EU calls for greater say in running the Internet

Viviane Reding, Commissioner for Information Society and Media, has made a call for greater transparency and accountability in running the Internet when the current system comes to an end in September, as the Commision hosted a first public hearing to give users a chance to state their views.

Decisions about internet governance, such as top level domains and managing the Internet’s core directory, are currently made by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a private not-for profit corporation based in California. To date ICANN has been operating under an agreement with the US Department of Commerce, but this agreement expires on 30 September this year.

Reding outlined her proposal for a new governance model, including a fully private and accountable ICANN, accompanied by an independent judicial body, and what she termed a “G12 for Internet Governance”, a forum for governments to discuss internet governance policy and security issues.

“I trust that President Obama will have the courage, the wisdom and the respect for the global nature of the internet to pave the way in September for a new, more accountable, more transparent, more democratic and more multilateral form of Internet Governance,” Reding says in an internet video message.

“Accountability of ICANN is a must,” she added. The Clinton administration took a decision to progressively privatise the internet’s domain name and addressing system and Reding said this must be followed through. “In the long run, it is not defendable that the government department of only one country has oversight of an Internet function which is used by hundreds of millions of people in countries all over the world.”

Among the elements Reding would like to see in the new Internet governance system are a fully privatised and independent ICANN and a G12 for Internet Governance – a group of government representatives that would meet at least twice a year and could make recommendations to ICANN. This group would provide reaction in case of threats to the stability, security and openness of the internet. The body would include two representatives from each of North America, South America, Europe and Africa, three representatives from Asia and Australia, as well as the Chairman of ICANN as a non-voting member.