[governance] From G8 to G20?

Thu Mar 12 07:23:46 EDT 2009

Hi Ginger, we are ³closing the circle² in IG. In the late 1990s, the  Group
of 7 (later on 8 with Russia) was one of the first global policy body that
discussed international aspects of the ICT/Internet policy.  Paradoxically,
the global ICT-policy was removed from the G8 agenda at the summit in Genoa
back in 2001 presided by Berlusconi (the exception has been G8 cybersecurity
coordination). 

Now, eight years later Berlusconi may get IG back to G8. However, after 8
years, It  is likely that another ³G² - G-20 - will be more important for
IG-discussion than G8. If the next  G-20 summit on financial crisis will be
successful  (London  early April) one can expect broader role in G 20 in
the other global governance areas, including IG. Best, Jovan

On 3/12/09 12:50 AM, "Ginger Paque" <gpaque at gmail.com> wrote:

> I was unable to find the following article online, but it was important enough
> to me that I took the time to type in a copy to post here, in case you haven¹t
> seen it. The article: ³Italy moves to place controls on Internet content²
> appeared in the print edition of the International Herald Tribune on Monday,
> March 9, 2009, on page 13. The whole article is interesting on several
> political levels, but in particular, the article states that Berlusconi has
> said that he will bring up ways to regulate the Internet at the Group of 8
> industrialized countries meeting in July. Is there a real possibility the
> Group of 8 will take this seriously? Is there any precedent?
>  
> Italy moves to place controls on Internet content
>  
> International Herald Tribune, Monday March 9th Page 13
>  
> Milan. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy has put himself front and
> center in a debate over whether to place controls on the Internet that go well
> beyond those that exist in most of the rest of the world.
>  
> Berlusconi¹s governing coalition has backed a law in the Italian Parliament
> that would require Internet service providers to black access to Web sites
> with potentially objectionable content.
>  
> The law, approved last month by the Italian Senate, would give the ISPs 24
> hours to block access to the content or face a fine of as much as Euros
> 250,000, or $315,500.
>  
> The measure, which must still be approved by the lower house of Parliament, is
> one of several steps taken to restrict Internet freedom in Italy. It is being
> considered as five Google employees face trial in Milan on charges that they
> violated privacy laws with a video posted on the company¹s Italian-language
> video site.
>  
> Last month, the Interior ministry said it was studying ways to listen to
> conversations on Skype, and the government has also tried harder than most to
> close peer-to-peer Web sites that are used to exchange movies and music.
>  
> Critics are already lining up against the coalition¹s proposal.
>  
> ³Australia has taken a step to filter the Internet, France a different step,
> Ireland another and even the United States another, but what is worrying is
> that Italy is adding them all together, and that leads to a very restrictive
> environment,² said Stefano Quintarelli, an Italian Internet pioneer who
> co-founded the service provider I.NET and who blogs on technology issues in
> English and Italian.
>  
> ³This situation exists in Italy because it is an old country,² Quintarelli
> added. ³Parliament is filled with old people who are making the decisions.
> Young Italians use the Internet and technology more than the European average,
> but the older generations are way behind and they are afraid of technology.²
>  
> The law was proposed in response to discussion groups on Facebook that praised
> two high-level Mafia membersSalvatore Riina, the so-called boss of bosses,
> know as Totò, and Bernardo Provenzano  who have been convicted of multiple
> murders and are serving life sentences.
>  
> Berlusconi, who said during the election campaign last year that he did not
> use e-mail or the Internet, has said he wants to use his role as host of a
> meeting in July of the Group of 8 industrialized countries to discuss ways to
> regulate the Internet.
>  
> The Google trial, which began last month and was scheduled to reconvene March
> 17, centers on a video that shows several youths tormenting a classmate with
> Down syndrome. The video was online for about two months before somebody
> alerted Google, which took it down within a few hours.
>  
> At issue is whether Google should be considered an Internet service provider,
> and thus not liable under current law for content, or whether it is a content
> provider with responsibility for what is published on its Web site.
>  
> A service provider is liable only if it does not remove illegal content from
> its network and servers once notified of its existence.
>  
> ³It¹s akin to prosecuting mail service employees for hate speech letters sent
> in the post,² Google said in a statement last month when the trial began.
> ³What¹s more, seeking to hold neutral platforms liable for content posted on
> them is a direct attack on a free, open Internet.²
>  
> With Italy¹s slow legal system, the Google trial could drag on for more than a
> year.
>  
> Deciding what can and cannot be transmitted in cyberspace and determining who
> is responsible has been a thorny issue for governments around the world. Most
> have undertaken piecemeal regulation that uses existing laws to punish crimes
> committed over the Internet.
>  
> ³The best option is to let people say and do whatever they want on the
> Internet and then punish those who overstep and break the law, just like what
> happens offline,² said Giorgio Simonelli, a professor at the Catholic
> University in Milan who follows the media.
>  
> ³The problem with that policy is that you run the risk of judges being snowed
> in with so many cases that you need a judicial system dedicated to dealing
> with just Internet issues,² Simonelli said. ³But if you try to block content
> preventively, you limit freedom of expression, and it is an important
> attribute that any free society must have.²
>  
> In Italy, any court case or legislation that deals with regulating the media
> or the Internet takes on an added dimension because Berlusconi has indirect
> control over more than 90 percent of the country¹s television market. His
> family holding company, Fininvest, owns 36 percent of Mediaset, which owns the
> three most-watched private television channels in Italy.
>  
> The prime minister¹s political position also gives him a say over the three
> RAI public television channels because his political allies name a majority on
> the company¹s board.
>  
> 
> 
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