[WSIS CS-Plenary] Some thoughts on Internet Governance for Tunisia Prepcom

[Ronald Koven]

Dear All --

In response to Milton Mueller's thoughtful comments on Internet governance,
here are position statements by the Coordinating Committee of Press Freedom
Organizations and by UNESCO that should be taken into serious consideration
in elaborating any civil society positions.

Best, 

Rony Koven
World press Freedom Committee


COMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS
INTER AMERICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BROADCASTING
INTERNATIONAL PRESS INSTITUTE
WORLD ASSOCIATION OF NEWSPAPERS
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM COMMITTEE

INTERNET GOVERNANCE: DEFEND FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

The members of the Coordinating Committee of Press Freedom Organizations,
meeting in Belgrade for World Press Freedom Day, 3 May 2004, issued the
following statement on Internet Governance:

It is becoming increasingly clear that so-called "governance," management
and administration of the Internet will be the central issue in
preparations for the second World Summit on the Information Society. UN
Secretary General Kofi Annan was mandated to direct a study incorporating
the views of diverse interests to be produced in time for WSIS II,
scheduled for Tunis, Tunisia, in November 2005. 

Civil society caucuses are already exchanging message traffic on how to
determine their positions. Many of those groups have histories of favoring
content controls.  Any proposals that threaten press freedom on the
Internet, whatever the source, should be rejected.

It was clear at WSIS I that there was a general feeling among
member-states, including US allies in the European Union, that "Internet
governance" should not be the exclusive preserve of ICANN, the Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, a California-based company
under contract to the US Commerce Dept. ICANN has allocated Internet domain
names on a neutral, technical basis. It has included industry, NGOs and
international representation in its governing board and committees.

Governments which want to turn responsibility over to an international
body, presumably in the UN system, want to go beyond technical matters to
deal with content questions, like pornography, pedophilia, fraud, hate
speech, etc., in a way that ICANN has refrained from doing. The Council of
Europe's Cybercrime Convention points the way governments seem to be
headed. The United States signed that Convention, but it has a separate
protocol on "hate speech" that was designed to give the United States the
option not to sign onto an element that would clearly violate the US
Constitution's First Amendment.

Under the US-accepted compromise of a two-year UN study to submit
recommendations to WSIS II, a process has begun that will probably produce
a UN proposal for modifications of the Internet governance system. A role
for ICANN should be preserved as part of any new system that may emerge
under UN auspices. Supporters of a free and open Internet should be able,
with the backing of allies like the UN Department of Information and
Communications and the UNESCO Secretariat, to resist any changes that
threaten the free flow of information and ideas on the Internet.

"Governance" must not be allowed to become a code word for government
regulation of Internet content. The intergovernmental debates over two
years of preparations for WSIS I amply demonstrated that authoritarian
governments, which already censor their own Internet traffic, seek content
controls internationally and/or legitimization of such controls nationally.
The system must not be reorganized to permit this on an international level
or encourage it at the national level.

In fact, the Internet's growth, popularity and integrity are based on its
content not being regulated by governments or international organizations.
Bearing in mind that the Declaration adopted December 12, 2003, at the
World Summit in Geneva provided that "freedom of the press and freedom of
information are essential to the Information Society," the following
principles should guide any changes in the Internet governance system: 

1. There should be no controls over content, nor modifications of the
Internet's technical "architecture" that facilitate or permit censorship of
news or editorial opinion. Nor should "self-regulation" be allowed to
become a surrogate for governmental regulation of content on the Internet.

2. The system should explicitly commit itself to respect and to implement
Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and to the
fundamental principle of press freedom. National or international security
concerns must not be allowed to limit freedom of expression, including news
and editorial comment, in cyberspace.

3. Considerations of "ethics" should not be allowed to become a veiled
approach to introducing or allowing censorship. 

4. There are many forms of communication over the Internet, and it is
important not to confuse them. News, for example, is different from such
things as pornography, pedophilia, fraud, conspiracy for terrorism,
incitement to violence, hate speech, etc., although there may be
newsstories about such problems. Such matters are normally covered in
existing national general legislation and should, if appropriate and
necessary, be prosecuted on the national level in the country of origin.

5. Any legal actions that may arise should be adjudicated in the
jurisdiction where a disputed message first originated, or in a single
jurisdiction agreed upon by the parties to any given dispute. 

The Internet is a major opportunity to improve exchanges of information and
ideas throughout the world. Nothing should be allowed to restrict this
powerful new medium for better communications among people.

#


RE: UNESCO I'net gov. position

UNESCO and Internet Governance - Position Statement - Page  of 


Prepared by CI/INF 


Visa            DIR/CI/INF      :       __________________
                ADG/CI  :       __________________
                ADG/ODG :       __________________
        

Internet Governance

UNESCO Position Statement Prepared for the UN ICT Task Force Global Forum
on Internet Governance, 25-26 March 2004, New York


A)      Background      
B)      The meaning of "Internet Governance"    
C)      Issues at stake 
D)      UNESCO's mandate and principles and their link to Internet
Governance      
E)      UNESCO's role in the debate over Internet Governance    

Preamble
The Internet is a major opportunity to improve free flow of information and
ideas throughout the world.  Internet governance mechanisms should be based
on the principle of "openness", encompassing interoperability, freedom of
expression in Knowledge Societies and  measures to resist any attempt to
censor content. There should be no changes in Internet governance
mechanisms that impede  the free flow of information and ideas on the
Internet. The effect of these mechanisms should be to enable greater use of
the Internet by citizens with diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds.

