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

[Ian Peter]

sorry, my loose language.

However I would be very surprised if the US government (or most governments in fact) were to determine they dont have a controlling role in areas such as competition policy, law enforcement etc

From: Avri Doria 
Sent: Saturday, April 13, 2013 1:43 PM
To: governance at lists.igcaucus.org 
Subject: Re: [governance] US House Bill to Affirm the Policy of the United States Regarding Internet Governance

Hi.

The issue its _not_ one of no government involvement. They are stakeholder that play a role. 

It is one of no government control.


Avri Doria <avri at acm.org> wrote: 
  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
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  Avri Doria

Avri Doria 


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