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Who Owns the Internet? |
Thank you, Henry Mendelsohn, for that kind introduction, and thanks to the US Embassy for inviting me to join you today. It is privilege to be here at the Maadi Public Library, for which we can all thank Mrs. Mubarak and the Integrated Care Society. I understand that soon there will be an American Window here, so I already feel right at home. This gathering is a reminder that libraries are much more than stacks of books . . . they are important community resources that bring people together to learn.
I am in your beautiful country to attend the Internet Governance Forum hosted by the United Nations, and so my topic today is: Who owns the Internet? And the answer seems simple: No one. Or, is it everyone? Or is it both?
The Internet is the most powerful framework devised for information and knowledge sharing since your ancestors first formed hieroglyphs. It has changed our lives by linking people around the planet in ways never before contemplated. It has transformed business practices, grown the global economy, and brought the digital revolution into many of our homes.
Because the Internet allows people and their computers to interact without regard to national or natural boundaries, it spawns creativity, innovation, and collaboration . . . and it is constantly transforming not only how we communicate, but also how we learn . . . how we educate our children . . . how we move goods and services, and so much more. It has forever altered how we view ourselves and our increasingly small world.
Even those who have never accessed it directly rely on the systems built upon the Internet's massive open architecture. They are, after all, the systems that run governments . . . that frame political engagement . . . that deliver humanitarian aid and health care. Through the Internet, we track everything from climate change to the spread of contagious diseases . . . and we share everything, from our opinions of the latest news to pictures of those we love and places that most of us will never see.
And the Internet is growing at a rate that is hard to comprehend. In 1984, about a thousand Internet devices existed; by last year, there were a trillion. In 2006, there were an amazing 2.7 billion searches on Google each and every month; three years later, there are 31 billion a month. It took 38 years for radio to reach an audience of 50 million people; it took the Internet just 4 years, and Facebook only two!
The Internet has, in effect, become a shared central nervous system, constantly pulsing through the backbone of our world. It is a system that is becoming faster by the hour, as mobile and broadband technologies spread, and exponentially speed the rate at which information is delivered. Although many of us cannot now imagine life without the Internet, it is clear that we are just beginning to explore its potential . . . including the ways it can help us build a more peaceful planet and increase the standard of living for peoples everywhere.
But with the Internet's great gifts come many complex challenges. Much of the world's population is not yet connected to the signals the Internet is constantly sending. There is disparity in the speed at which information flows to certain parts of the world. And there are differences in methods of access. More and more people are using mobile devices instead of traditional computers to access the Internet, but Web sites have not caught up with that trend.
All over the world, there is growing commercial investment to develop and improve the Internet's underlying technologies. How can we be sure that the Internet grows in a way that rewards investment . . . but balances the interests of the economy with those of humanity?
How can we keep expanding the global information society and make sure that it provides opportunities for all, especially those in developing economies?
These are important questions, and they are the reason that the United Nations launched the Internet Governance Forum. It is the latest in a series of initiatives that began with the World Summit on the Information Society, or WSIS, held by the International Telecommunication Union, a United Nations organization devoted to advancing the development of international communication technologies.
WSIS met in 2003 in Switzerland and again in 2005 in Tunisia. The participating nations emerged from the second meeting with an agreement that called for a wider, more inclusive forum to debate Internet policies and principles--the Internet Governance Forum--that would meet annually for five years.
The IGF is holding the fourth of these annual meetings November 15 through November 18 here in Egypt, in Sharm El Sheikh. There has been much speculation about whether or not the IGF will continue beyond next year. That is not yet clear, but my organization, SLA, would certainly support the extension of this unique forum, and I am pleased to report that the Obama Administration has also announced its support for its continuation.
The IGF is unique in the history of the United Nations. It goes beyond government representatives talking to one another in formal, diplomatic language. Instead, it is a multi-stakeholder forum, an effort to bring together everyone with an interest in the policies and issues surrounding the Internet. So there are representatives of governments, but there are also people from the private sector. International, intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations participate, as well as the academic and technical communities, and many organizations like mine are there to represent civil society.
I want to highlight two important and related points:
First, The Internet Governance Forum, just as its name implies, is a forum for the exchange of information and opinion, and sometimes even robust debate. It is not a regulatory or decision-making body. Its purpose is to "identify emerging issues, bring them to the attention of the relevant bodies and the general public, and, where appropriate, make recommendations."
Second, all stakeholders in the IGF participate as equals. Rich nations and struggling nations, big business and small organizations--all are on equal footing, and all can have a say during the proceedings.
One of those smaller organizations is the Special Libraries Association, or SLA, a 100-year-old membership organization of some 11,000 knowledge professionals in 75 countries. While our numbers are relatively small, the work of our members is hugely important. They are special librarians and information professionals who fill the information needs of corporations, government agencies, health care organizations, universities--literally, every kind of organization that relies upon the free flow of information to obtain the actionable knowledge needed to make good decisions.
SLA's members, as well as those of other library associations, have been passionately involved in efforts to bridge the digital divide for many years--because sharing information and knowledge is our most important role. SLA is an active participant in the International Federation of Library Associations, or IFLA, which will also be a vocal participant in Sharm El Sheikh. We began monitoring the WSIS process from which the IGF emerged as early as 2003. Our members urgently want to see the Internet continue to develop without restrictions, impediments or bureaucracies--in short, without anything that will get between them, the world's people, and the information they seek.
Why is this work so important? Because the world's institutions make better decisions--decisions that affect us all--when they are fully informed. We have all seen the consequences when they do not. Some would even say that our global economic woes were largely caused by organizations that were not properly informed--or decision makers who ignored the information they had in hand.
