What will be the role of the regulator in the control of the internet?

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The Internet has developed into a global critical infrastructure, prompting governments across the globe to state their desire to have a say in the way it is governed. Moreover the Internet does not stop at geographic borders and national jurisdictions have proven incapable of effectively controlling its use. The global nature of the Internet implies that everyone is affected by everyone else’s behaviour online: e.g. poor security in the developing world affects eCommerce in other parts; spam, fraud, cyber-crime which can affect all users may originate from countries with weak law enforcement capabilities and insufficient legal provisions. Conflicting values thus become apparent like the application of one notion of privacy outside of the cultural context. In setting up the global governance of the Internet due attention must be given to good local governance, and must be explicit about certain issues e.g. transparency, accountability, multi-stakeholder involvement, exchange of good practice. It should accommodate the diversity of user communities and also provide some consistency, standards and rules. As the Internet and its role and use changes, its governance should be accommodating and flexible. Some of the issues that need to be taken into account to adjust to a changing Internet environment are:

  • Focus on users
  • Make clear what the value of governance is for the users
  • Recognise emergence of new commons
  • Prepare for the unknown, as we cannot foresee future developments
  • Release public sector information to add to the value of the ‘commons’

In the development of global governance structures the following principles of good governance could be applied

  • Transparency
  • Accountability
  • Targeting
  • Proportionality
  • Consistency

References Constantijn van Oranje, Joachim Krapels, Maarten Botterman, Jonathan Cave (12 february 2008). The future of the internet economy; a discussion paper on critical issues. RAND Europe.