Vint Cerf is critical of plans by various countries over a battle for the internet that is opening at the International Telecommunications Union in this opinion piece in the New York Times.Cerf writes that the ITU “is conducting a review of the international agreements governing telecommunications and aims to expand its regulatory authority to the Internet at a summit scheduled for December in Dubai.””Such a move holds potentially profound — and I believe potentially hazardous — implications for the future of the Internet and all of its users.”Cerf says the secret of the internet’s success is that “governments — for the most part — allowed the Internet to grow organically, with civil society, academia, private sector and voluntary standards bodies collaborating on development, operation and governance.””In contrast, the ITU creates significant barriers to civil society participation.”Cerf goes on to say that “while many governments are committed to maintaining flexible regimes for fast-moving internet technologies, some others have been quite explicit about their desire to put a single U.N. or other intergovernmental body in control of the Net.”Some of the proposals for ITU governance have surfaced from within the organisation, including that “several authoritarian regimes reportedly would ban anonymity from the Web, which would make it easier to find and arrest dissidents. Others have suggested moving the privately run system that manages domain names and Internet addresses to the United Nations.””Such proposals raise the prospect of policies that enable government controls but greatly diminish the ‘permissionless innovation’ that underlies extraordinary Internet-based economic growth to say nothing of trampling human rights.”Cerf encourages people “to take action now: Insist that the debate about internet governance be transparent and open to all stakeholders.”Vint Cerf’s article, Keep the Internet Open, can be read in full on The New York Times website by going to www.nytimes.com/2012/05/25/opinion/keep-the-internet-open.html.There have also been a couple of articles in Forbes on the issue. One, is by Scott Cleland, President of Precursor LLC and Chairman of NetCompetition, a pro-competition e-forum supported by broadband interests and who during the George H.W. Bush Administration, Cleland served as Deputy United States Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy.Cleland writes that “any attempt to remake the Internet in the ITU’s image – “the ITUnet” – is pure folly. The essence of the Internet is that it is voluntary; no entity mandated it or controls it. People, companies, entities and nations all voluntarily have chosen to use the Internet because it is the best at what it does.””The folly here is that the ITU does not understand the voluntary nature of the Internet or how the Internet really operates and evolves – because the bottom-up collaborative Internet is the antithesis of top-down governmental command and control.”On the domain name system, Cleland says it “rapidly became universal precisely because people voluntarily recognized its essential value and adopted it. No country owns, controls, or approves Internet’s addresses; it’s a collaborative, consensus-based, multi-stakeholder process. The World Wide Web became the third voluntary leg of Internet universality, because it offered a universal application to enable people to get to and display most any kind of Internet content available. With the Internet, the best ideas and innovations win on merit not coercion.””Those imagining the ITU can assert authority over the Internet simply don’t understand how the Internet works. They desperately want to believe the Internet operates like last century’s telephone networks because that’s what they know and that’s what they want it to be, so that they can tax and regulate it to redistribute revenues.”Cleland’s article, The ‘ITUnet’ Folly: Why The UN Will Never Control The Internet, is available to be read in full at www.forbes.com/sites/ciocentral/2012/05/24/the-itunet-folly-why-the-un-will-never-control-the-internet.However taking a contrary view of the ITU’s intention, also in Forbes, is Adam Thierer, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University where he works with the Technology Policy Program.Thierer writes that “in the short term, however, this threat is somewhat overstated. There’s no way the U.N. could “take over the Net.” It’s a technical impossibility. The Internet’s infrastructure and governance structure are both too decentralized for any one global entity to take control.”To read Thierer’s Forbes article, Does the Internet Need a Global Regulator?, in full, go to:
www.forbes.com/sites/adamthierer/2012/05/06/does-the-internet-need-a-global-regulator/
Tag Archives: Internet Governance
India Calls For UN Body To Replace ICANN