Whether or not you agree, it is clear that it is only through sharing knowledge that we can work together to face the world's challenges. Knowledge is the key that opens the doors to opportunity for all.
I am the chief executive officer of SLA, and that is why I am at last able to visit your fascinating country. I truly wish I could stay long enough to visit more than a few of the cultural treasures in your midst . . . but sadly, I will have to content myself with visiting most of them virtually. Lucky for me, the Egypt Tourism Authority has a fantastic Website!
But back to the Internet Governance Forum... The main themes of the dialogue fall into these broad areas:
Openness--Freedom of expression and the free flow of information, ideas and knowledge.
Security--Creating trust and confidence through collaboration.
Diversity--Promoting multlingualism and local content for the Internet.
Access--The policies and costs associated with Internet connectivity.
I would like to go into some detail concerning each of these broad areas.
First, openness. In the context of Internet governance, the concept of openness goes beyond the free flow of information to the technologies that underlie the Internet.
The Internet's design is uniquely flexible. Imagine an electrical extension cord that wraps around the earth millions of times . . . an electrical extension cord that anyone can plug into anywhere, without ever using a voltage converter, travel adapter, or transformers... and without fear of her hair dryer burning up! The architecture of the Internet is set up in much the same way. All the plugs are the same, and that is what has allowed extraordinary innovation.
The topics of some of the workshops proposed for this IGF meeting give an idea of the range of concerns that will be discussed by the multi-stakeholder groups: the governance of social media; balancing online freedom of expression with privacy; copyright vs. free knowledge; open content and licensing in the Arab world; and "net neutrality."
Net neutrality deserves special attention here because it is something we will be hearing more about. It is a complicated subject, and I will not attempt to cover it fully. But net neutrality is about who controls the speed and content of the information that flows through the Internet's pipelines--those cords wrapping around the earth that I mentioned a moment ago. Net neutrality is aimed at creating a level playing field for all users, while at the same time rewarding those who invest in the Internet's infrastructure. It is a topic we will hear about and debate for some time.
Security is the second area of focus. Again, we are striving to find the correct balance--in this case between freedom of expression and the need to protect data . . . privacy . . . and children.
Cybercrime is a real concern. It can do tremendous damage to people, institutions, and governments . . . and it can also undermine the trust on which the Internet has flourished. Another security concern is establishing appropriate controls to allow children to benefit from the wealth of information the Internet has to offer while protecting them from inappropriate content.
The next area of focus is diversity. One of the Internet's great strengths is a consistency that makes it easy for anyone to create online content. Unfortunately, this very consistency is a challenge to equality of access by people who speak different languages and use different alphabets. This an area full of legal complications, but the challenge must be addressed--not, I hope, in a way that creates bureaucracies that would themselves become a challenge to equality of access.
One contentious issue related to diversity is domain names--like .com or ".gov.eg". In 1998, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, was set up as a not-for-profit corporation by the U.S. government to oversee a system of Web addresses.
Recently, however, ICANN has been granted the autonomy to manage its own affairs, and it is now overseen by panels that include representatives of governments from around the world. Those panels will conduct regular reviews of ICANN's work in four areas: 1). competition among generic domains (such as .com and .net), 2). The handling of data on registrants, 3). The security of the network, transparency, and accountability and 4). public interest (which is the only panel on which the U.S. will retain a permanent seat).
There is still some controversy about whether ICANN is being held to a high enough standard of accountability. But all parties agree that some things are changing for the better because of the views expressed by many nations. For example, ICANN has agreed to introduce domain names written in various Asian, Arabic or other scripts.
The final area of the IGF's focus is access, and it is a topic that relates to every other area of discussion. Here, the concerns include ways to provide affordable broadband access to those who do not have it . . . how we can improve the ways we deliver information to parts of the world that rely on mobile devices to connect to the Internet . . . and how we can continue to share information while still complying with various nations' laws concerning intellectual property. Again, some of the workshop proposals show the range of issues: "The Global State of Copyright and Access to Knowledge," "Transformation through Mobility," and "Public Policies for Improved Access at Lower Costs."
We will be discussing all of these things, and much more. There will be an array of workshops to discuss best practices, including one on effective strategies and specific actions to ensure online child protection and safety. Other workshops will help participants expand their technical knowledge and skills, such as one on developing public policy that will help build sustainable capacity for Internet accessibility.
And I can assure you that the discussions we have at the IGF will give birth to new discussions--and that is a good thing. On this ever-shrinking planet, we have learned that almost everything we do has the potential to affect people someplace else. Recently, my former boss, President Clinton, gave a speech where he said the world was now "interdependent." He pointed out that every nation's most pressing problems--from the financial crisis to climate change to the spread of swine flu--are truly the world's problems. And he joked, "I think we are stuck with each other, folks, whether we like it or not." Those of us attending the IGF will emerge far more knowledgeable about how we affect one another . . . and far more capable of doing something about it.
I started out by asking: Who owns the Internet? And after all of this, the answer remains: No one and everyone. With little interference, the Internet has grown into a massive resource . . . one that can bring every country, every village and every person together to discuss, to learn, and to understand. The Internet belongs to all of us, and so all of us must work together to ensure that the Internet is never owned by any one person, government or other entity.
The Internet Governance Forum was created to help the Internet continue to grow in ways that advance the causes of humanity . . . that promote understanding, collaboration, and knowledge. Wish us success in doing that, and consider getting involved yourself.
Thank you.
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