NETmundial Initiative to Identify, Offer Advice on New Internet Governance Questions

Concerns over privacy, freedom of speech and Internet access in developing countries were cited as issues worthy of the initiative’s examination, said members at the news conference. The WEF will periodically convene sessions under the initiative, formally called the NETmundial Initiative for Internet Governance Cooperation & Development, for the next six months (http://bit.ly/1vr2VTz).

Internet Governance Forum (IGF) stakeholders could perceive the initiative as “encroaching on its agenda,” said NetChoice Executive Director Steve DelBianco in an interview. The annual IGF conference begins Tuesday in Istanbul (http://bit.ly/1vCQzsu).

The WEF has taken on the “important task of facilitating discussions for the global Internet community on how to apply the NetMundial Principles in practice,” said Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker in a statement Thursday (http://1.usa.gov/1paKLgu). The discussions should “build bridges” between the initiative and “existing governance institutions and processes,” including the IGF, “taking care to complement and bolster them through its work,” she said.

Emerging and orphaned Internet governance issues need “machinery and mechanisms” to develop solutions, said ICANN CEO Fadi Chehade. The initiative is a forum for the debate, discussion and resolution of issues that can be implemented by governments, businesses and civil society at their own volition, he said. None of the initiative’s participants is “presupposing” that such solutions need to be created within a new institution or body, said Chehade, saying ICANN has its “own process” to transition to the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority.

Internet governance hasn’t kept pace with sweeping technological changes, said Estonia President Toomas Ilves. Many governments and legislators have “no clue” about the potential dangers and problems posed by new technology, he said. The initiative is the “beginning” of what will likely be a “continuous process” to help educate world leaders and the public about emerging technological issues, he said. Ilves was quick to note that the initiative lacks “democratic legitimacy,” but said that couldn’t keep it from developing best practices on issues such as privacy and improved Internet access for developing regions. The initiative could also “highlight and showcase” the benefits afforded to countries with open Internet policies, he said.

Though the initiative is focused on increasing freedom of speech online and getting industry involved to increase Internet access, it needs to ensure its “legitimacy,” “coherence” and “clarity about objectives and means,” said Anne Jellema, World Wide Web Foundation CEO. Businesses need to improve their privacy practices and increase the availability of Internet spectrum, she said. Copyright protections need to be balanced with the needs of the “public interest” and “innovation,” Jellema said. Many of the technical issues within Internet governance already possess a “well-developed” system, such as ICANN with domains, said Richard Samans, WEF managing director. The initiative will look at problems that lack a “real clearinghouse,” and balance its action with the opinions raised by the international community, he said: This isn’t a “universal norm-setting process.”

More than 3,000 individuals have registered for the IGF, but some may feel they're not part of the “global conversation” due to the NETmundial initiative, said NetChoice’s DelBianco. Because the IGF isn’t a decision-making body, one of the challenges will be “managing expectations,” he said. DelBianco anticipated discussing ICANN’s “top-down imposition” of its accountability review at IGF (CD Aug 27 p9). “IGF has funding challenges and the new initiative could divert funding,” said Phil Corwin, founding principal of e-commerce and intellectual property law consultancy Virtualaw.