India is calling for a United Nations-run body to take over the responsibilities of ICANN, with discussions likely to take place in Geneva later this week, according to a report in The Hindu.The Geneva meeting is to be led by the Commission on Science and Technology for Development and is a multi-stakeholder discussion platform on Internet governance structures.In its proposal submitted to the General Assembly in New York on 26 October, 2011, The Hindu reports “India has argued for a radical shift from the present model of multi-stakeholder led decision-making, to a purely government-run multilateral body that would relegate civil society, private sector, international organisations as well as technical and academic groups to the fringes in an advisory role.””India is pushing for the creation of a forum called ‘Committee for Internet Related Policies’ (CIRP) to develop internet policies, oversee all internet standards bodies and policy organisations, negotiate internet-related treaties and sit in judgment when internet-related disputes come up. The catch is that India’s formal proposal is for CIRP to be funded by the U.N., run by staff from the U.N.’s Conference on Trade and Development arm and report directly to the U.N. General Assembly, which means it will be entirely controlled by the U.N.’s member states.The report goes on to say “India’s proposal could prove controversial for multi-stakeholder communities within the country and across the world, since it entails moving away from the prevailing democratic ‘equal say’ process for internet governance to one in which governments would be front and centre, receiving advice from stakeholders and deciding the way forward.”To read the report in The Hindu in full, see:
www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3423018.ece
RIPE NCC and AfriNIC Contribute To The Launch Of Arab Internet Governance Forum
New initiative demonstrates ongoing cooperation between regionâs governments and technical community[news release] When the Arab Internet Governance Forum (AIGF) holds its first ever meeting in Kuwait City in October 2012, it will do so with the strong support and expert input of the regionâs technical community, especially AfriNIC and the RIPE NCC, the two Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) that provide services to the area.
The AIGF was formally established at a multistakeholder open consultation meeting held in Beirut, Lebanon in February 2012. Sponsored by the RIPE NCC and the Kuwait Information Technology Society, this open consultation featured stakeholders from governments, private sector, civil society and regional organisations in the Arab World.
The proposal to form the AIGF received consensus support from the government representatives as well as other stakeholders. Following the consensus received during the open consultation, the Arab Telecommunication and Information Council of Ministers (ATICM) of the League of Arab States gave approval for the AIGF to begin its important work. Efforts to establish the AIGF have been greatly supported by the League of Arab States (LAS), the United Nation Economic and Social Commission of Western Asia (ESCWA), the Egyptian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the Republic of Egypt National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority and the Government of Lebanon.
âWith the launch of the AIGF we are witnessing a further evolution in the relationship between the technical community and governments,â notes RIPE NCC Director of External Relations Paul Rendek. âThis comes at a crucial time for the Arab region when the need to discuss Internet governance in a regional context has become more important than ever. I am delighted that the RIPE NCC has been able to support the development of the AIGF. We have worked hard to foster cooperation between local technical community and bodies like ESCWA and LAS. The launch of the AIGF paves the way for us to build even stronger relationships with governments and national regulatory authorities in the regionâ.
As well as providing a forum to discuss those aspects of Internet governance most relevant to operators, governments and other stakeholders in the region, the AIGF also serves to channel those concerns into broader Internet discussions, particularly the annual Internet Governance Forum (IGF), which takes place in November this year in Baku, Azerbaijan.
âBy discussing regional issues at the AIGF, Internet stakeholders in the Arab States will be better positioned to contribute to and take advantage of an event like the 2012 IGF in Baku, â comments AfriNIC CEO Adiel A. Akplogan. âI welcome the development of this regional forum which will enable all stakeholders to further cooperate to address issues specific to the regionâ.
The AIGF represents a further development following on from the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) that took place between 2003-2005, and the subsequent evolution of the IGF over the past six years. This has been a result of the continued regional coordination and cooperation between governments, private sector, civil society, academia and the technical community.