A)      Background
1.      At the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva in
December 2003, Governments requested the UN Secretary-General to set up a
Working Group on Internet Governance, to investigate and make proposals for
action, as appropriate, on the governance of the Internet by 2005. The
request for the creation of this working group resulted from the
controversial discussion on Internet Governance during the WSIS preparatory
phase, where a number of developing countries called for a stronger role
for intergovernmental structures in this field, whereas others advocated
the appropriateness of the strong influence of the private sector.

3.      The history of the development of the Internet, which was
self-governing for approximately 30 years, is highly relevant to the future
debate. The result of the minimalist government intervention was an
inherently private sector run infrastructure based on consensus. UNESCO
appreciates that this is one of the key success factors of the Internet.
The other prominent success factor is the openness of the medium with its
function of enabling the free flow of information that makes it an
inherently democratic and empowering force.
A)      The meaning of "Internet Governance"
1.      UNESCO observes that the term "Internet Governance" has not yet
been clearly defined. For some, it describes the narrow issue of the
management of domain names and infrastructure that are presently
administered by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
(ICANN), a private non-profit corporation under Californian Law. The
prevailing tendency in the current debate, however, is to attribute to this
term a much broader meaning comprising not only technical, but also
ethical, societal and legal issues. Moreover, the term "Internet
Governance" is misleading as it is laden with presumptions about governing
approaches which for some may imply governmental involvement.

5.      UNESCO supports the use of language in this debate that seeks to
clarify, not entrench presumptions, advocating that discussants should
qualify their positions by identifying what form of Internet Governance
they are debating. In analyzing the range of "Internet Governance" issues,
UNESCO considers it appropriate to break these down into categories or
subsets and find the appropriate language to qualify them. 

6.      UNESCO advocates a precise and robust analysis of the perceived
problems with the current mechanisms for Internet Governance before moving
to "solutions". Any measures to address these problems must examine the
different types of Internet Governance.
A)      Issues at stake
1.      UNESCO observes that during the recent debate the range of issues
has broadened significantly beyond technical matters to include societal,
ethical and legal aspects. Many of the issues raised in this debate are
considered by UNESCO to be of crucial importance to the future use of the
Internet, particularly those impacting on the free flow of information,
freedom of expression and recognition of cultural diversity (including
multilingualism), on the Internet.

8.      UNESCO considers it essential in the current debate to address the
perceptions of developing countries, whose concerns must be reflected in
any revised structure.

9.      For UNESCO, an important issue is the interdependency between the
smooth functioning, and openness, of the Internet, and economic stability.
There is also the need to ensure that any Internet governance mechanism is
technically and administratively competent to manage across all spheres.
UNESCO regards as essential appropriate checks and balances to safeguard
this principle and to ensure that management is not only technically
competent, but transparent and non-partisan. 

10.     UNESCO emphasizes the fundamental importance of safeguarding the
openness of the Internet as its historical characteristic and strength.
This is increasingly referred to as an essential element of the
functionality, infrastructure and impact of the Internet. Central to this
principle is the need to resist "capture" or control that takes advantage
of the Internet management mechanisms or structures or that results from
excessive government or commercial intervention.
A)      UNESCO's mandate and principles and their link to Internet
Governance
1.      Historically, and at the Geneva Summit, the term "Internet
Governance" was interpreted very narrowly, referring predominantly to
issues of domain name management. Since then, many of the discussions over
Internet Governance have broadened beyond technical and administrative
issues that fall into UNESCO's fields of competence. 

12.     Key elements of UNESCO's Constitution, such as its mandate to
promote "the free flow of ideas by word and image" and to "maintain,
increase and spread knowledge" are linked to this broader policy debate on
Internet Governance. This debate is also linked to the principles integral
to UNESCO's concept of "Knowledge Societies" (freedom of expression,
universal access to information, cultural and linguistic diversity and
equal access to education) that were echoed in the "Recommendation
concerning the Promotion and Use of Multilingualism and Universal Access to
Cyberspace", adopted in October 2003 by UNESCO's Member States.

A)      UNESCO's role in the debate over Internet Governance
1.      UNESCO intends to play a threefold role in the debate:
a)      UNESCO will contribute to the debate on issues within its fields of
competence, particularly the broader "cyberspace" policy issues (legal,
societal and ethical), insisting on robust analysis, advocating precise
language and a depoliticized debate.
c)      With its record of successfully promoting collaboration among
nations and civil society, UNESCO is ready to participate in discussions
(such as via the Working Group on Internet Governance) and to assist those
tasked with the review of Internet Governance to develop solutions that fit
the diagnosis and are long-lasting in that they reflect a wider consensus
on the issues.
d)      UNESCO will continue to safeguard key values like freedom of
expression, cultural diversity and openness. It will advocate that existing
mechanisms such as ICANN, or any modification of these mechanisms, must
reflect the following principles:
·       The inherent openness of the Internet infrastructure must be
preserved and should be conducive to the free flow of ideas and knowledge
through word and image;
·       Modifications must not result in the global Internet Governance
system becoming subjected to governmental control, nor should they
facilitate or permit censorship;
·       There must be a precise correlation between new mechanisms and the
problems they seek to address; 
·       Technical innovation must continue to be encouraged; 
·       Modifications to ICANN or new mechanisms should not inhibit
interoperability, cause  instability, nor should they slow down the
continued technical development of the Internet; and
·       Any global Internet management system or mechanism must be
technically competent, transparent and non-partisan.
Whichever mechanism manages the current responsibilities of ICANN, the
result should be one that enables greater use of the Internet, and thereby
greater participation in the modern information world, by an increasing
number of citizens from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. #