A New Internet Governance is Being Woven

11/04/2014

Top leaders and CEOs of major Internet organizations noted that the process of creating a new Internet governance has begun. This follows the United States’ decision to delegate its control over the IANA, the organization that oversees IP number allocation and manages the domain name system (DNS).

Published two weeks ago, this historical decision by the United States comes in response to the international community’s demand and pressure for a more plural Internet governance based on a multistakeholder model.

“Internet organizations have been calling for this decision for a long time, as there was nothing to justify the U.S. government maintaining those special privileges. The Montevideo Statement we issued last year was a very important step towards a more plural Internet,” noted Raúl Echeberría, Executive Director of the Internet Address Registry for Latin America and the Caribbean.

The U.S. decision sets in motion a process that will eventually transfer control of the technical organizations behind the Internet to the international community. A period of bottom-up public consultation will now open for all the organizations that are part of the Internet to establish a new Internet governance.

Echeberría noted that the announcement by the United States that it will abandon its decisive role in domain name allocation is “historical” and strengthens the Internet’s spirit of “freedom.”

“Over the years, Internet organizations have built extremely innovative governance processes. These processes are highly participative and involve the presence of all stakeholders; they are open and transparent; they have become consolidated and generated the trust needed for the United States to make their announcement,” said LACNIC’s CEO.

Latin America has played a leading role in this process, and its senior leaders have participated in major decisions. In this sense, Echeberría called to mind the fact that “every government and every organization in Latin America and the Caribbean have always agreed that this role of the United States government needed to end.”

What’s next in the process? The debate will continue at global level, involving all stakeholders in order to ensure that the management and safeguarding of the IANA functions offer everyone the necessary guarantees. Any mechanisms that may be developed for these purposes must respect the open, participatory, and bottom-up nature of the current policy development processes.

“One of its key components will be the spirit of openness and freedom we have tried to instill throughout the years by having every organization develop innovative, participatory governance processes in which all stakeholders can participate,” noted LACNIC’s Executive Director.