Internet Governance

Reflections on the G7 ICT Ministers Meeting in Japan

On April 30, 2016, ICT Ministers of the "G7 group" concluded their deliberations in the beautiful city of Takamatsu, Kagawa prefecture in Japan. After months of preparatory work and two full days of discussions, the ICT Ministers of the USA, UK, France, Italy, Japan, Canada and Germany plus the European Union issued a joint declaration that: recognizes our digitally connected world; commits to mutual goals and, once again; reaffirms the multistakeholder model for the governance issues facing the deployment, development and evolution of the global Internet.

Politically Correct Rhetoric at a Technical Conference in Cuba

In a recent post, I argued that the US embargo, the poor state of the Cuban economy and fear of free information had stifled the Cuban Internet at its inception in 1996, but that twenty years later, those constraints were significantly reduced. I suggested that the Cuban Internet was being held back by mundane bureaucracy and political correctness. We got an example of that at the Latin American and Caribbean Network Information Center (LACNIC) conference in Havana this week.

Internet Politics: Developed vs Developing

It is not so convincing how the developed world looks at the rest of the hemisphere with the same attitude of equality and control. On one hand there are voices of equality where as in the other there is greed of power and control that lures them with an unending fight of power vs power in safeguarding their own survival. From the participation and development of policies to running the concept of any kind of technology platform, the sense of control and collaboration that catalyzes and leads the overall process.

ICANN vs. the Federal Reserve

The Internet is about to go independent. After years of support and supervision, the U.S. Government is about to irrevocably relinquish its control over the Internet by transferring its authority to an independent corporation named ICANN. As part of this push, the current chairman of ICANN posted this article to the Wall Street Journal... What's truly amazing about this piece, is how well it's done... It was only after digesting this piece, that I remembered we are talking about ICANN here.

Internet Governance in Transition: The ITU as a Battleground for Rival Visions

During the past few years, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has been a battleground where governments promote rival visions of how the Internet should be governed. Although there has been a recent cease-fire as Internet governance debates have focused more on the role of ICANN, those skirmishes may soon restart at the ITU... Co-authored by Ambassador Gross (chair of Wiley Rein's International & Internet Practice), Carl R. Frank, Umair Javed, and Sara M. Baxenberg (members of Wiley Rein's Telecom, Media & Technology Practice).

WSIS, Development, and Internet Governance: A Plea for ‘Star Trek’ over ‘Mad Max’

Humanity continues to find itself at a crossroads. Ahead of us lies an uncertain future filled with predictions of imminent doom and ominous prospects along with the wonders of science and technology. Behind us lies a century marked paradoxically by both devastating global conflicts and unparalleled global collaboration. As societies continue to globalize, we are increasingly becoming more connected - to the point where it is difficult, if not impossible, to divorce ourselves from the interconnectivity in contemporary systems of commerce, economics, politics, and culture.

On the Way to the G7 ICT Ministers’ Meeting in Japan

This week in Japan I have been invited to address the Multi-Stakeholder Conference that will officially open the G7 ICT Ministerial summit in Takamatsu. The focus of the ICT Ministerial will be on four distinct areas: (1) Innovation and economic growth; (2) Unrestricted flow of information, and ensuring the safety and security in cyberspace;
(3) Contributing to the resolution of global issues, including digital connectivity; (4) International understanding and international cooperation in the future.

The Importance of IPRC in Asia Pacific

I believe and strongly support Internet Principle and Right Coalition (IPRC) Charter is an important edition of document supplementing the principles and rights of individual internet users in any developing and least developed country. Especially in Asia Pacific region where the need and use of such document is immense, as there is a gap in recognition and awareness of rights of internet users.

A New Frontier for the Global South

The Fund for Internet Research and Education - FIRE - is an initiative of AFRINIC that gives Grants and Awards to outstanding projects that use the Internet to provide innovative solutions to Africa's unique education, information, infrastructure, and communication needs. FIRE Africa is part of an initiative called The Seed Alliance that has LACNIC's FRIDA Program, APNIC's ISIF.Asia program, and the Internet Society as members.

ICANN Fails Consumers (Again)

In its bid to be free of U.S. government oversight ICANN is leaning on the global multistakeholder community as proof positive that its policy-making comes from the ground up. ICANN's recent response to three U.S. senators invokes the input of "end users from all over the world" as a way of explaining how the organization is driven. Regardless of the invocation of the end user (and it must be instinct) ICANN cannot seem to help reaching back and slapping that end user across the face.