âCapacity building is one of the most significant issues in ICT for the governments in the Middle East,â says Mr. Rendek, âand this depends on developing
relationships between all stakeholders in the region. The RIPE NCC has been focusing efforts on such capacity building initiatives through the IPv6 Roadshow training events and the Middle East Network Operators Group (MENOG), which holds its tenth meeting in May, while AfriNIC has been instrumental in establishing the African Network Operatorsâ Group (AfNOG). The launch of the AIGF is a further example of what effective cooperation between governments and the private sector can achieve in this area.â
The multistakeholder nature of the AIGF is highlighted by the formation of a Multistakeholder Advisory Group to develop the eventâs program and direct the work of the AIGF generally. The AIGF Secretariat recently issued an invitation for experts from all stakeholder groups to apply for membership of the MAG. An application form is available at:
The First Meeting of the Arab Internet Governance Forum (AIGF) will take place in Kuwait City, Kuwait, in October 2012.
About the Regional Internet Registries (RIRs)
Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) are independent, not-for-profit membership organisations that support the infrastructure of the Internet through technical coordination. There are five RIRs in the world today. Currently, the Internet Assigned Numbers Association (IANA) allocates blocks of IP addresses and ASNs, known collectively as Internet number resources, to the RIRs, who then distribute them to their members within their own specific service regions. RIR members include Internet Service Providers (ISPs), telecommunications organisations, large corporations, governments, academic institutions, and industry stakeholders, including end users.
The RIR model of open, transparent participation has proven successful at responding to the rapidly changing Internet environment. Each RIR holds one to two open meetings per year, as well as facilitating online discussion by the community, to allow the open exchange of ideas from the technical community, the business sector, civil society, and government regulators.
The countries in the League of Arab States are split between two RIR service regions, and are served by AfriNIC and the RIPE NCC.
About AfriNIC
AfriNIC has been set up to serve the African community by providing professional and efficient management of Internet Number Resources, supporting Internet technology usage and development, and promoting a participative and multi-stakeholder approach to Internet self governance. AfriNIC is a non-government, not-for-profit, membership based organization, based in Mauritius. Trainings and capacity building are a central part of AfriNICâs activities and our objective is to build competence within our region in IPv6 implementation and associated technologies required to use our resources effectively and to increase awareness within the service region on
About the RIPE NCC
Founded in 1992, the RIPE NCC is an independent, not-for-profit membership organisation that supports the infrastructure of the Internet. The most prominent activity of the RIPE NCC is to act as a Regional Internet Registry (RIR) providing global Internet resources and related services to a current membership base of more than 8,000 members in over 75 countries. These members consist mainly of Internet Service Providers (ISPs), telecommunication organisations and large corporations located in Europe, the Middle East and parts of Central Asia.
The RIPE NCC performs a range of critical functions including the allocation of Internet number resources, the storage and maintenance of this registration data and the provision of an open, publicly accessible database where this data can be accessed.
The RIPE NCC also provides a range of technical and coordination services for the Internet community including the operation of K-root (one of the 13 root name servers).
About The Middle East Network Operators Group (MENOG)
The Middle East Network Operators Group (MENOG) is the regional forum offering network engineers and other technical staff the opportunity to share knowledge and experiences, and identify areas for regional cooperation.
About The African Network Operators Group (AfNOG)
The Africa Network Operators Group is a forum for the exchange of technical information, and aims to promote discussion of implementation issues that require community cooperation through coordination and cooperation among network service providers to ensure the stability of service to end users.
The goal of AfNOG is to share experience of technical challenges in setting up, building and running IP networks on the African continent.
