Internet Governance
Early stages of negotiation and determine Internet future
management
Omar AL-Hayani :Scientific journalist-yemen
Scandals
of National Security Agency surveillance on Internet Network represented a
changeable stage that had provoked widespread criticism towards the United
States' action from several countries and relevant partners, including the
United Nations which called on global Internet community to engage in
furthering the process to ensure a single, open, free, secure and trustworthy
Internet.
To
mitigate this criticism, Washington announced in March 2014 its willing to
relinquish its oversight role of the Internet in the next year.
The
US government expressed its readiness to give up its oversight role on
expansion of the Internet's domain-name through, the Internet Corporation for
Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), suggesting to give this function to an
international entity.
The
U.S. Commerce Department said in a statement that it will call on all
concerning parties around the world to think of ways that allows the U.S.
government to relinquish its central role in managing the Internet Network
through the ICANN.
As
the U.S. announced its readiness to give up this role, disputes over the body
that would control this function in the future.
Some
countries like China, Russia, Turkey and others are trying to win function of
the Internet management whether at regional or international levels despite
their bad records in censoring the Internet and information in their own
nations.
Actually if one of those countries taking over control
of the web that would be dangerous in enhancing the value of freedom, opinion,
and speech.
Many
of those countries are not looking for a freely and open Internet; however,
they seek forward imposing more control over the Internet practices, which they
are inconsistent with simple standards of human rights in freedom of opinion
and expression.
In
response to this step, American legislators to draft a proposal that hampers
the process of the U.S. withdrawal from its central role in the Internet
oversight.
According
to France Press Agency, which reported that John Shimkus, who said that during
March we have seen that Russia blocked websites of opposition, Turkey banned
Twitter, and China imposed new restrictions on video exchange via Internet as
well as a high-level Malaysian politician promised to exercise censorship on
the Internet if the opportunity arises to do so.
He
added "There are real dictatorial governments in the world today who have
no tolerance for the free flow of information and ideas.''
The
Core Problem of Internet Management
The
current disputes around the world over the Internet management and the U.S
central role in overseeing the Internet Network as a result of a scandal of
American spying on the Internet.
However,
this dispute returned back to more than 16 years when several countries and
institutions along with the United Nations continued requiring the U.S. to
relinquish its full control on the Internet management through ICANN which
considered the only entity responsible in distributing domain names and The Internet domains.
Although
the United States is the origin of the Internet; however, this does not give it
the right to be the individual control to manage the network as it has become a
global network.
The
U.S. is controlling the Internet through what they known (Root Servers) during
which all Internet users which pass through to reach any location around the
world.
Actually
there are 13 root servers around the world, ten servers were originally in the
United States; and they are operating via governmental agencies and scientific
entities, while three others are in other places around the world.
The
Root Services are the core of international controversy in the U.S. control
represented by the U.S. Commerce Department via ICANN organization for
assigning of Internet numbers on the global Internet Network.
And
that means, the ability of the U.S. in making some changes unilaterally on the
domain-names, in addition to its high-level technological ability in spying on everything
through the Internet Network. And it is what causing the concern of many
governments which considering the Internet the lifeblood of the twenty-first
century, particularly as it has a special nature concerning the security and
national sovereignty.
Stages
of Negotiations
Several
changes have been occurred on the Internet Network since it was launched as a
private network for the U.S. Defense Department until being developed to a
global entity with huge information and data.. during this stage, complications
and development have been appeared in technological concepts, topped by the
concept of Internet Governance of Internet Management as the most important
features of the key digital world.
The
Internet Governance needs to global cooperation efforts to find an
international entity to take control of all enormous amount of data and
technology which did not meet any development in the global network management.
The
nature of the internet governance concentrates on a number of arranges
concerning the Internet Network as follows;
system
for assigning website addresses to a non-government entity, the final phase in
an effort to fully privatize and globalize management of the Internet’s
backbone.
In
a statement, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John D. Rockefeller IV
(D-W.Va.) called the move “consistent with other efforts the U.S. and our
allies are making to promote a free and open Internet, and to preserve and
advance the current multi-stakeholder model of global Internet governance.”
But
former House speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) tweeted: “What is the global
internet community that Obama wants to turn the internet over to? This risks
foreign dictatorships defining the internet.”
System
of assigning numeric domain and users on the web.
System
of assigning names of the URLs on the web, IP addresses,
System
of communication protocols on the web, Protocol-Parameter registries,
System
of root services, top-level domain space (DNS root zone)
Managing,
operating, developing, and maintaining those four elements is the internet
management or the Internet governance.
World
Summit on Information Society
During
the two summits of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva
2003 and in Tunis 2005, the issue of transition the internet management to
global entity was raised especially with the refusal of the U.S. to relinquish
its control on the internet affairs despite the threat of some countries to
create special entities to operate and control the internet which it will
affect on the global network and will decrease its efficiency.
