Governing the Internet: A New Era Begins

The US Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced its intent to transition key Internet domain name functions to the global multi-stakeholder community.

A new report by two of the world's leading thinkers about the Internet discusses the background, logic, and implications of this momentous development and lays out some new directions for the next era of the Net.

BOSTON, TORONTO, March 25, 2014 /CNW/ - In a newly released research report, Lynn St. Amour, prominent Internet advocate and former Chief Executive Officer and President of the Internet Society (ISOC), and Don Tapscott, best-selling author and Executive Director of the Global Solution Networks program, describe the multi-stakeholder model of Internet governance, why it works remarkably well and what needs to be done to ensure a robust, global, accessible and effectively governed Internet for future generations.

St. Amour and Tapscott applaud the NTIA decision as a natural step forward and a significant confirmation that the multi-stakeholder model is effective and legitimate. They explain that evolving the global multi-stakeholder ecosystem is not only right and timely, but also the best way to address some of the thornier policy issues global society faces. These issues range from privacy, security and Net neutrality, to access and intellectual property.

"Those who have characterized the NTIA announcement as 'the Obama equivalent of Carter's decision to give away the Panama Canal—only with possibly much worse consequences' are deeply uninformed and badly mistaken," say St. Amour and Tapscott, citing such recent comments as these by former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

"The Internet governance network has shown time and again its value and its ability to innovate in matters of global Internet governance as well as policy solutions," they say.

"Multi-stakeholder governance has come of age and is now fully independent from control by any government, or governmental organizations like the UN. Still we must recognize the need to continually evolve and increase engagement from all sectors and all parts of the world as the Net becomes an essential part of the everyday life for billions of people."

St. Amour & Tapscott's substantial two part report is a product of the $multi-million research program Global Solution Networks (GSN) which is investigating multi-stakeholder approaches to global problem solving, co-operation and governance. Timely for companies, governments and organizations, the report is available on the GSN website.

Included with the report is a package of additional materials including transcripts of interviews with Internet pioneers Tim Berners-Lee, Fadi Chehadé, Vint Cerf, Bertrand de La Chapelle and Jonathan Zittrain. 

The GSN program, led by Don Tapscott and the Martin Prosperity Institute, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, is creating a definitive resource of expert insights, cases and field tools. GSN sponsors from government, business and civil society include The Rockefeller Foundation, Accenture, Google, MasterCard, HP, Ontario, LGI, Qualcomm, RBC, Seagate and others.

SOURCE: Global Solution Networks

Carley Williamson
Global Solution Networks
[email protected]
416.863.8809
gsnetworks.org