[IRP] Fwd: [IP] USG rescinds 'leave internet alone' policy

[Olivier MJ Crepin-Leblond]

Max,

you've asked for anything of interest to be forwarded to the IRP list.
What I'm forwarding below has already been forwarded by someone else on
the Governance list, but I thought that since this is a significant
article, it was worthy of being sent out here as well.
Having met Kieren many times when he was working at ICANN, I trust his
judgement.

Warm regards,

Olivier

-- 
Olivier MJ Cr?pin-Leblond, PhD
http://www.gih.com/ocl.html



-------- Message original --------
Sujet: 	[IP] USG rescinds 'leave internet alone' policy
Date : 	Sat, 27 Feb 2010 15:06:07 -0500
De : 	Dave Farber <dave at farber.net>
R?pondre ? : 	dave at farber.net
Pour : 	ip <ip at v2.listbox.com>







Begin forwarded message:

> *From:* Richard Forno <rforno at infowarrior.org
> <mailto:rforno at infowarrior.org>>
> *Date:* February 26, 2010 9:06:56 PM EST
> *To:* Undisclosed-recipients: <>;
> *Cc:* Dave Farber <dave at farber.net <mailto:dave at farber.net>>
> *Subject:* *USG rescinds 'leave internet alone' policy*
>
> Original URL:
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/02/27/internet_3_dot_0_policy/
>
> US government rescinds 'leave internet alone' policy
>
> By Kieren McCarthy
>
> Posted in Networks, 27th February 2010 00:06 GMT
>
> The US government?s policy of leaving the Internet alone is over,
> according to Obama?s top official at the Department of Commerce.
>
> Instead, an ?Internet Policy 3.0? approach will see policy discussions
> between government agencies, foreign governments, and key Internet
> constituencies, according to Assistant Secretary Larry Strickling,
> with those discussions covering issues such as privacy, child
> protection, cybersecurity, copyright protection, and Internet governance.
>
> The outcomes of such discussions will be ?flexible? but may result in
> recommendations for legislation or regulation, Strickling said in a
> speech at the Media Institute in Washington this week.
>
> The new approach
> (http://www.ntia.doc.gov/presentations/2010/MediaInstitute_02242010.html)
> is a far cry from a US government that consciously decided not to
> intrude into the internet?s functioning and growth and in so doing
> allowed an academic network to turn into a global communications
> phenomenon.
>
> Strickling referred to these roots arguing that it was ?the right
> policy for the United States in the early stages of the Internet, and
> the right message to send to the rest of the world.? But, he
> continued, ?that was then and this is now. As we at NTIA approach a
> wide range of Internet policy issues, we take the view that we are now
> in the third generation of Internet policy making.?
>
> Outlining three decades of internet evolution - from transition to
> commercialization, from the garage to Main Street, and now, starting
> in 2010, the ?Policy 3.0? approach - Strickling argued that with the
> internet is now a social network as well a business network. ?We must
> take rules more seriously.?
>
> He cited a number of examples where this new approach was needed: end
> users worried about credit card transactions, content providers who
> want to prevent their copyright, companies concerned about hacking,
> network neutrality, and foreign governments worried about Internet
> governance systems.
>
> The decision to effectively end the policy that made the internet what
> it is today is part of a wider global trend of governments looking to
> impose rules on use of the network by its citizens.
>
> In the UK, the Digital Economy Bill currently making its way through
> Parliament has been the subject of significant controversy for
> advocating strict rules on copyright infringement and threatening to
> ban people from the internet if they are found to do so. The bill
> includes a wide variety of other measures, including giving regulator
> Ofcom a wider remit, forcing ISPs to monitor their customers?
> behavior, and allowing the government to take over the dot-uk registry.
>
> In New Zealand, a similar measure to the UK?s cut-off provision has
> been proposed by revising the Copyright Act to allow a tribunal to
> fine those found guilty of infringing copyright online as well as
> suspend their Internet accounts for up to six months. And in Italy
> this week, three Google executives were sentenced to jail for allowing
> a video that was subsequently pulled down to be posted onto its
> YouTube video site.
>
> Internationally, the Internet Governance Forum ? set up by under a
> United Nations banner to deal with global governance issues ? is due
> to end its experimental run this year and become an acknowledged
> institution. However, there are signs that governments are
> increasingly dominating the IGF, with civil society and the Internet
> community sidelined in the decision-making process.
>
> In this broader context, the US government?s newly stated policy is
> more in line with the traditional laissez-faire internet approach.
> Internet Policy 3.0 also offers a more global perspective than the
> isolationist approach taken by the previous Bush administration.
>
> In explicitly stating that foreign governments will be a part of the
> upcoming discussions, Strickling recognizes the United States? unique
> position as the country that gives final approval for changes made to
> the internet?s ?root zone.? Currently the global Internet is dependent
> on an address book whose contents are changed through a contract that
> the US government has granted to the Internet Corporation for Assigned
> Names and Number (ICANN), based in Los Angeles.
>
> ICANN recently adjusted its own agreement with the US government to
> give it more autonomy and now reports to the global Internet community
> through a series of reviews. Strickling sits on the panel of one of
> those reviews.
>
> Overall, this new approach could enable the US government to regain
> the loss of some of its direct influence through recommendations made
> in policy reports. But internet old hands will still decry the loss of
> a policy that made the network what it is today. ?
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