POLICIES :: Internet Governance

Internet Governance

NEW The Commission has adopted a Communication on Internet governance: the next steps IP/09/951

This Communication analyses progress on Internet governance and the changing role of governments in the process. It also reviews progress by ICANN in achieving the goals set for it in 1998. The Communication identifies a number of public policy principles that should be observed by other stakeholders and proposes an approach for moving international discussions on these matters forward.

For the full text of the Communication please see:

Message of the Commissioner Viviane Reding on the Future of Internet Governance

Hearing in Brussels on 6 May 2009 on future Internet Governance arrangements

The agenda included issues such as "World Summit on the Information Society", "Security and Stability", "The role of public authorities", "Accountability and legitimacy", "Internationalisation of Internet Governance" and "Digital Divide".

Audio recording of the hearing on future Internet Governance arrangements.

In the following the recording can be listened to divided according to the agenda (in some cases a clear division was not possible in view of the overlapping nature of the issues):

MORNING

AFTERNOON

For viewing written statements on the subject of the hearing please click here.

What is the Commission's role?

The European Commission has always played a leading role in international discussions on the development of the Internet and its governance. The stability and security of the Internet is a key public policy issue for the Commission.

The Commission participates in a range of Internet governance related activities in international fora.

What is Internet Governance?

"Internet governance is 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."

This working definition was taken up in the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society, one of the two outcome documents of the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in 2005.

Organisations dealing with Internet Governance

There is a range of organisations dealing with various aspects of Internet Governance related issues.

European industry bodies responsible for EU country-code Top Level Domains (ccTLDs), for example, coordinate their activities through CENTR (Council for European National Top Level Domain Registries). The management of the allocation of IP Addressing in Europe is carried out by RIPE NCC. Other organisations of interest include the IETF, ISOC and the ITU.

An important organisation in this context is the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a Californian based public private corporation. ICANN operates under a zero purchase order with the US Government which tasks it to fulfill the so-called IANA functions. Those functions include:

Coordination of the assignment of technical protocol parameters
Performance of administrative functions associated with root management (This function, however, does not include authorizing modifications, additions, or deletions to the root zone file or associated information that constitute delegation or re-delegation of top level domains.)
Allocation of Internet Numbering Resources

In addition, the relationship between ICANN and the US Government is also shaped by a Joint Project Agreement due to expire in September 2009.

The Commission participates in the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). EU Member States also participate in the GAC, whose main purpose is to advise ICANN (a private sector body) on public policy aspects of its coordination activities.

Internet Governance Forum

As foreseen in WSIS a new forum for multi-stakeholder policy dialogue was established - called the Internet Governance Forum (IGF). Three IGF meetings were held already:

Athens 30 October - 2 November 2006
Rio de Janeiro 12 - 15 November 2007
Hyderabad 3 - 6 December 2008

The next meeting is currently scheduled from 15 to 18 November 2009 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. In 2010 Lithuania will host the IGF.

In line with the Tunis Agenda provisions the IGF did not replace existing arrangements, mechanisms, institutions or organizations. Instead it involves a broad range of stakeholders as a neutral, non-duplicative and nonbinding process.

Last updated: 18.6.2009