Internet community rallies behind Internet's current governance model

Canada's Clement offers strong endorsement during keynote address

OTTAWA, Oct. 19, 2012 /CNW/ - The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (www.CIRA.ca), the organization that manages the .CA Internet domain, welcomed the renewed support for the Internet's multi-stakeholder governance model that was demonstrated this week by global Internet leaders who have gathered in Toronto.

Since Sunday, CIRA has played host to ICANN 45, the latest of three annual meetings held each year by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) as part of its multi-stakeholder approach to coordinating the Internet's addressing system.

ICANN 45 kicked off on Monday morning with a keynote by the Honourable Tony Clement, President of the Treasury Board. In his remarks, Clement offered Canada's unqualified support for the Internet's multi-stakeholder model of Internet governance.

"This multi-stakeholder model has served us very well," Clement said. "It has given the Internet the freedom and flexibility to develop into the transformative technology it is today ... perhaps even more importantly, it has ensured that no single stakeholder or group dominates the decision-making process - be it governments or others.

"I can assure you that Canada will continue to be a staunch supporter of this model, and that we will continue to vigorously support organizations that practice this model of consensus-based policy development," he added.

This position for the multi-stakeholder model received widespread support from government representatives during the High Level Government Meeting, the first of its kind at an ICANN event, which drew senior government officials from around the world to discuss and debate the need to preserve and improve the Internet's multi-stakeholder governance model.

CIRA is pleased by the broad international support for the multi-stakeholder model which has been expressed this week at ICANN 45. This endorsement is particularly important as it comes only two months before another major meeting, the second World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT 2012), hosted by the International Telecommunications Union in Dubai this December, that will draw the global Internet community and where Internet governance is expected to be a central topic.

"We believe a multi-stakeholder model is the only way to ensure that the Internet is innovative, secure, inter-operable and, most importantly, free and open," said Byron Holland, President and CEO of CIRA. "Governments and individuals alike must build on the positive outcomes of ICANN 45 to ensure Internet governance remains a global and collaborative effort that benefits everyone."

A full video of Clement's speech is available here: http://www.icann.org/en/news/press/kits/toronto45/video-clement-15oct12-en.htm

Photos from the opening ceremony, including the Minister's speech, are available here for download: http://www.flickr.com/photos/icann/8090461668/in/photostream.

About CIRA

The Canadian Internet Registration Authority is the Member-driven organization that manages Canada's .CA domain name registry, develops and implements policies that support Canada's Internet community, and represents the .CA registry internationally.

About ICANN

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is the non-profit organization responsible for the global coordination of the Internet's system of unique identifiers, including country code Top-Level Domains (ccTLDs) such as .CA, generic TLDs (gTLDs) such as .COM and .ORG, and the addresses used in a variety of Internet protocols that help computers communicate over the Internet.

About the multi-stakeholder model

A multi-stakeholder model is an organizational framework that brings together primary stakeholders such as businesses, civil society, governments, research institutions and non-government organizations to cooperate and participate in the dialogue, decision making and implementation of solutions to common problems or goals. In keeping with this philosophy, ICANN practices consensus-based policy development, also known as a "bottom-up" model. This means that ICANN governs on the principle of cooperation and collaboration with different Internet stakeholders worldwide to be able to effectively and efficiently carry-out its responsibility as the international Internet governing body.

To learn more about ICANN's multi-stakeholder model, please visit http://toronto45.icann.org/bitcache/b4bd0309fef1b99fe93d5312d9a28ed81c1150a5?vid=42233&disposition=attachment&op=download.

SOURCE: Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA)

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