[discuss] /1net Steering/Coordination Commitee

[Jeremy Malcolm]

On 21 Dec 2013, at 12:20 pm, Brian E Carpenter <brian.e.carpenter at gmail.com> wrote:

>> One of the most important roles of organised civil society is to seek to represent (in a loose sense) the perspectives of those who are unable to participate directly, but we are chronically underfunded and understaffed and we struggle to fulfil this responsibility.  Speaking personally, I can't count on my fingers the number of technical committees that I think are important, where consumers are not represented, and where my organisation doesn't have the resources to represent them.
> 
> How is the Internet business any different in that respect from, say,
> the processed food industry? I'm not trying to be clever - I'd really
> like to understand what's different. ISPs and food processing companies
> both deal with mass-market customers and aim to maximise their profits.
> Consumer groups have been remarkably unsuccessful at beating back processed
> food and all the harm it produces. Is there a difference, or is this
> just the way modern society works?

You're right that we are going off-topic, but I'm very happy to continue to follow up off-list.  To take your processed food industry example, whilst this is not my area, my colleagues do indeed engage in an analogous type of advocacy in relevant public and private sector processes including the WHO and Codex Alminentarius, dealing with issues such as food standards and non-communicable diseases.  Whilst it is hard going, there have been some wins: for example, the UK's adoption of "traffic light labelling" (http://www.consumersinternational.org/news-and-media/news/2013/06/labels_win/) and the end of US opposition to GM food labelling standards (http://www.consumersinternational.org/news-and-media/press-releases/2011/07/consumer-rights-victory-as-us-ends-opposition-to-gm-labelling-guidelines/).

So no, there's not much difference, other than that in Internet governance there are a greater number of, and greater impacts from, transnational (border-crossing) issues that require or could benefit from global coordination.

-- 
Dr Jeremy Malcolm
Senior Policy Officer
Consumers International | the global campaigning voice for consumers
Office for Asia-Pacific and the Middle East
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