Internet Governance

Description:

Internet governance is the development and application by Governments, the private sector and civil society, in their respective roles, of shared principles, norms, rules, decision-making procedures, and programmes that shape the evolution and use of the Internet.

Enablers:

-The stability and security of the Internet is a key public policy issue
-Concerns for equity in the internet
-management of internet critical resources
- The Internet is changing the way in which other businesses like telecommunication, retailing, music and video distribution, publishing and so on operate. Some of these are subject to policy regimes and regulatory supervision whose impact is greatly modified by the new possibilities that the Internet provides
- International IPR treaties and national laws, bilateral agreements

Inhibitors:

-Increase Internet access costs countries with lower average income and more precarious telecommunication services
-English is is still the primary language in web content, and is overwhelmingly dominant in Internet documentation, technical terminology and governance mechanisms. This fact constitutes an additional burden for non-English speaking users, stakeholders and policy-makers. -Individual civil rights
-Child safety online and the safeguarding of minors on the Internet
-intellectual property rights

Paradigms:

Experience tells us that left to itself, the Internet will not provide solutions to these public policy issues. To the contrary, addressing them effectively depends on a careful balance between global and local actions that cannot be achieved by accident. While governments alone are not capable of implementing efficient Internet public policies within their jurisdictions, and should count on the active participation of all stakeholders to do so, their implementation requires a deep knowledge of local and national possibilities and needs, an extreme sensitivity for local culture and values.

Web Resources:

http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/policy/internet_gov/index_en.htm
WGIG (2005), p.4. Available at: http://www.wgig.org/docs/WGIGREPORT.pdf