Collaborative Governance Necessary To Maintain Internet Openness, ISOC CEO Says
Collaborative governance involving all Internet stakeholders is the best way to maintain Internet openness and move away from the current “narrative of apprehension” about the Internet, Internet Society CEO Kathryn Brown said during a Hudson Institute event Wednesday. That openness has been threatened by receding trust in the Internet amid a rising tide of data breaches like the recent Office of Personnel Management breach and the government surveillance concerns raised by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden’s leaks about controversial NSA programs, Brown said.
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“No one actor alone can solve these challenges and bring us back” to the narrative of opportunity that resulted in earlier trust in the Internet, Brown said. “There really are no silver bullets” for restoring fundamental trust in the Internet and making it appealing to people who haven’t already gained access, but it will require a combination of tech entities like the Internet Society-housed Internet Engineering Task Force, positive treatment from national governments and the cooperation of the private sector, Brown said. The IETF is working on solutions to restore confidence in the Internet, but they focus only on the technology side of the issue -- primarily on routing security, DNS security and personal security, Brown said.
The Internet Society believes Internet stakeholders should focus on five core concepts as they attempt to maintain Internet openness, including emphasizing solutions that build confidence in the Internet instead of concentrating on perceived cyber harms, Brown said. Security must also be a key factor, but stakeholders should accept that security must be a shared responsibility and that it’s going to be effective only if all stakeholders protect one another, she said. Stakeholders should also strive to ensure that cybersecurity measures still maintain Internet openness, Brown said. Solutions should be flexible and should be developed by consensus, she said. Solutions also need to be created in a way that allows stakeholders to implement them at a localized level to ensure maximum impact, Brown said. “Think globally, but act locally.”
Restoring trust in governance will also require work from Internet governance groups like ICANN, the Internet Governance Forum and the U.N., Brown said. ICANN stakeholders are working to finalize proposed plans for the upcoming Internet Assigned Numbers Authority transition, which stakeholders now believe will occur some time after July 2016 (see 1507080044). The Internet Society has representatives on ICANN’s IANA Stewardship Transition Coordination Group, which Brown said was an example of collaborative governance. The U.N. needs to open up its current review of implementation of the World Summit on the Information Society’s outcomes, Brown said. “We really need to make the case” that additional transparency in that review is needed, she said, adding that the U.N. has added time for public input.