#ICANN84 "Geopolitical Forum: #WSIS+20 focus" is now underway in Dublin. If you haven't registered for ICANN84, you can still follow the public live transcript: www.streamtext.net/player/trans... And archived Zoom will be linked later from agenda page: icann84.sched.com/event/29QIK/...

#ICANN84 GAC is spending this afternoon in Dublin discussing the next round of #newgTLD applications. It's a packed agenda.

#ICANN84 GAC: only 6 GAC representatives in the room today were around back in 2012 for the first round of #newgTLD application discussions.

#ICANN84 GAC: there are already some "Issues of importance to the GAC" flagged for inclusion the Dublin Communique: - #newgTLD Applicant Support Program implementation & outreach - Early warning procedure for the next round of new gTLDs - Registration Data - #DNSabuse

#ICANN84: the churn of GAC reps continues - 32 new GAC reps joined GAC since #ICANN83 in June. Note: constant turnover of GAC reps means there's always a need for capacity-building. It also means many newbie questions get asked in GAC sessions that otherwise would be deep dives on policy issues.

And as #ICANN84 is now underway, it's time for my regular meeting reminder about how to get the live transcript back to the start of a session if you happen to come late into a session:

#ICANN84 is just getting underway in Dublin. As usual, I'll be concentrating on the GAC (Governmental Advisory Committee). Full ICANN84 schedule at:

"Users of US TikTok won’t enjoy any more privacy than with Chinese TikTok, due to lack of meaningful regulation of social media companies. They'll still be pervasively surveilled as they use the Net, both to advertise at them & for intelligence services to profile them” (Paraphrased to shorten)

TikTok US to lease a copy of ByteDance's existing algorithm; Oracle to 'retrain' the copy. Retraining it along lines of FB, Twitter & Truth Social? US must be reaching saturation point for social media w algorithms pushing anger/misinfo. At least this retraining shouldn't affect folks outside US.

'Clegg said the relationship between the UK and the US tech sector was “all one-way traffic” and that the announcements suited the companies. He warned Britain was being “defanged” by simply fostering a greater reliance on the US tech sector, rather than building its own.'

If this goes ahead, I wonder if the US govt & Big Tech companies recognise what a precedent this sets. Hard for the US to threaten extra tariffs on countries with “digital taxes, legislation, rules, or regulations" affecting US Big Tech when the US is basically doing the same thing with TikTok.

A good reminder why the current US administration's anti-DEI stance - & US-based Big Tech's widespread adoption of that - means it's more important than ever to nurture the development of tech & tech companies outside the US, so tech truly can meet the needs of a diverse world.

This doesn't surprise me. I follow int'l stuff & that's partly because there's a distinct lack of engagement in both general human rights & digital governance issues in Oz. Sometimes Aussies can be too laid back for their own good. Digital rights & responsibility convos Down Under are very niche.

I remember when Russia would pretty much start every #UNcyberOEWG & AHC on Cybercrime criticizing USA for not meeting its UN HQ host obligations by refusing to issue delegates visas. Now that more countries are in USA's crosshairs, maybe it's time to move more meetings to the UN's non-US locations?

The #WSIS+20 Draft Zero text is out! Written inputs, in the form of text proposals, are open until 26 September. Send input, in MS Word format, by email to the Secretariat at [email protected]

When you accidentally stumble upon an echidna that then thinks that dashing into the shed & hiding under the lawn mower is a good idea! I’ll check in the morning to make sure it’s not stuck.

These are not lamingtons. The only thing they have in common with lamingtons is they're square. Lamingtons should be plain sponge cake dipped in choc sauce & maybe some jam between 2 sponge layers. A recipe so easy Year 1 kids can make them for school fundraisers. These are misnamed tiny cube cakes:

Things you really shouldn't be trying to tow and park across multiple bays with a large SUV on a small supermarket parking lot at peak shopping times on the weekend: 1. Multi-horse horse float 2. Large boat Bonus points for getting stuck making the sharp turns between narrow parking aisles 🤦‍♀️

As the ICJ declares countries that don't act to prevent climate change could be breaching international law... Australia is giving some Tuvaluans the choice to live in Aus as they lose their home to climate change. While Australia chooses to dig up more fossil fuels. #auspol

This might make the current tense UN negotiations on the terms of reference & modalities for the AI Panel & Dialogue even more fraught. Also, it very much explains why the Pentagon signed a multi-million contract with Grok so soon after it went full-on Nazi. Can't get more anti-woke than that!

#UNcyberOEWG: Australia announces that in partnership with the WG's secretariat, they've crunched the stats on rise in gender parity in interventions since the WG began: - ~33% of interventions were made by women when OEWG began - 55% in February WG session - 53% in this week's session

#UNcyberOEWG has basically entered the "We are going to ignore all the disagreements & tensions of the past few years & instead congratulate each other on how wonderfully we worked together to develop this fantastic outcome" phase that inevitably happens before meetings like this come to a close.

#UNcyberOEWG delegates have 3 weeks from today to submit any written national statements regarding the final report just adopted or they can ask for the floor now. Pacific Island States are first to take the floor, thanking Chair & his team for all their hard work. The room applauds in agreement.

