Last December’s first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) launched a global debate on Internet governance within the UN system. Of course, when it comes to the Internet, the term “governance” can be ambiguous, and debates about it confused, with different Internet stakeholders addressing different aspects of how the system operates.
At WSIS, governments asked UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to create a working group on Internet governance. It is charged with: developing a working definition of Internet governance; identifying related public policy issues; exploring the respective roles of governments, intergovernmental organizations, the private sector and civil society; and preparing a report to be presented to the second phase of WSIS, scheduled for November 2005 in Tunis.
U.S. industry – and industry worldwide – strongly opposes an international regulatory regime for the Internet, according to David Fares, USCIB’s vice president of electronic commerce and telecommunications.
“We believe that the kinds of inter-governmental control now being contemplated would harm international commerce and retard growth of the Internet itself,” he says. “In an era of increased liberalization of telecommunications, efforts to impose controls on a dynamic, decentralized communications network never subjected to an international regulatory regime would clearly be counterproductive.”
Mr. Fares said a number of USCIB and ICC members have taken this position to their respective governments and to several recent UN meetings focused on Internet governance. At a February workshop in Geneva, aimed at developing an ITU position on Internet governance, panelists from numerous constituencies generally agreed that there are many international bodies already addressing Internet-related policy issues.
In late March, the UN’s Information and Communication Technology Task Force held a global forum in New York, meant to provide input to Secretary General Annan in the creation of his working group. Here again, participants agreed that numerous expert bodies address issues related to Internet governance, and that such bodies should continue to be the focal points for future policy analysis.
In this regard, it was agreed, additional work is needed to ensure that developing countries can participate meaningfully in these expert bodies. Finally, there may be some policy issues where additional international coordination is necessary.
USCIB and ICC will remain actively engaged in these discussions as they proceed in the UN Secretary General's working group and in the WSIS process.
