[governance] US House Bill to Affirm the Policy of the United States Regarding Internet Governance

[Avri Doria]

Hi,

I have not read the bill yet, but from what you say, I find its premise reasonable. I am sure I will find something to be critical of when I have read the whole thing.

Or did you mean critical thought in the philosophical sense. Which can agrees as much as it can disagree.

I too wish for an Internet free of government control.  Any government control. 
Though of course I accept them as one stakeholder among the other stakeholders.

And I too wish to preserve and advance, aka make better and more prevalent, the multistakeholder model.

So from what you have quoted, I find little to disagree with so far. 
Though I am sure I will find lots to quibble about in the full language.

Yes, there are governments that wish to control the Internet. 
But I do not believe that its in anyone's interests, not civil society's and not even the governments, for them to try do so.  
I don't believe they would ever succeed, but they could certainly cause a lot of dangers and degradation of the rights concerns we all have in the operation of an open Internet.

I do believe the model needs to be enhanced, aka made better or advanced. 
And I do believe there are many parts of the model that can be advanced, enhanced and improved.
And I do believe there is a lot of room for improvements in stakeholder participation, accountability and transparency.

If only we could focus on that instead of constantly needing to defend it against those who would destroy it by turning it into a intergovernmental fiefdom.

Now whether I believe anything the US Congress does can actually achieve that goal is another matter completely.

But I would personally be happy to see every government make a pledge to keep their hands off of the management of the Internet and to become good actors as stakeholders in the governance of the Internet.

Jeremy Malcolm <jeremy at ciroap.org> wrote:

>It doesn't seem to have been mentioned here yet (or maybe only in
>passing) that there is a bill on Internet governance being debated in
>the Energy & Commerce Committee of the US House of Representatives at
>the moment.  There will doubtless be stampede of uncritical support for
>it from politicians of all sides (there is no hidden intellectual
>property "gotcha"), but unfortunately its premises are fundamentally
>flawed.
>
>http://energycommerce.house.gov/markup/markup-bill-affirm-policy-united-states-regarding-internet-governance
>
>It only has two sections: one on "Findings" and one on "Policy
>regarding Internet governance", which flows from the findings.  The
>latter simply states:
>
>"It is the policy of the United States to promote a global Internet
>free from government control and to preserve and advance the successful
>multistakeholder model that governs the Internet."
>
>So this is obviously nonsense; it is not US policy to promote a global
>Internet free from government control, only free from the control of
>other governments besides itself.  And note that US policy is only to
>"preserve and advance" not to "enhance" the multistakeholder model,
>which continues the fiction that the multistakeholder institutions that
>we have now are adequate both in their inclusiveness and in the breadth
>of Internet governance topics that they cover.
>
>Of course, you can argue for more beneficial interpretations by
>defining "control" and "multistakeholder model" expansively, but even
>so this bill is just going to entrench the standoff between the US and
>other countries, which is not going to be helpful in reaching
>compromise on the evolution of Internet governance arrangements this
>year...
>
>-- 
>Dr Jeremy Malcolm
>Senior Policy Officer
>Consumers International | the global campaigning voice for consumers
>Office for Asia-Pacific and the Middle East
>Lot 5-1 Wisma WIM, 7 Jalan Abang Haji Openg, TTDI, 60000 Kuala Lumpur,
>Malaysia
>Tel: +60 3 7726 1599
>
>WCRD 2013 – Consumer Justice Now! | Consumer Protection Map:
>https://wcrd2013.crowdmap.com/main | #wcrd2013
>
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>
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Avri Doria
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