#UNcyberOEWG Chair: with no more requests for the floor, moves to formal adoption of the draft final report of the WG. No objections in the room. Chair gavels report into adoption. Loud applause & whooping breaks out across the room! Chair calls it "applause of collective relief". Laughter in room.

#UNcyberOEWG: The Arab Group, represented by Tunisia, is third to take the floor, & joins consensus on Conference Room Paper, while also expressing some reservations, inc. on how international law is handled in the final report.

#UNcyberOEWG: India is first to ask for the floor, noting that while it had hoped for more out of the report, in the spirit of consensus, supports the Conference Room Paper presented by the Chair. Vanuatu is 2nd to speak & also supports the CRP.

#UNcyberOEWG Chair: doesn't plan to open the text of Conference Room Paper version of final report for significant edit requests by delegates, as any request by one Member State is likely to open the text up to a countering request by delegates of an opposite view.

#UNcyberOEWG Chair describes "a very finely balanced package" of elements aimed at crossing the finish line. Chair says he's walked a very fine line, almost a tightrope, in putting doc together. Very few changes made since rev. 2. as any significant changes would have disrupted overall balance.

#UNcyberOEWG was due to start at 10 am to adopt the WG's final ever report, but at 10:30 am, people are still milling about in the room, with the Chair nowhere to be seen, which indicates there's possibly last minute discussion happening on the sidelines with one or more still-unhappy Member State.

The Conference Room Paper final version of the #UNcyberOEWG final report is now available & will be presented for adoption by UN Member States at 10 am Friday, New York time.

#UNcyberOEWG Chair: after today's discussions on rev. 2 of the draft final report, intends to put forward the Conference Room Paper (CRP) version of the group's final report for adoption tomorrow morning, and go from there.

#UNcyberOEWG Chair: thanks to UN financial austerity measures, this WG cannot go beyond 6 pm Friday. (Note: I'm attaching a screenshot from yesterday's discussions, where you can see the chairs in UN headquarters are literally falling apart because there have long been lack of funds to fix them)

#UNcyberOEWG Chair: this final report of the WG is the beginning of a whole new process. So any disappointment that delegates feel that this report doesn't meet all their goals, look toward the next step, with the future permanent mechanism after this WG.

#UNcyberOEWG Chair: asks delegates to consider the final report as part of overall package of annual reports the WG has produced. Acknowledges many will be disappointed the report doesn't go far enough. Chair wishes the process could have gone further, too, but for sake of balance, must be pragmatic

#UNcyberOEWG Chair: Rev. 2 of the draft final report streamlines the report down from from 45 to 28 pages. And attempts to capture as many ideas expressed by States as possible, as factually as possible, without any prejudice towards or against any particular State's view.

#UNcyberOEWG Chair: apologizes that the draft final report went out later than planned last night & hopes people didn't lose too much sleep waiting for it.

This morning, the #UNcyberOEWG Chair is due to present Rev 2 of the group's draft final report, but 25 minutes past the scheduled starting time, there's no sign of him in the room. Being bailed up in a corridor by a Member State unhappy that their views aren't fully reflected in the draft, perhaps?

A series of Hitler-praising comments by Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence chatbot Grok has fired up European policymakers to demand stronger action against Big Tech companies as the bloc takes another step to enforce its laws.

The #UNcyberOEWG Chair's Rev. 2 draft of the group's final ever report, before a new mechanism takes over, is out and will be presented in New York at 11 am this morning.

#UNcyberOEWG in ends for today. Due to the UN financial crisis, it has no room & interpretation for afternoon. All UN meetings are having their time & resource allocations cut thanks to Member States not paying their annual dues on time or in full.

Russia is having trouble again accessing the UN Web TV stream of the #UNcyberOEWG discussions. Secretariat asked to investigate this for the second time for this week.

Elvis has entered the (UN) building thanks to an intervention by the German Council on Foreign Relations at the #UNCyberOEWG

#UNcyberOEWG Day 3 is just beginning in New York, and this morning, it's the turn of non-government stakeholders to speak.

#UNcyberOEWG Day 1 afternoon session is due to begin momentarily. Webcast link for the afternoon: webtv.un.org/en/asset/k1m...

#UNcyberOEWG: Russian delegate in the room reports his colleagues in Russia can't access UN Web TV livestream of the meeting; suggests another State in the room could be behind this. Chair says UN website is pretty creaky, with little funding to fix it, so old tech falling over is probably the cause

This week, it's the final ever meeting of the #UNcyberOEWG at UN HQ in New York. Member States will be negotiating the text of the group's final report, which contains a number of draft recommendations for States to agree upon.

#WSIS20 High Level Forum: Amb Janis Karklins recounts during original WSIS process, as Chair, he had to respond to govts' requests to remove civil society but got creative - told civil society to go sit in the balcony, on the floor, not seats, where they could hear but not be seen by objecting govts

Turns out being a bully works, even when the bully is a whisker away from being an octogenarian.

I stumbled upon this little family this afternoon. A mother Pacific Black Duck and 8 ducklings! A reminder that it's winter here in Brisbane. She's either a first time (confused) mother, or climate change is totally disrupting her breeding cycle. Or possibly both.