Thursday, November 17, 2005

WSIS and ICANN -- An Uneasy Accommodation

On IPCentral, Jim has the WSIS update on its, um, accommodation to ICANN. How come I read that as "we will live to fight another day!"?

UPDATE: Despite my uneasiness that this accommodation may be only temporary, this outcome is an undoubted triumph by Ambassador David Gross and NTIA head Mike Gallagher, who represented the U.S. at the conference. The Bush administration does not get much respect -- oftentimes deservedly -- for its engagement in IT-sector issues. This is a case where the administration deserves credit for its position in keeping the Internet open and away from government(s) meddling. Now, let's reform ICANN!

posted by Ray Gifford @ 11:59 AM | Internet Governance

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Wednesday, November 16, 2005

WSIS Begins--Uh oh

The World Summit on U.S.-bashing, er, Information Society begins today in Tunisia with EU Commissioner Viviane Reding setting forth the main purpose:

"I hope that Tunis will mark an important step forward in the Internet's long evolution away from government control and toward truly international governance."

Adam Thierer and Wayne Crews had a great Wall Street Journal op-ed on the topic. Furthermore, in the strange bedfellows category, the issue of keeping the Internet and its open ethos out of the UN's hands unites both right- and left-leaning organizations.

ICANN is far from a perfect creature, but handing the Internet over to a multi-lateral, international body is a sure way to dampen innovation, kill openness and slow progress. Then again, that is often what the EU seems to be about...

posted by Ray Gifford @ 12:12 PM | Internet Governance

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Friday, October 21, 2005

Sen. Coleman's Effort to Stop a "U.N. for the Internet"

Three Cheers for Sen. Norm Coleman! He recently introduced a Sense of the Senate resolution "to protect the U.S.'s historic role in overseeing the operations of the Internet from an effort to transfer control over the unprecedented communications and informational medium to the U.N."

In his statement, Sen. Coleman argued that:

"There is no rational justification for politicizing Internet governance within a U.N. framework. Nor is there a rational basis for the anti-U.S. resentment driving the proposal. Privatization, not politicization, is the Internet governance regime that must be fostered and protected. At the World Summit next month, the Internet is likely to face a grave threat. If we fail to respond appropriately, we risk the freedom and enterprise fostered by this informational marvel, and end up sacrificing access to information, privacy, and protection of intellectual property we have all depended on. This is not a risk I am prepared to take, which is why I initiated action to respond on a Senate level to this danger."

YOU GO NORM! I love it.

Faithful readers of this blog will know that this issue really gets me worked up. Here's my recent Wall Street Journal editorial on the issue that I penned with my old friend Wayne Crews of CEI. And two years ago, Wayne and I also co-edited a massive collection of essays on Internet governance / jurisdication issues entitled "Who Rules the Net." Our point in the book and that recent editorial was simple: We stand at a crucial moment in the history of the Internet and unless we stand firm in opposition to those who seek to impose an international regulatory regime on this vibrant, borderless technology of freedom, the Internet as we know it today will die.

Let's hope that other members of Congress and the Administration will join Sen. Coleman in this important effort to protect the Internet from the global regulatory / bureaucratic nightmare that looms overhead today.

posted by Adam Thierer @ 9:47 AM | E-commerce, Free Speech, Internet Governance

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Wednesday, October 12, 2005

WSJ editorial: "The World Wide Web (of Bureaucrats)"

This Saturday, my old friend Wayne Crews of CEI and I had an editorial in the weekend edition of The Wall Street Journal dealing with the increasing calls for more "global governance" of the Internet. In our essay, "The World Wide Web (of Bureaucrats)," Wayne and I point out that we are at a critical moment in the history of the Internet, with calls for collective global governance coming from many different quarters.

A "U.N. for the Internet" model would be a disaster, we argue, since it would allow regulators from across the globe to get their paws on the Net and start imposing a variety of confusing, country-specific cultural and legal standards on this open, borderless network or networks. We conclude the essay by noting that, "if laissez-faire is not an option, the second-best solution is that the legal standards governing Web content should be those of the 'country of origin.' Ideally, governments should assert authority only over citizens physically within its geographic borders. This would protect sovereignty and the principle of 'consent of the governed' online. It would also give companies and consumers a 'release valve' or escape mechanism to avoid jurisdictions that stifle online commerce or expression. The Internet helps overcome artificial restrictions on trade and communications formerly imposed by oppressive or meddlesome governments. Allowing these governments to reassert control through a U.N. backdoor would be a disaster."

On a related note, I also encourage you to read this excellent new editorial by Carl Bildt, the former prime minister of Sweden. Bildt argues that, "It would be profoundly dangerous to now set up an international mechanism, controlled by governments, to take over the running of the Internet. Not only would this play into the hands of regimes bent on limiting the freedom that the Internet can bring, it also risks stifling innovation and ultimately endangering the security of the system. Even trying to set up such a mechanism could cause conflicts leading to today's uniform global system being Balkanized into different, more or less closed systems."

Amen to that.

posted by Adam Thierer @ 10:11 AM | E-commerce, Free Speech, Internet Governance

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