Governance
18 May 2013
Part Two: Who Controls the Internet? Government Technology
In part one of our three-part series, we discussed America's attempts to regulate the Internet -- and many Americans are concerned about the Internet moving away from its current governance model, for good reason.
17 May 2013
Who Controls the Internet? Part One Government Technology
The idea that anyone is controlling the Internet runs contrary to common knowledge. The Web has a tradition of hosting free content with relatively little government or regulatory interference, and is today backed by a fervent army of supporters ready to defend a free and open platform.
Significant progress on key issues of Internet Governance: ITU Conference gathers stakeholders from government, industry and civil society to debate international Internet public policy-related issues International Telecommunication Union
"This year's WTPF, with its focus on international Internet-related public policy matters, is especially timely - as we stand at a 'tipping point', with the Internet making the transition from a mass-market in industrialized countries, to strong demand and widespread usage around the world", said Dr Touré, as the ITU's fifth World Telecommunication Policy Forum concluded in Geneva today.
ITU World Telecommunication Policy Forum Closes Focused on Continuing Open Dialogue ISOC
Today, the World Telecommunication Policy Forum (WTPF) came to a close with robust debate among all stakeholders about the role of government in Internet governance. Throughout the meeting, the Internet Society participated in dialogue that focused on several key areas, including the significant role of Internet exchange points as a means of enhancing Internet connectivity, the need for timely deployment of IPv6, and the importance of the multi-stakeholder model of Internet governance.
16 May 2013
Too Many Stakeholders Spoil the Soup Foreign Policy
Back in December, governments from around the world convened in Dubai to update the treaty that governs the international telecommunications system -- but negotiations failed due to concerns that the revised agreement could make Internet companies from Google to Tumblr, and not just traditional telecom companies, subject to its provisions. These international rules would have slowed innovation by bringing the Internet into a system designed for state-run telecom monopolies. Fifty-five governments, including most of the liberal democracies, refused to sign the updated treaty.
12 May 2013
United Nations Agency to Discuss Internet Governance Again New York Times
Here we go again. The United Nations is trying to take over the Internet! Or maybe it isn't.
23 April 2013
Can the US Congress stop looming Internet censorship? Constitution Daily
The House is pushing forward in an effort to block a United Nations-related group from potentially allowing countries to censor the Internet, before an international showdown this fall.
18 April 2013
EU digital rights groups demand net neutrality protection PC World
More than 80 European digital rights organizations on Wednesday called on the European Commission to do more to protect net neutrality.
22 March 2013
Internet can't be governed: Indian minister Times of India
Kapil Sibal, minister of communications and IT, said that internet was a necessity in India and an important medium that gave a chance to people to be heard.
Google's Eric Schmidt warns on China's attempts to control the internet The Guardian
Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of Google, has described China as "the most egregious" example of a nation attempting to control the internet, as he hinted at expanding the company's multimillion-pound transition fund towards British publishers to boost revenues from digital.
09 March 2013
Not All UN Bodies Are Trying to 'Take Over' the Internet: Multistakeholder Governance Shines at UNESCO by Leslie Harris, President and CEO of the Center for Democracy & Technology Huffington Post
Last December's World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT), hosted by the ITU in Dubai, revealed a broad spectrum of views about the future of the Internet. Many commentators have focused on the binary outcome: more than 50 countries, including the U.S. and the EU nations, did not sign the treaty, while Russia and China were vocal proponents of more centralized, government-led control of the Internet. But that's nothing new, and the reality is that most nations, whether they signed the treaty or not, fall somewhere in between.
01 March 2013
Living in a talk-shop bubble: How the MAG is undermining the IGF's credibility .nxt
Despite increasing relevance in the uncertain post-WCIT world, the advisory group to the Internet Governance Forum remains incapable of fixing long-identified problems and is undermining its credibility.
06 February 2013
FCC to Congress: U.N.'s ITU Internet plans 'must be stopped' ZDNet
Today, U.S. Federal Communications Commissioner Robert McDowell will testify to Congress in a joint U.S. House subcommittee hearing on international Internet governance, that the free and open Internet is under attack -- and inaction is not an option.