This news release was sourced from:
www.ripe.net/internet-coordination/news/about-ripe-ncc-and-ripe/ripe-ncc-and-afrinic-contribute-to-the-launch-of-arab-internet-governance-forum
US Republican Moves to Keep UN Away From Internet Governance
The Republicans in the US are working hard to keep the UN’s mitts off internet governance, with Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif., reintroducing “a nonbinding resolution calling on President Obama to oppose any efforts by the United Nations to take over governance of the Internet,” reports Tech Daily Dose.”It has become increasingly clear that international governmental organizations, such as the United Nations, have aspirations to become the epicenter of Internet governance. And I’m going to do everything I can to make sure this never happens,” Bono Mack, the Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade said in a statement.”Americans have always been skeptical about big government power grabs — and they have a right to be — especially when it impacts their daily lives. Any attempt by the United Nations to take over something that is so central to our economy is deeply troubling and a threat to American consumers. It is bad enough that we have to fight to keep the Federal Communications Commission’s hands off the Internet; just imagine having to convince governments like Iran and China.”The Internet has grown and thrived precisely because it has not been subjected to the suffocating effect of the heavy hand of government. Market-based policies, the free flow of information, and private sector leadership have allowed the Internet to flourish and become the world’s greatest communication platform. I urge the President and his Administration to oppose any effort to transfer control of the Internet to the United Nations or any other international governmental entity.”Bono Mack introduced a similar resolution in the previous congress, reported Tech Daily Dose. In her resolution, Bono Mack notes her concerns about some nations using “the internet as a tool of surveillance to curtail legitimate political discussion and dissent.” However given the recent release of US government cables and other correspondence through WikiLeaks and the ways in which the US has sought to find ways to put WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange before the courts in her country, she could easily have been referring to the US as one country that seeks to “use the internet as a tool of surveillance to curtail legitimate political discussion and dissent.”To see the text of House Resolution 57, see bono.house.gov/UploadedFiles/H._Res._57.pdf
How Much Governance Does The Internet Need? To Be Answered At 2011 Domain Pulse
Internet governance is the key theme of the upcoming Domain Pulse conference to be held in Vienna from 17 to 18 February.There will be presentations on Internet Governance 2.0 and the future of domain names as well as a panel discussion on How Much Governance Does The Internet Need.They key note speech on the opening day will be given by Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, a professor of internet governance regulation at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford.A panel discussion on the future of the domain name, titled “The Domain is Dead – Long Live the Domain?” will include Sedo’s Tim Schumacher and Christian Kallenberg of Mitte Editionen.The discussion on How Much Governance Does the Internet Need? will include Christian Singer from BMVIT, Hubert Schöttner from BMWI, Jonne Soininen from Siemens/Nokia and a member of the ICANN Board, Michael Niebel from the European Commission, Theresa Swinehart from Verizon and formerly ICANN and Thomas Schneider from BAKOM.Additional presentations will cover legal issues relating to internet governance with a presentation from Hans Peter Lehofer of the Austrian Supreme Administrative Court who will discuss “Internet Law between Regulation of Infrastructure and Content” while there will be a discussion with the legal experts from each of the revolving host registries, nic.at, DENIC and SWITCH.For more information on the Domain Pulse conference and to register, see www.domainpulse.at where the information is in both English and German, as will all presentations with simultaneous translations.
ICANN, Cultural Imperialism, and Democratization of Internet Governance by Brian Gailey, Bryant University
Dissertation Abstract: Internet Governance has largely been managed by the United States government since its burgeoning in the 1990’s. The government has since entrusted and charged internet technical tasks and functions to ICANN. The organization along with the United States government has been the subject of heavy criticism for its inadequate international representation. Many interpret US hegemony over the internet as culturally imperialistic.The following paper explores the some of the advantages and disadvantages to multilateral Internet governance. Firstly, it will evaluate ICANN’s ability to both democratize their internal decision-making and internationalize the web by better serving foreign Internet end-users. Next, the paper examines the attitudes of Americans towards the US relinquishing control to international organizations such as the United Nations. The conclusions address both effectiveness of ICANN as well as what may be hindering the US from surrendering control to foreign governments based on nonpolitical reasons.This paper was published by, and is available for download from, the Douglas and Judith Krupp Library Digital Commons initiative, an “institutional repository” to capture, preserve and organize the intellectual output of Bryant University. It is available from:
digitalcommons.bryant.edu/honors_communication/5/