Also
in Athens on October 30, 2006, during the opening ceremony of the First Meeting
of the Internet Governance Forum, which considered the first to discuss the
issue of Internet management. That meeting led to the meeting of Brazil in
2007.
Approving
the concept of Internet Governance faced
a wide debate during the Global Forum on Internet Governance, held at the
United Nations in New York on 24-25 March 2004.
Several
speakers told various versions of the story which reflects the visions of
various interests of governments and private sector.
The
moral of the concept makes it clear that a discussion of the meaning of
"Internet Governance" is not merely linguistic pedantry. Different
perceptions of the meaning of this term trigger different policy approaches and
expectations.
Telecommunication
specialists see Internet Governance through the prism of the development of the
technical infrastructure. Computer specialists focus on the development of
various standards and applications, Human rights activists view Internet
Governance from the perspective of the freedom of expression, privacy, and
other basic human rights.
The
governmental side thinks that the Internet Governance concept reflects the
control of government on everything related to the special issues of internet
governance at the government level with a limited participation of the other
parties.
With
those arguments which coincided with the first stages of negotiations
concerning the internet management, the Working Group on Internet Governance,
(WGIG), gathered all relevant parties to discuss this issues, which resulted in
texting a practical definition on the concept of the Internet Governance.
The
Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) defined Internet governance as: The
development and application by Governments, the private sector and civil
society, in their respective roles, of shared principles, norms, rules, decision-making procedures, and
programs that shape the evolution and use of the Internet.
According
to Jovan Kurbalija and Edward Gelbstein the definition represents a starting
point for the ongoing debate about which is more clear than the two definitions
to in Internet governance or Internet management.
The
Internet Governance links to a number of dimensions, such as infrastructure
dimension, legal dimension, economic dimension, development dimension,
socio-cultural dimension.
The
concept of governance and Internet management face a number of complicated
issues, internet parties in Internet governance from public and private sectors
play a significant role in determining all those dimensions.
As
well as each part of interests' parties in the Internet governance has
professional, developed, and unique cultures along with sharing participation
and various interests.
However,
they are working separately from others in addition to multiple languages which
reflected the nature of global problems.
According
to statistics, the amount of Internet users are only two billion and half speak
a number of various languages.
Still
five billion are not able to get access to the internet and impossible for them
to have this important tool to achieve the economic growth and the social
development.
Although
several users of the Internet cannot read or write in English, and those users
are using other languages, which didn't use the English alphabets.
While
it was generally applauded that by now almost one billion people use the
Internet, it was also pointed out that many of these people could not read or
write in English, and that these people also used languages that do not use the
Latin alphabet
In
the Internet governance session at a meeting held in Abuja, Nigeria, in May
2007, it was generally recognized that people everywhere should be able to use
the Internet in their own language. A multilingual Internet would foster an
inclusive, democratic, legitimate, respectful, and locally empowering
Information Society.
The
Internet Governance cannot tolerate the viewpoint of a single one-way of
thinking, which are not flexible enough, but require tools to find new
knowledge to enable them to decipher clues of complexity and set visions and
guiding principles in common.
Integration
of technical aspects of Internet governance in the political aspects remains
complicated issues. Technical solutions are not neutral. Ultimately, each
technical solution/option promotes certain interests, empowers certain groups,
as Jovan Kurbalija and Edward Gelbstein said in their book on Internet
Governance.
As
a result of disintegration between technical aspects and political aspects
international organizations and states appeared demanding reform of the
Internet system, which ended in 1998 with the establishment of a new
organization, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
as an attempt to restore the lost balance between the two sides.
The
concept of the Internet Governance raised wide debates on the importance of
developing several sides related to technical matters, including the exchange
of communications and the distribution of numbers of Internet protocols and
intellectual property protection and the encouraging the electronic commerce.
The
Global Internet Summit held in April 25, 2014 held in Sao Pauloin of Brazil
condemned the international spying on the Network.
The
summit considered spying personal data an action should be subject to the law,
this came in the summit's final statement which said that the "Mass
surveillance and The "mass surveillance and arbitrary undermine trust the
Internet and the collection and exploitation of personal data by government
agencies or non-governmental organizations should be subject to international
law and human rights."
The
Global Internet Summit held in April 25, 2014 held in Sao Paulo of Brazil
condemned the international spying on the Network.
The
summit considered spying personal data an action should be subject to the law,
this came in the summit's final statement which said that the "Mass
surveillance and The "mass surveillance and arbitrary undermine trust the
Internet and the collection and exploitation of personal data by government
agencies or non-governmental organizations should be subject to international
law and human rights."
Protecting
privacy and Freedom of expression and the right of getting access to Internet
and using the Internet Network are crucial rights which the non-governmental
organizations seek to be approved during the final negotiation on the Internet
Management.
Those
urgent needs require participation of all internet users from Arab countries in
the international debates on how to text the Internet policies.
Scientific
journalist
Omer_alhyani@hotmail.com
