cybercrime etc). This points to the need to create an international structure for Internet's global governance which involves adequate representation from governments and other segments of civil society, such as the third sector [1], the private sector, and the academic community.

3. A Global Internet Governance Coordination Forum ought to be created. This Forum should be autonomous and independent, affiliated to the UN and based on an international treaty which guarantees the required legitimacy, and established in conformity with the principles of multilaterality, democracy, transparency, and multi-interests [multistakeholder].

4. Basic assumptions for the creaton of the Forum:

4a. Existing institutions which are involved with the Internet governance process should adapt to the principles established by WSIS (multilateralism, democracy, transparency, and multi-interests);

4b. The agenda of the Forum's structure should be broad and encompass all aspects related to Internet governance;

4c. This structure should include an exclusively governmental decision-making instance, to deal with issues pertaining to the nations' sovereignty;

4d. The Forum should be established in such a way that stability and continuing expansion of the Internet are assured;

4e. The governance model adopted in Brazil, through the formal constitution of CGIbr [Brazil's Internet Steering Committee], could serve as a basis for building up the mentioned structure; [2]

4f. The governance model adopted in Brazil could also serve as a basis for establishing exchange of experiences and cooperation processes for structuring national governance models, in such a way as to facilitate participation of country's communities in the Global Forum.

5. Essential requirements for the Forum are:

5a. It should coordinate a broad set of governance issues;

5b. It should be multistakeholder;

5c. It should include an intergovernmental mechanism in which governments exert their responsibilities through a specific set of public policy issues;

5d. It should not be under the jurisdiction of a single country;

5e. It should work for the global public interest;

5f. It should abide by the criteria of transparency, democracy, and multilateralism;

5g. Each of the representatives of the four interest groups (government, business associations, third sector -- non-profit civil society organizations --, and scientific and technological community) must have a clear form of accountability regarding its corresponding constituencies;

5h. It should coordinate the diverse existing organizations, instead of replacing them;

5i. It should be efficient and practical to speed up decision-making;

5j. It should be flexible and adaptable to adjust its agenda to the evolution of the Internet;

5k. It should be capable of collecting issues from the interest groups and dispatch them to the relevant organizations;

5l. It should have the capability of resolving conflicts, as well as coordinating the work among the diverse organizations;

5m. It should be self-sustained.

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[1] In this text, the term "third sector" refers to the realm of non-profit civil society organizations which *do not* represent the interests of the business or academic communities.

[2] A short description of the CGIbr's model:

The Internet in Brazil is coordinated by the Steering Committee of the Internet in Brazil -- CGIbr -- created by Presidential Decre on September 03, 2003 (replacing the Interministerial Ruling 147 of May 31, 1995, of the Ministry of Communications and the Ministry of Science and Technology) and has the following attributions:

I - to establish strategic directives related to the use and development of the Internet in Brazil;

II - to establish directives for the organization of the relationship between government and society in the execution of the domain names registry, in the distribution of IP (Internet Protocol) numbers, and in the administration of the ".br" ccTLD -- country code top level domain -- in the interest of developing the Internet in the country;

III - to propose Internet-related research and development programs in order to maintain technical quality and innovation in use, as well as to stimulate its dissemination throughout the nation, seeking constant opportunities of value aggregation to Internet-related goods and services;

IV - to promote studies and recommend procedures, norms, technical and operationl standards for the security of Internet networks and services, as well as their growing and adequate use by society;

V - to articulate actions leading to the proposition of norms and procedures related to regulation of Internet-related activities;

VI - to be represented in Internet-related national and international technical forums;

VII - to adopt administrative and operational procedures required so that governance of the Internet in Brazil is carried out according to the international standards accepted by the top Internet organisms; in accordance, to celebrate agreements, covenants, procedural conventions or similar instruments.

The concepts and principles adopted by CGIbr include:

- ccTLD as an asset of the commons and as the country's identity on the Internet;

- self-sustained governance, technical operation and administration;

- four interest groups participate in decision-making – government, organized civil society, private sector, academic community;

- non-government Council members elected by their own constituencies;

- a majority of non-government representatives in the Council;

- CGIbr also functions as a NIR (National Internet Registry) for coordinated, non-profit distribution of IP numbers;

- national Internet data exchange must remain within Brazilian borders through national peering/exchange points;

- there are no registrars – national domain names are not commodities.

CGIbr is composed of 21 representatives -- 10 nominated by the government and 11 elected by civil society constituencies. The 21 representatives are as follows:

- one from the Ministry of Science and Technology, which takes the role of chairperson;
- one from the President's Staff House;
- one from the Ministry of Communications;
- one from the Ministry of Defense;
- one from the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade;
- one from the Ministry of Planning, Bugdet and Administration;
- one from the National Telecommunications Agency [Anatel];
- one from the National Scientific and Technological Development Council;
- one from the National Forum of States' Secretaries of Science and Technology;
- one selected as a renowned scientist on Internet matters;
- one from the Internet service and content providers' associations;
- one from the telecommunications infrastructure industry's associations;
- one from the software, computer and telecommunications equipment industries' associations;
- one from the business users' associations;
- four from the third sector [see note above];
- three from the academic community's associations.

This council is also the board of the recently created non-profit civil society organization (called NIC.br) which is the executive body performing the CGIbr functions listed above. NIC.br also maintains an Internet security team (CERT.br), and a network of non-profit national Internet Exchange Points (PTT.br).

Sites:

www.cgi.br -- the main CGIbr portal
www.nic.br -- executive body of the CGIbr
registro.br -- home of the registry administration functions
www.cert.br -- home of the Brazilian Internet security team
ptt.br -- portal of the national IXPs operated by NIC.br