US embassy cable - 05PARIS7330

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 007330 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EB/CIP, EUR/WE, AND EUR/ERA 
USDOC FOR NTIA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL 10/26/2015 
TAGS: ECPS, EINT, ETRD, ECON, ETTC, FR 
SUBJECT:  FRENCH VIEWS ON INTERNET GOVENANCE 
 
REFS: (A) Paris 196384 
(B) London intranet website daily report for 10/25/05 
(C) London 8738 
 
Classified By: Econ Counselor Ken Merten for reasons 1.4 (b) 
and (d). 
 
1. (C) Summary and comment:  The French coordinator for all 
WSIS issues told us he hopes the U.S. posture does not 
preclude a "dialogue" on internet governance.  He expressed 
concern about the use and (mis)understanding of the words 
"oversight" and "regulation" pointing out that the latter 
has a subtle, but significantly different meaning in French. 
The GOF may well have preferred stronger language than was 
included in the EU/UK proposal, but they are now 
wholehearted supporters.  The GOF asserts that EU/UK 
proposal does not aim to interfere with ICANN functioning or 
management.  Finance Minister Breton will lead the French 
delegation to the WSIS in Tunis.  The choice of Breton could 
bode well for eventually arriving at a workable solution. 
End summary and comment. 
 
2. (SBU) EconOff met with French Ambassador and head of the 
Foreign Ministry office for WSIS preparations Jean-Michel 
Hubert on October 25 to discuss ref A points and the current 
impasse between the USG position and the EU/UK proposal on 
internet governance.  Hubert's initial points focused mainly 
on key words and their definitions.  He noted in particular 
that the word "oversight" appeared in the four principles 
released by the USG in June 2005, but not in the EU/UK 
proposal.  By highlighting this difference, Hubert 
emphasized that the current USG role is greater than what is 
proposed in terms of "international government involvement" 
under the "new cooperation model" in the proposal tabled 
earlier this month by the European Commission and the UK 
Presidency.  Hubert further emphasized that at issue is 
not/not whether the current system has worked; it has. 
However, future internet issues will surely arise. 
"Tomorrow is not the same as yesterday," he said, adding 
that the global impact of the internet is a huge and ongoing 
manuscript with ICANN being but one chapter.  France's 
desire is that we (presumably Europe and the U.S. among 
others) can discuss that evolution.  When EconOff asked if 
by discuss he meant negotiate the internet governance 
system, he said yes.  He later added that ever since the 
release of the U.S. statement of principles in June, he has 
questioned whether the MOU will be renewed -- a question 
which recent USG statements have not answered. 
 
3. (SBU) "We are not in the same boat as Iran and Cuba," 
Hubert asserted.  The EU/UK proposal does not at all aim to 
interfere with ICANN functioning or management.  Noting that 
ICANN's work is principally private sector driven, he said 
that there is nevertheless an important general "public 
interest" component, which should not be discounted.  Hubert 
said the focus of the European proposal was therefore not 
the functioning of ICANN, but rather the interface between 
ICANN and the international public interest, which leads to 
a mandate for international oversight.  The EU/UK proposal 
addresses this need with their new model for cooperation to 
tackle a complicated, multifaceted issue. 
 
4. (SBU) Hubert also noted that the word "regulation" has 
different meanings in English (both making/defining rules 
and implementing them) and in French (it means only the 
latter).  Indeed, the word regulation has a negative 
connotation in English, whereas many French politicians use 
it as a kinder, softer substitute for the word governance, 
which has a more heavy-handed connotation.  When EconOff 
mentioned the Argentine proposal, Hubert avoided the issue, 
acknowledging it along with several other proposals, but 
refusing to distract his focus on the merits of the European 
proposal.  He offered that, if the European proposal is not 
well understood, they will make an effort explain what it is 
and is not meant to do. 
 
5. (SBU) To the point of challenging the USG to step up 
rather than sitting stubbornly on the status quo, Hubert's 
main question during the discussion came down to whether the 
USG will entertain a dialogue on the subject of internet 
governance.  He and the GOF clearly hope that the U.S. 
position will not forestall a dialogue (a word he equated 
with negotiation) on the subject.  Quoting the final 
sentence of a New York Times op-ed from October 23, which 
said "Accepting (the) commitment to online freedom should be 
the price that foreign governments must pay for the blessing 
of the Internet in their national economic lives," Hubert 
highlighted the word "blessing" and said "we want to do more 
than say thank you." 
 
6. (SBU) According to reports from Embassy London (ref B), 
British officials said the EU will not push to bring ICANN 
functions to an international body, although some member 
states would support this.  The UK presidency is reportedly 
elaborating a new version of the European proposal (ref C), 
but virtually no one has caught sight of a bridge between 
the USG position and the current text of the European 
proposal.  The GOF has no apparent diplomatic engineering 
expertise to offer in building such a bridge.  More to the 
point, French attitudes bare a significant share of the 
responsibility for the predictions by UK officials and 
others who do not foresee a conclusion of these issues in 
Tunis. 
 
7. (C) Comment:  To say that the GOF backs the EU/UK 
proposal would be an understatement.  We suspect that it may 
well have been conceived in France.  In any event, the GOF 
will continue to push it and may even have preferred 
stronger language.  The choices of Breton as head of 
delegation in Tunis and Hubert as WSIS-coordinator are both 
obvious and auspicious, since both have a history of leaning 
toward the U.S. and, more generally within the French 
political context, the anglo-saxon liberal economic model. 
From France, it is hard to see a workable solution on the 
horizon, but nonetheless possible to imagine one coming into 
view given the personalities involved.  End comment. 
 
Visit Paris's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm 
 
STAPLETON