03 February 2013
Securing the Cyber and Space Commons: Is There Space for the UN? Trends in Outer Space and Cyberspace Regime Evolution by Larry Martinez for European Space Policy Institute International Relations and Security Network
Once the preserve of powerful governments and technologically sophisticated companies, the space and cyber commons are now being accessed by an increasingly diverse array of state and non-state actors. In the following article, Larry Flynn argues that the United Nations appears to be failing in its attempts to develop effective controls for the management of these commons. Instead, leading scientific and technological powers are attempting to manage space and cyber-space through ad-hoc agreements that fall outside of conventional UN mechanisms.
01 February 2013
ITU: Internet policy still on agenda Computerworld
Public policy formulation in all domains, including the Internet, is the sovereign right of member states, said ITU Secretary General Hamadoun Toure on Wednesday, suggesting that a debate over control of the Internet is far from over at the telecommunications body.
30 January 2013
Inventor Tim Berners-Lee against net regulation The Australian
The man credited with inventing the World Wide Web sympathises with those who have lost their jobs because of its disruptive economic influence. Tim Berners-Lee also said yesterday the UN should not regulate the internet.
28 January 2013
Web inventor says governments stifling net freedom Straits Times
The inventor of the World Wide Web warned on Friday that government control is limiting the possibilities of the Internet, as dozens of countries and businesses signed a cybersecurity deal at the Davos forum.
26 January 2013
Web founder Berners-Lee: Share info, improve the world CNET
He stopped well short of saying information wants to be free, but Tim Berners-Lee, the founder of the World Wide Web, said today the world would be better with some judicious liberation.
24 January 2013
Keeping the Internet Safe From Governments New York Times
Even before the World Conference on International Telecommunications took place last month in Dubai, Internet activists anticipated trouble. So did Congress, which issued a resolution calling it "essential" that the Internet remain "stable, secure and free from governmental control."
14 January 2013
Is it time for the internet to get the plumber in? The Observer
A system created to link researchers has grown into part of everyday life. But are its foundations still secure?
11 January 2013
The Coming Age of Internet Sovereignty? by Scott J. Shackelford, Assistant Professor of Business Law and Ethics, Indiana University, Kelley School of Business Huffington Post
In few places on Earth is censorship undertaken more vigorously than it is in the People's Republic of China (PRC). Take Amazon.com. At one level, Amazon.cn, allegedly the world's largest Chinese online bookstore, resembles its American counterpart, selling everything from the Twilight series to Battlestar Galactica. But dig deeper, and differences multiply. A search in early 2011 revealed only a single hit for "human rights in China": Alexandra Harney's The China Price. Perhaps most telling was a query conducted by the New York Times in 2010 for "censorship" and "China," that returned a result for a book entitled, When China Rules the World.
09 January 2013
Vint Cerf: Internet competition has "evaporated" since dial-up Ars Technica
Vint Cerf, co-creator of the Internet, said today he is troubled by the prospect of companies like AT&T avoiding government regulation after the transition from traditional phone technology to all-IP networks. Already, he said, competition was decimated when the Internet moved from dial-up providers to cable companies and telcos.
07 January 2013
Why we need pirates in cyberspace Christian Science Monitor
Whenever governments have tried to regulate new common areas - from oceans to airwaves - pirates have moved in. They remind us that some areas should be free.
03 January 2013
Let's All Take Responsibility for a Better Internet in 2013 by Larry Magid Huffington Post
As I'm sure you noticed, no one "owns" the Internet. We all have a stake in it and it's time for all of us to take some personal responsibility when it comes to how we manage what we do on the net.
24 December 2012
Will the internet end up controlled by big business and politicians? Its birth heralded a new age of intellectual freedom. Now the internet is under seige The Observer
It's all about control. Of course, nobody uses that particular term. The talk is always about "governance" or "regulation", but really it's about control. Ever since the internet burst into public consciousness in 1993, the big question has been whether the most disruptive communications technology since print would be captured by the established power structures - nation states and giant corporations - that dominate our world and shape its development. And since then, virtually every newsworthy event in the evolution of the network has really just been another skirmish in the ongoing war to control the internet.
