26-enero-2004
New paper aims to clear up confusion over Internet governance
With the express aim of clearing up the confusion over Internet governance, ICC has written a new paper clarifying how the Internet functions, enumerating the different technical bodies which help to run it and listing the public policy issues it currently affects. Coming barely a month after the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva, and prepared by ICC’s Commmission on E-Business, IT, and Telecoms, the paper divides the issue of Internet governance into three main components – technical engineering, coordination of the names and numbers system, and public policy matters. An annex to the paper summarizes existing ICC views on the issue of Internet governance, representing a consensus of business worldwide. “The UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has been asked to set up a multi-stakeholder working group on Internet governance. As the voice of world business, ICC welcomes this initiative and looks forward to taking part in those discussions. “We offer this paper as a starting point,” said ICC Secretary-General, Maria Livanos Cattaui. The Chairman of the ICC Commission on E-Business, IT and Telecoms, Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, will chair the advisory committee charged with organizing a UN Global Forum on Internet Governance in New York on 25-26 March. Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh said: “ICC looks forward to being a strong contributor to open discussions on Internet issues. We would welcome governments to identify any problems so that we can find the most effective solutions.”