[governance] Study on ICT self- and co-regulation

Sat Sep 6 19:59:09 EDT 2008

Jonathan and all,

  From what I can gather from your remarks below, it seems
to me you made my case that self regulation and co-regulation
doesn't work.  My meaning was that self regulation from
governmental, or NGO groups, has proven historically,
to be far less than successful over time.  And often that time
frame is very short.

  For this reason I believe our Declaration of Independence
starts out with "We The People", and our founding fathers,
mostly of EU origin learned the hard way that governments
cannot be imparted with exclusive and non challenging
trust.  This fact most certainly remains true today, if not more
so.

  In any event, thank you for you response and thoughts...  >:)

Jonathan Cave wrote:

> A couple of brief comments, if I may:
>
> The study was intended to help the EU take self- and co-regulation
> into account in ex ante evaluation and impact assessment of policies,
> not to give a comprehensive survey or assessment of selfreg in
> general, any specific institution, etc. To do so, we selected case
> studies to span the issues and features relevant to policy
> assessment. The study was not 'well-meaning' in the sense implied and
> served no political agenda. In addition to the mapping (phase 1) and
> case study (phase 2) parts, the final report includes
> conceptual/theoretical analysis and a framework for setting up impact
> assessments and deciding how (if at all) to incorporate self-reg into
> telecom policy. See also the Ofcom consultation on the subject
> (http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/co-reg/promoting_effective_coregulation/).
>
> We certainly recognised and endorsed the value of wide participation,
> and the potential advantages of selfreg in terms of access to
> accurate information, realistic and recogniseably meaningful
> recommendations, lower enforcement costs and (sometimes) higher
> compliance. But we also recognised potential pitfalls,such as the
> tendency of selfreg bodies, especially those accorded regulatory
> forbearance, to serve their members' interests rather than the public
> interest, and the very real possibility that they might be set up as
> (or might become) 'Potemkin regulators' that serve to deter or
> pre-empt more stringent or effective control measures (by accident,
> evolution or design).
>
> But it's a bit simplistic to say that it 'doesn't work' even if the
> implication that formal command and control regulation 'does work'
> was not intended. agenda creep, regulatory capture, and disconnection
> between ostensible and effective regulatory agendas are pretty
> pervasive. Also, we used the term to refer to regulatory actions
> undertaken (in whole or in part) by non-state actors, not by one or
> another 'side' of an issue or market. The analytic part of the study
> draws attention to multistakeholder 'selfreg' organisations (e/g/
> consumer counsels and some WSIS bodies), to selfreg bodies whose
> constraints fall at other places in the value chain (e.g. insurance
> self-reg) and to powersharing arrangements between government,
> business and civil society bodies (species of 'co-regulation').
>
> Formal regulators get captured by industry interests just as easily,
> and their formalised mechanisms of accountability and transparency
> have all-too-evident limitations. At least with a selfreg body,
> participation can be voluntary (though there are cases where the
> 'insiders' either block the entry of others or compel outsiders'
> comp[liance with the standards, codes, etc. they choose.). With
> government bodies, it's much harder to vote with your feet.
>
> Finally, while end users' input can be valuable, there is a fairly
> obvious tension between openness and efficacy, and end-users, like
> all other players, are vulnerable to manipulation from prophets of
> doom and of redemption alike.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Jonathan
>
> At 22:40 05/09/2008, Jeffrey A. Williams wrote:
> >Hakikur and all,
> >
> >   Institutions are often times out of touch with users.  Self regulation
> >or Co-regutlation if in order to be reflective, effective, and useful
> >must have at it's base, the approval of individual users.  Therefore
> >individual users, must have a direct input and determination of the
> >process for developing such regimes or whatever regulation policies
> >are to be set, or otherwise imposed.  The will of the governed must
> >prevail.
> >
> >Hakikur Rahman wrote:
> >
> > > Dear Adam,
> > >
> > > Thank you for sharing an important document with the list. As a
> > > researcher in this field, I find it valuable. However, regarding
> > > infrastructure and standards setting I do not see much of ITU's role
> > > in the case study. Perhaps, I may have missed it, or the case studies
> > > included only the mentioned institutions.
> > >
> > > Best regards,
> > > Hakik
> > >
> > > At 07:47 PM 9/5/2008, Adam Peake wrote:
> > > >Hi,
> > > >
> > > >The European Commission recently published a study assessing the
> > > >efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability of ICT self- and
> > > >co-regulation initiatives. The study was led by RAND Europe (Chris
> > > >Marsden <http://chrismarsden.blogspot.com/>)
> > > >
> > > >The study is available from European Commission
> > > ><http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/information_society/evaluation/studies/s
> > 2006_05/index_en.htm>
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >The study consists of two main parts: a mapping exercise that
> > > >examines existing regulatory and co- and self-regulatory
> > > >institutions and identifies "candidate" case studies for closer
> > > >analysis. And a second phase report providing the results of 21
> > > >short case studies. Case studies were presented in four groupings:
> > > >
> > > >Internet Infrastructure and Standards (ICANN, Nominet, IETF, W3C, ICRA)
> > > >
> > > >Internet Self- and Co-Regulation (IWF, INHOPE, EuroISPA, KJM, FSM)
> > > >
> > > >Content and Filtering/Rating (ICSTIS, IMCB, NICAM, PEGI, ATVOD)
> > > >
> > > >Emerging Self Regulation Areas (SecondLife, Creative Commons, Social
> > > >Network: Bebo, Trustmarks, London Action Plan, IGF)
> > > >
> > > >Total of all phases about 1300 pages.
> > > >
> > > >A clear conclusion of the report is that robust self-and
> > > >co-regulatory organisations only develop where their design and
> > > >dynamics take a multi-stakeholder approach as their basic principle.
> > > >
> > > >Parts already seem dated and it wasn't written too long ago (3rd
> > qtr 2007).
> > > >
> > > >Adam
> > > >____________________________________________________________
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> >Regards,
> >
> >Spokesman for INEGroup LLA. - (Over 281k members/stakeholders strong!)
> >"Obedience of the law is the greatest freedom" -
> >    Abraham Lincoln
> >
> >"Credit should go with the performance of duty and not with what is
> >very often the accident of glory" - Theodore Roosevelt
> >
> >"If the probability be called P; the injury, L; and the burden, B;
> >liability depends upon whether B is less than L multiplied by
> >P: i.e., whether B is less than PL."
> >United States v. Carroll Towing  (159 F.2d 169 [2d Cir. 1947]
> >===============================================================
> >Updated 1/26/04
> >CSO/DIR. Internet Network Eng. SR. Eng. Network data security IDNS.
> >div. of Information Network Eng.  INEG. INC.
> >ABA member in good standing member ID 01257402 E-Mail
> >jwkckid1 at ix.netcom.com
> >My Phone: 214-244-4827
> >
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Regards,

Spokesman for INEGroup LLA. - (Over 281k members/stakeholders strong!)
"Obedience of the law is the greatest freedom" -
   Abraham Lincoln

"Credit should go with the performance of duty and not with what is
very often the accident of glory" - Theodore Roosevelt

"If the probability be called P; the injury, L; and the burden, B;
liability depends upon whether B is less than L multiplied by
P: i.e., whether B is less than PL."
United States v. Carroll Towing  (159 F.2d 169 [2d Cir. 1947]
===============================================================
Updated 1/26/04
CSO/DIR. Internet Network Eng. SR. Eng. Network data security IDNS.
div. of Information Network Eng.  INEG. INC.
ABA member in good standing member ID 01257402 E-Mail
jwkckid1 at ix.netcom.com
My Phone: 214-244-4827

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