November 28, 2007
Reflections On Rio's Web Summit
Rob Faris of Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet & Society is circulating some interesting thoughts about the second Internet Governance Forum, which took place in Rio de Janeiro this month.
This was not a forum for making major decisions or generating new strategies for tackling profound questions, he wrote in a lengthy commentary. It was also not a venue for finding the best way to reward innovative thinkers while continuing to promote innovation.
Yet, there is "inestimable value in the conversations and connections made off the official record and unknown benefits to be reaped by the potential future collaborations," he noted.
"If the diversity of attendees or the number and range of opinions expressed is the gauge of success, then the 2007 IGF was a huge success," he wrote. There were nearly 1,400 attendees from all walks of Web life.
But many sessions involved "people talking past one another" and the question Faris is left to ponder is "how the exchanges of opinions can be aggregated and channeled into something genuinely useful."
On a lighter note, he added: "I find fresh coconut milk the perfect fuel for digesting the enormity of Internet governance, particularly in combination with the sonorous lapping of waves. When that isn’t enough, a caipirinha can help with one’s courage of conviction."
Read Faris's detailed reflections on IGF in the next issue of the Filter, Berkman's monthly e-newsletter.
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November 16, 2007
Some Tried To 'Hijack' Internet Talks In Rio
"Governments who want to stomp-out dissidents or just stick a finger in the American eye" attempted to "hijack" some of the conversations held by participants at the Internet Governance Forum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil this week, according to one industry source.
For them, the term "protecting critical Internet resources" has become a euphemism for "killing ICANN," the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, which administers the Web addressing system, wrote Steve DelBianco, executive director of the e-commerce trade group NetChoice.
"The motivations of repressive regimes are obvious, but as I've stated before, those who see ICANN as a mechanism for American imperialism over the Internet are grossly overestimating the power of ICANN," he wrote on his blog. Read more here.
Technology Daily has been following the IGF too:
• Participants At Brazil Forum Hail Its Open Process
• The Net As 'A Tool Of Repression'
• Cuban Official's Calls For Net Change
• Call For 'Net Bill Of Rights' Opposed
• U.S. Likes Structure For Net Policy
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November 15, 2007
ICANN Urges Greater International Involvement
The chairman of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, which administers the Web addressing system, made a plea to participants at a Web policy summit in Brazil to get involved with his group.
"Whoever you are, wherever you are, if you are interested in finding out more about ICANN, or its work, the door is open. Please walk in," Peter Dengate Thrush told attendees of the Internet Governance Forum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Thursday.
ICANN's organizational model allows all to contribute, from business to governments to the technical community to everyday Internet users, he said. The group's transparency has been routinely criticized but it is trying to improve its image in international circles.
Thrush said a new e-mail address -- get-involved@icann.org -- has been set up for those who wish to learn more about ICANN's structure and to get involved. "We will be glad to hear from you," he said. Read more about the forum in Technology Daily's PM Edition.
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November 14, 2007
CDT Warns Of Confusing Internet Terminology
Confusing concepts like "Internet governance" and "critical Internet resources" could divert attention from key barriers to Web development and could fuel calls for government intervention that would undermine the Internet's openness, the Center for Democracy and Technology said in paper released Wednesday.
The document was unveiled at the Internet Governance Forum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. "Critical Internet resources," or CIR, is one of several general themes of the conference.
While CIR has become a code word in some circles for the domain name system, the CDT paper identifies a broad range of concerns and warns against wholesale change in the structure of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.
CDT's paper can be found here and you can read more about the forum in Technology Daily's PM Edition.
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November 12, 2007
Web Forum Odds & Ends
The first day of the Internet Governance Forum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil was not without controversy. Read Technology Daily's PM Edition for details. We can't give away the best stuff on the blog, which is free to read, but here are a few odds and ends…
▪ Paul Twomey, who heads the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, said during the opening session that the Internet community as a whole should be proud of its accomplishments. There are more than a billion people online around the globe and trillions of dollars are being made via Web-oriented businesses.
"With this extraordinary change also comes challenges," he said. "That is what this forum is about -- bringing together people to talk, review, discuss and hopefully solve some of the issues that are before us."
▪ Anriette Estherhuysen, executive director of the Association for Progressive Communications, said the Internet is "a public good and should be governed as public good [and] that governance should take place in the public domain."
Removing barriers for some potential Internet users is important, she said. "Why should blind people pay more for interfaces to read text because they're blind and because someone owns a royalty on making two applications talk to each other?" she asked.
Continue reading "Web Forum Odds & Ends" »
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Thoughts On The Internet Governance Forum
Reprinted from the Nov. 9, 2007 edition of National Journal's Technology Daily
Net Governance: U.S. Wants To Maintain The Nature Of Internet Policy
By Andrew Noyes
A pair of high-ranking telecommunications officials from the U.S. government this week emphasized the importance of maintaining the true multi-stakeholder nature of Internet policy talks in anticipation of a global conference that begins Monday in Brazil.
The second installment of the Internet Governance Forum will be a significant place to "share experiences and visions that support the continued evolution and expansion of the Internet," John Kneuer and David Gross said in a joint statement.
Kneuer, who just announced that he is leaving as head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, and Gross, the State Department's international communications and information policy chief, hope the event will foster "constructive discussions" about economic and social development.
Internet industry representatives from the United States and other nations, as well as some Western government officials, worry that a handful of delegations like China and Russia are trying to turn the U.N.-sponsored forum into a policymaking body.
Preserving the current framework makes the organization a "unique environment for an honest and frank exchange of ideas without the pressure of negotiating output discussions or conclusions," Kneuer and Gross said.
Markus Kummer, the U.N. official who heads the forum's secretariat, told Technology Daily on Friday that "more traditional" governments are not used to attending an event like the forum without it ending in a treaty or concluding document.
Continue reading "Thoughts On The Internet Governance Forum" »
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