Freedom of speech to bridge the digital divide
EU representatives will make a plea for freedom of speech as the instrument most likely to bridge the digital divide during the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Tunis. The question of how the worldwide web is run, and how it can best safeguard basic freedoms and drive economic growth around the globe, will dominate the second WSIS, which runs from 16 to 18 November. The discussions, which will feature more than 50 Heads of State and Government or their representatives and many non-governmental organisations and civil society representatives, will also focus on financial mechanisms to bridge the digital divide. 'I hope that Tunis will mark an important step forward in the Internet's long evolution away from government control and towards truly international governance,' said Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media, who is leading the Commission's delegation in Tunis. 'We are almost there. We already have consensus on more than two thirds of the package and I call on all participants to make sure that this agreement is not called into question,' she added. 'A policy agreement in Tunis is within our grasp and it would be an important signal that democratic nations are genuinely committed to bridging the worrying divide between the world's digital 'haves' and 'have nots', and to building a genuinely open and inclusive global information society.' The debate surrounding Internet governance turns on the question of who manages a key part of its infrastructure - the domain name system (DNS), i.e. the rules that computers and networks use to find each other. These rules are currently managed by the California-based not-for-profit Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), under a memorandum of understanding with the US Commerce Department. This arrangement gives the US government the sole right to decide when a new top level domain (TLD) can be introduced into cyberspace, whether it be a new country code (.uk, .fr, etc) or a new 'generic' TLD, such as .com or .eu. The fact that the internet has become a strategically vital part of most countries' communications infrastructure, and one that directly affects economic growth and social development, is prompting many to question whether one government alone should supervise such an important part of the infrastructure. Many countries see the Internet as a global resource, and some even argue that all nations should have a role in setting policies through a multilateral institution. Internet Governance has therefore become a key issue for the WSIS. The 25 nations of the European Union will speak in Tunis with one voice, expressed by the UK Presidency and supported by the European Commission. The EU view advocates a free, stable, democratic Internet that is open to the world. Believing that ICANN is doing a very good job at present, the Commission doesn't want to change this successful example of management in private hands. Moreover, the EU doesn't think that governments should have a say in the day-to-day management of the net. To involve governments could lead to unnecessarily complex structures and may even endanger the Internet's stability. The EU therefore supports an approach to Internet governance that goes even further in removing government control from ICANN. Such an approach would complete the privatisation of the day-to-day management of the net by phasing out the oversight functions of the US Department of Commerce over ICANN. The EU also believes that on important policy issues concerning the functioning of the Internet - such as spam, cyber crime and, most importantly, ensuring access by all citizens to the freedoms offered by the Web - a new 'cooperation model' is needed: a light and transparent mechanism for deliberations between governments. The Commission has welcomed the fact that the US has expressed its interest in forging closer cooperation with other governments to address public policy and sovereignty issues concerning the country code top-level domains. The EU does not see a need to establish new structures for such deliberations, and instead proposes building on existing structures, in particular ICANN. With regard to implementing the new model of cooperation proposed by the EU, Commissioner Reding concluded: 'If governments around the world are genuinely committed to a free, stable, and open Internet, the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) of ICANN could be a suitable body to help put elements of the new cooperation model proposed by us Europeans into practice.'