UN Internet Governance Forum
This week, the second meeting of the United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF) is being convened in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
A major topic of consideration during this meeting of the IGF is the locus of control of the Internet. Evidentally, and perhaps not surprisingly, many foreign nations believe that the US has too much control over the internet and its users. According to this article, “Brazil, China and other counties have proposed transferring oversight to an international body.”
While this response is understandable, particuarly in light of the attention that American wiretapping and internet snooping has received, it is not likely to bode well for effective Internet governance. With widely diverging views of what activity and information is relevant or permissable on the Internet, it is plausible that any international body charged with oversight over the web will be greatly hindered by intra-party disputes. Ideally, it would serve as a forum for identifying points of agreement and cooperation, such as outlawing child porn or controling Internet crimes. Others worry, that “it would give meddlesome governments the opportunity to censor and regulate the medium until its usefulness as a vehicle for freedom of expression and international competition is crippled.”
Without much agreement, it is likely that change will be difficult. Under those circumstances, Internet governance will continue in an ad hoc fashion, regulated in local and patchwork fashion, with states contuning to seek means to ‘reach’ across borders to regulate activity outside their domain.