[Ecommerce] EU-US spat on Internet Governance

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

Here's some news about another treaty negotiation (so many treaties, so
little time!) in Geneva with unresolved issues. The World Summit on the
Information Society (a UN initiative on a treaty on the Information
Society) concluded its "PREPCOM-3" (Sept ) which was supposed to be the
last prepatory meeting before the Second Phase in Tunis (Ministerial
level meeting) from November 16-18, 2005. The objective of WSIS,
according to the first phase of talks held in Geneva in 2003 is to,

"develop and foster a clear statement of political will and take
concrete steps to establish the foundations for an Information Society
for all, reflecting all the different interests at stake". [Geneva phase]

On the road to Tunis, "[e]fforts are now being made to ..... reach
agreements in the fields of Internet governance and financing mechanisms".

(Source: *http://www.itu.int/wsis/basic/about.html)



*One of the most contested issues at stake in the PREPCOM-3 disussions
was internet governance. This issue has NOT been resolved and will
require more discussion at a pre-meeting held in Tunis before second phase.

I have attached the EU proposal made by the UK on behalf of the European
Union entitled, 'Proposal for addition to Chair=92s paper Sub- Com A
internet Governance on Paragraph 5 =93Follow-up and Possible
Arrangements=94' below; here is the link to the url,
http://www.itu.int/wsis/docs2/pc3/contributions/sca/EU-28.doc which they
submitted on September 28, 2005.

Before PrepCom 3, within the EC, there seemed to be some internal
dissonance with the EU, with the UK and newer accession states on one
side and continental Europe on the other side who are more keen on a
dirigiste model for the governance of the internet.

William Drake, member of the WSIS Working Group on Internet Governance
and the President of Computer Professionls for Social Responsibility,
notes that the EU's idea of a " new public-private co-operation model"
was floating around for awhile (the EU submitted something general on
Aug 1, 2005-see below).

However, the Aug 1, 2005 submission did not provide much detail about
making internet governance more "multilateral" except stating that,

"The new model should be based on the following principles:

=95 it should not replace existing mechanisms or institutions, but should
build on the existing structures of Internet Governance, with a special
emphasis on the complementarity between all the actors involved in this
process, including governments, the private sector, civil society and
international organisations;

=95 the new public-private co-operation model should contribute to the
sustainable stability and robustness of the Internet by addressing
appropriately public policy issues related to key elements of Internet
Governance."

It looks as if the EU did not want to show their cards on Internet
Governance till the PrepCom 3 and thus did not provide much detail till
Sept, 28, 2005.

The bombshell came on Wednesday, 28 September when the EU submitted the
following language (attached below). The money paragraph is snipped
below. As some observers , pointed out the language produced below is
pretty much identical to ICANN's mission. Thus, even though the EU
proposal in August stated that existing structures would not be
replaced, the current language proposed by the EU reveals their true
intent.

In terms of outcome, there was NO resolution of this outstanding issue.
The Member States hope to resolve this in a pre-meeting in Tunis. With
respect to other issues, they will be discussed in a "quasi-PrepCom" in
Geneva this month as it is felt that the Geneva delegates are competent
to handle these issues.


Thiru Balasubramaniam

----------------EU/UK proposal extract----------------------

<SNIP>

64. Essential tasks
The new cooperation model should include the development and application
of globally applicable public policy principles and provide an
international government involvement at the level of principles over the
following naming, numbering and addressing-related matters:
a. Provision for a global allocation system of IP number blocks, which
is equitable and efficient;
b. Procedures for changing the root zone file, specifically for the
insertion of new top level domains in the root system and changes of
ccTLD managers;
c. Establishment of contingency plans to ensure the continuity of
crucial DNS functions;
d. Establishment of an arbitration and dispute resolution mechanism
based on international law in case of disputes;
e. Rules applicable to DNS system.





---------------EU/UK proposal in full------------------------


EU/UK PROPOSAL


Proposal for addition to Chair=92s paper Sub-Com A internet Governance on
Paragraph 5 =93Follow-up and Possible Arrangements=94


62. In reviewing the adequacy of existing institutional arrangements for
Internet Governance and policy debate we agree that adjustments need to
be made and we propose accordingly:

63. Principles
The new model for international cooperation stated in paragraph [49]
should adhere, besides the Geneva principles, to the following guiding
principles:
- it should not replace existing mechanisms or institutions, but should
build on the existing structures of Internet Governance, with a special
emphasis on the complementarity between all the actors involved in this
process, including governments, the private sector, civil society and
international organisations each of them in its field of competence;
- this new public-private co-operation model should contribute to the
sustainable stability and robustness of the Internet by addressing
appropriately public policy issues related to key elements of Internet
Governance;
- the role of governments in the new cooperation model should be mainly
focused on principle issues of public policy, excluding any involvement
in the day-to-day operations;
- the importance of respecting the architectural principles of the
Internet, including the interoperability, openness and the end-to-end
principle.

64. Essential tasks
The new cooperation model should include the development and application
of globally applicable public policy principles and provide an
international government involvement at the level of principles over the
following naming, numbering and addressing-related matters:
a. Provision for a global allocation system of IP number blocks, which
is equitable and efficient;
b. Procedures for changing the root zone file, specifically for the
insertion of new top level domains in the root system and changes of
ccTLD managers;
c. Establishment of contingency plans to ensure the continuity of
crucial DNS functions;
d. Establishment of an arbitration and dispute resolution mechanism
based on international law in case of disputes;
e. Rules applicable to DNS system.


65. Forum function
In order to strengthen the global multi-stakeholder cooperation within
Internet Governance, we decide to create a Forum. The task of this Forum
is to address multidimensional and interrelated public policy issues,
through the exchange and sharing of information and good practices. It
shall work on the basis of a clear mandate for a predefined period. It
should work with existing institutions or organisations and not try to
dominate issues already dealt with elsewhere. It should not perform
oversight tasks.

66. Transition to this new model of international cooperation
In order to implement par. 62 to 65, two separate processes will be
launched, firstly
- Creation of the new Forum; and secondly
- Transition to this new model of international cooperation.