[Africa-ir-public] [APCNews] Articles: The complicated world of internet governance

[Karen Higgs]

"The complicated world of internet governance"

APC brings you two recent articles on the sticky issue of how the 
internet should be run globally and by whom.


Global Forum on Internet Governance: Not everyone agrees on what is
broken nor on what fixing might involve

NEW YORK -- A global forum on internet governance organised by the 
United Nations March 25-27 was the most open and inclusive platform for 
addressing internet governance issues to date but time was too short to 
disaggregate the various areas of policy and regulation that are loosely 
grouped under “internet governance”. There are fundamental concerns 
around the accountability and legitimacy of current internet governance 
structures, but at the same time the overall tone is “if it ain’t broke, 
don’t fix it”. But not everyone agrees on what is broken, nor on what 
fixing might involve.

The challenges the Global Forum faced will now be faced by the working
group which will take work forward to the next UN World Summit in 2005.
The dilemma lies in having to both expand, and shrink the scope of
“internet governance”, to get to practical proposals that also address
broader concerns. And it has to work in a way that is inclusive of
different stakeholders and perspectives, and actively tackles discontent
instead of glossing over it, says APC.
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=18720


The Complicated World of ICANN – Part One

ROME - The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and
Numbers (ICANN) - the body that's responsible for managing the
registration and distribution system of domain names (eg. www.apc.org)
in the internet - held its first meeting of 2004 March 2-6. More than 
600 people from different countries took part in 27 fora. In attendance 
was Carlos Afonso, planning director of APC's Brazilian member 
organisation, RITS. His fascinating report is essential reading for 
anyone trying to understand internet governance issues and has been 
translated into English and Spanish by APC.
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=18723


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