[At-Large] European Commission calls for an open, independent and accountable governance of the internet

[Rudi Vansnick]

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*European Commission calls for an open, independent and accountable 
governance of the internet*

The European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, 
today called, in a strategic document, for more transparency and 
multilateral accountability in the governance of the internet. There are 
today 1.5 billion internet users worldwide, 300 million of which are in 
the European Union's 27 Member States. At present, a private US-based 
body, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers 
<http://www.icann.org/> ( ICANN <http://www.icann.org/>), is responsible 
for coordinating key elements of the internet. The Commission agrees 
that private companies should continue to take the lead in the 
day-to-day management of the operation of the internet, as long as they 
are accountable and independent. The Commission also believes that 
decisions about the internet, especially those about openness and 
security, should be taken in a transparent and accountable manner 
because they affect everyone around the globe. ICANN currently operates 
under a Joint Project Agreement with the US Department of Commerce which 
expires on 30 September 2009. In the view of the European Commission, 
future internet governance arrangements should reflect the key role that 
the global network has come to play for all countries.

Viviane Reding, the EU's Commissioner for Information Society and Media 
said: "The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is 
approaching a historic point in its development. Will it become a fully 
independent organisation, accountable to the global internet community? 
Europeans would expect so, and this is what we will push for. I call on 
the United States to work together with the European Union to achieve this."

With the expiry of the bilateral Joint Project Agreement between ICANN 
and the US government due in September 2009, the Commission said today 
that this private sector initiative should continue its leadership, but 
should operate within clear guidelines defined through an international 
dialogue. For example, if ICANN is to oversee the introduction of 
customised domain names (which will allow a website to replace ".com" 
with ".anything"), it should set clear guidelines and operate openly. 
The EU also believes that future internet governance arrangements should 
comply with key principles, in particular, the respect for human rights 
and freedom of expression as well as the need to preserve stability and 
security of the internet.

The Commission today, in a Communication called 'Internet governance: 
the next steps', made proposals for the governance of the internet to be 
more open, transparent and inclusive. A key objective is that of 
accountability – including both internal (the decision-making bodies and 
general organisation of ICANN) and external accountability (multilateral 
accountability involving all countries of the world). This also means 
that those affected by decisions of governance bodies should have the 
possibility to lodge an appeal with an independent tribunal. The 
Commission also proposed that the network should be managed by private 
bodies within principles agreed upon by public authorities but without 
government interference in day-to-day operations.

The US government is the only body to have had formal oversight of 
ICANN's policies and activities since its inception in 1998. As the 
Joint Project Agreement is ending now, the Commission believes that 
ICANN should become universally accountable, not just to one government 
but to the global internet community. This is particularly relevant 
given that the next billion of internet users will mainly come from the 
developing world. The Commission today said that the EU should initiate 
discussions with international partners on these issues, in particular 
on how to enhance the internet's resilience against accidental failure 
or deliberate attack.

The Commission's policy proposals want to reaffirm private initiative 
and ensure that the internet remains an engine of innovation, free 
speech and economic development.

Background

The EU has always been in the forefront of international discussions on 
internet governance. In particular, the EU has been involved in the 
setting up of ICANN in 1998. A number of important principles on how the 
internet needs to be managed and coordinated in the public interest were 
agreed by governments, the private sector and civil society in the 
context of the World Summit on the Information Society 
<http://www.itu.int/wsis/>between 2003 and 2005. The need to ensure the 
continued security and stability of the internet was a key priority 
pushed for by the EU, as was the need for private sector leadership and 
to have fully inclusive multi-stakeholder involvement in key policy making.

The Commission Communication "Internet governance: the next steps" is 
available at:

http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/policy/internet_gov/index_en.htm

EU Commissioner Viviane Reding has recently outlined her vision for the 
future of internet governance in a video message (see IP/09/696 
<http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/09/696&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en>):

http://ec.europa.eu/commission_barroso/reding/video/text/message_20090504.pdf 


Today the European Commission also presented its Action Plan on another 
important evolution of the internet – the 'internet of things


Rudi Vansnick
President Internet Society Belgium vzw
Voorzitter TIK vzw
Board member EURALO (ALAC - ICANN)

Tel: +32 (0)70 77 39 39
GSM: +32 (0)475 28 16 32
www.isoc.be <http://www.isoc.be> - www.vansnick.eu <http://www.vansnick.eu>