According to the Proposed Format of the Geneva Phase of the World Summit on the Information Society WSIS/PC3-DOC-0008 R2 document (29 September 2003), the rules related to Civil Society speakers are ( our highlighting ) :

3. An opening ceremony of the Summit shall be held on Wednesday afternoon. The Heads of State of the host countries, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Secretary-General of ITU, the President of the Preparatory Committee, the Executive Head of an intergovernmental organization, and one top level representative from civil society (including NGOs) as well as one top level representative from a business sector entity (including ITU sector members), identified through their self-organizing mechanisms, in coordination with the Secretary-General of the Summit, will be invited to make remarks.

4. The opening ceremony shall be followed immediately by a General Debate in the first plenary meeting. The General Debate will continue in plenary meetings on Thursday morning and afternoon and Friday morning and afternoon. With the exception of the plenary meeting on Friday afternoon, the last hour of each General Debate will be set aside for statements from representatives of observers.

6. During the time reserved for observers, speaking time will be limited to 3 minutes. All speakers should represent the top level of their organizations or entities. With regard to accredited civil society entities (including NGOs) and business sector entities (including ITU sector members), the spokespersons shall be identified through their self-organizing mechanisms, in coordination with the Secretary-General of the Summit . With regard to intergovernmental organizations, only High Level Summit Organizing Committee members, represented at the highest possible level, may make statements.

7. On Friday afternoon, following the completion of the General Debate, the last plenary meeting shall hear report from Multi-stakeholder Events which have been held in conjunction with the Summit. Further details are given in Annex 1.

10. Observers will have direct access to the official Summit venue. Due to space constraints, a limited number of participants from accredited civil society entities (including NGOs) and business sector entities (including ITU sector members) will be allowed to participate in the plenary meetings. Once the Summit program is finalized, the Executive Secretariat will inform the observers of these arrangements.

Annex 1 Report from Multi-stakeholder Events

1. In keeping with UN General Assembly Resolution 56/183, which encouraged effective contributions from and the active participation of all relevant stakeholders in the Summit preparatory process and the Summit itself, the last plenary meeting on Friday afternoon will provide an opportunity for organizers of events which have been held in conjunction with the Summit to report the outcomes of their events.

2. The list of speakers will be determined by the President of the Summit ith the support of the Secretary-General of the Summit. Priority will be given to organizers who report on events which:

(a) Provide positive inputs to the objectives of the Summit as outlined in the Declaration of Principles and the Plan of Action; and/or

(b) Are linked to the creation of sustainable multi-stakeholder WSIS partnership projects.

• One speaker at the Opening Ceremony
• Four speakers (3 minutes) at the end of the First Plenary (Wednesday Afternoon), Second Plenary (Thursday Morning ), Third Plenary (Thursday afternoon): 12 speakers in total.
• Reports of Summit Events: 5 to 7 speakers on Friday afternoon.