[pp.int.general] Fwd: [liberationtech] Neelie Kroes: "Internet Governance: I want your views!"

Thu Oct 10 17:23:02 CEST 2013

Copy & Seed  :)
- Scott

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <Andrea.GLORIOSO at ec.europa.eu>
Date: Thu, Oct 10, 2013 at 9:13 AM
Subject: [liberationtech] Neelie Kroes: "Internet Governance: I want your
views!"
To: Andrea.GLORIOSO at ec.europa.eu

 [* Apologies if you receive duplicates. Please do share this message widely
* ]

Dear colleagues, dear friends,

I would like to share with you the recent blog post by Neelie Kroes, Vice
President of the European Commission and Commissioner for the Digital
Agenda, on Internet Governance.

The blog post is accessible at *
http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/kroes/en/content/internet-governance-i-want-your-views
*<http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/kroes/en/content/internet-governance-i-want-your-views>and
also reproduced below for ease of reference. Vice-President Kroes
highlights some of her key thoughts on the main challenges for the
governance of the Internet and calls upon everyone to share their views on
how the Internet should be governed and what Europe's role should be. Such
online engagement will take place via the Digital Agenda website at *
https://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/content/europe-and-internet-global-context
*<https://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/content/europe-and-internet-global-context>.

Importantly, as part of this online engagement a discussion paper was
produced and put online at *
https://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/sites/digital-agenda/files/131007%20public%20questions%20formatted.pdf
*<https://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/sites/digital-agenda/files/131007%20public%20questions%20formatted.pdf>
.

I would encourage all of you to express your views.

+++

*Internet Governance: I want your views! *
 <http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/kroes/en/users/neelie-kroes>
Published by *Neelie
KROES*<http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/kroes/en/users/neelie-kroes>on
Wednesday, 09/10/2013
As digital agenda commissioner I have long fought hard to keep *the
Internet driving positive change *- helping Europe's economy and society.
And now we are asking for *your views on internet
governance*<https://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/content/europe-and-internet-global-context>
.
I have fought especially hard for an open Internet. As a network of
networks, *no one person or country owns the Internet*, but we do need *a
clear set of rules that everybody needs to play by*. I have defended such
rules at international conferences on the Internet, most recently at the
Internet Governance Forum in Baku – and, in particular, *resisted
attempts*<http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-12-922_en.htm>by
others to push for significant increases to the scope of International
Telecoms Regulations at the recent WCIT meeting in Dubai.
But since then a lot of things have happened. We have heard about *massive
surveillance operations by secret services*, within Europe as well as the
US. Of course we are extremely concerned by what that means for personal
data protection. But this also has *deep implications for the governance of
the Internet*. It is clearly influencing how *some international partners
are thinking*<http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=45955&Cr=General+Debate&Cr1=>.
And it is even more important now that we agree on common principles for
Internet governance, and how decisions are made in all Internet-related
matters.
This autumn will be crucial in many ways. In Europe, I am proposing
ambitious measures to bring down barriers within our *connected
continent*<http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/kroes/en/content/building-connected-continent>.
That's a priority for me, and a priority for our economic future, which I
hope EU leaders will take seriously at their *forthcoming
summit*<http://www.european-council.europa.eu/council-meetings?meeting=760391ff-5b52-4248-a076-5032044c6288&lang=en&type=EuropeanCouncil>
.
But, at the same time as we bring those barriers down, *I want to avoid new
ones going up*. Later this month, Internet world leaders are meeting at the
*Internet Governance Forum* <http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/> in Bali. I am
sorry that, for the first time, I cannot be there in person myself. But I
would like to contribute, both to make clear how closely and seriously we
are watching this debate, and to stress the importance of having a clear
and robust framework for Internet Governance and policy-making as soon as
possible.
As it stands today, the conclusions of the World Summit on the Information
Society (WSIS) are the only international-level political agreement on
Internet governance; and they are the subject of several consultations.
Particularly important among those consultations are the discussions in the
*"WSIS+10" High-Level Event* <http://www.itu.int/wsis/review/mpp/>, and the
*UN Working Group on Enhanced
Cooperation*<http://unctad.org/en/Pages/cstd.aspx>;
I hope many of you will be contributing.
*The Internet is increasingly the forum for so much of our lives*; from
transacting through commerce or banking; to interacting through social
networks; to communicating with governments or pushing for democratic
change. It's clear to me that the Internet is a European strategic domain –
and, although the internet is a different kind of place to the "real
world",  our stance towards it should be underpinned by just the same
values, priorities and interests as everything else.
This digital age needs *a new social contract. *Decisions that affect the
Internet shouldn't be taken just by politicians, companies or technicians
alone, without any reference to common principles.
So I believe that the new social contract *must be based on sound principles
*. My starting point here are those in the
*Compact*<http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/kroes/en/blog/i-propose-a-compact-for-the-internet>I
first floated a couple of years ago; like that the Internet should
remain
open, unified, pro-democratic, enabling trust and confidence, and based on
transparent, multi-stakeholder governance. Recent news shows just how
fragile this balance of values can be; important efforts to tackle
terrorist threats cannot be at the expense of fundamental freedoms.
But we also must have a clearer view of *what we mean when we speak of
"multi-stakeholder processes"*. I worry that without a clear definition,
everyone will claim that their decision processes are inclusive and
transparent, when in practice they are not – as was shown recently, when
the Governmental Advisory Committee of ICANN pressed on regardless - in
spite of the EU's *legitimate
concerns*<http://www.icann.org/en/news/correspondence/kroes-to-chehade-crocker-12sep13-en.pdf>on
new domain names.
As you may have seen, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff recently set out
her *strong belief in multi-lateral
cooperation*<http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=45955&Cr=General+Debate&Cr1=>as
a basis for Internet governance. I am looking forward to seeing
further
details – but in principle I very much support that line. Plus, our
future *Global
Internet Policy
Observatory*<http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/kroes/en/blog/gipo>will
help give a more balanced view of how the Internet should be governed.
And I know many of these issues will also be discussed in Bali.
But I want to take this seriously. These are my thoughts*: but I want yours
too; your ideas on how the Internet should be governed and what Europe's
role should be*.
For the next four weeks, please share your views on the dedicated *web
page*<https://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/content/europe-and-internet-global-context>
.
+++

Best,

--
Andrea Glorioso (Mr)
European Commission - DG Communication Networks, Content and Technology
Unit D1 (International relations) + Task Force on Internet Policy
Development
Avenue de Beaulieu 25 (4/64) / B-1049 / Brussels / Belgium
T: +32-2-29-97682 M: +32-460-797-682 E: Andrea.Glorioso at ec.europa.eu
Twitter: @andreaglorioso
Facebook: *https://www.facebook.com/andrea.glorioso*<https://www.facebook.com/andrea.glorioso>
LinkedIn: *http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=1749288&trk=tab_pro*<http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=1749288&trk=tab_pro>

The views expressed above are purely those of the writer and may not in any
circumstances be regarded as stating an official position of the European
Commission.
Les opinions exprimées ci-dessus n'engagent que leur auteur et ne sauraient
en aucun cas être assimilées à une position officielle de la Commission
européenne.

Be transparent - Sign up to the European Commission's Register of Interest
Representatives
*http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regrin*<http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regrin>

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-- 
  Scott Elcomb
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