Governments, industry and rights campaigners are engaged in a global
battle to shape the Internet as formal and informal policies emerge to
assert control over an increasingly powerful media.
The debate around who governs the Internet is gathering momentum, as a
plethora of stakeholders are getting involved to prevent the dominance
of one or more political or industrial force over the web.
At the heart of the battle is a concept known as 'net neutrality'.
Net neutrality has only recently become a choice phrase in EU policy but Internet governance hit the EU radar in 2005 when the UN began to address the issue.
The United Nations' Working Group on Internet Governance defines 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 programmes that shape the evolution and use of the Internet".
WGIG defined four key areas concerning Internet governance:
A new body, called the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), headquartered in California, took over responsibility for managing the assignment of domain names and IP addresses.
ICANN's monopoly of Internet governance was challenged by a number of governments worldwide, including Brazil, China, South Africa, the European Commission and the UK Presidency of the EU.
As a result, the US agreed to establish an Internet Governance Forum, which was convened by the United Nations Secretary General before the end of the second quarter of 2006.
European industry bodies responsible for EU country-code Top Level Domains (ccTLDs) coordinate their activities through CENTR (Council for European National Top Level Domain Registries). The management of the allocation of IP addresses in Europe is carried out by RIPE NCC.
At the heart of the battle is a concept known as 'net neutrality'.
Net neutrality has only recently become a choice phrase in EU policy but Internet governance hit the EU radar in 2005 when the UN began to address the issue.
The United Nations' Working Group on Internet Governance defines 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 programmes that shape the evolution and use of the Internet".
WGIG defined four key areas concerning Internet governance:
- Infrastructure - meaning the domain name system and IP addresses;
- Internet issues such as spam, security and cybercrime;
- Intellectual property and international trade and;
- Expansion, particularly in developing countries.
A new body, called the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), headquartered in California, took over responsibility for managing the assignment of domain names and IP addresses.
ICANN's monopoly of Internet governance was challenged by a number of governments worldwide, including Brazil, China, South Africa, the European Commission and the UK Presidency of the EU.
As a result, the US agreed to establish an Internet Governance Forum, which was convened by the United Nations Secretary General before the end of the second quarter of 2006.
European industry bodies responsible for EU country-code Top Level Domains (ccTLDs) coordinate their activities through CENTR (Council for European National Top Level Domain Registries). The management of the allocation of IP addresses in Europe is carried out by RIPE NCC.