Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Over the revelations of mass surveillance of internet users and government officials, the topic of internet governance has risen to the mainstream political agenda. And a Communication on “Europe's role in shaping the future of Internet Governance” passed by the European Commission today would put “Europe in the center of the debate,” EC Vice President Neelie Kroes said in a press conference in Brussels.
Those interested in internet governance will have to put some money aside for 2014: rarely have there been so many conferences to talk about how to manage core internet resources and develop the common rules to govern more general aspects of global net communication.
Richard Hill, an independent consultant in Geneva who was formerly a senior staff member at the UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU), recently published, “The New International Telecommunication Regulations and the Internet: A Commentary and Legislative History.” In a set of questions with Intellectual Property Watch’s William New, Hill talked about his book, which explains the significance of the 1988 and 2012 International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs) and covers the preparatory process leading up to the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT). The book also discusses the events leading to the non-signature by the treaty of a significant number of states, outlines possible consequences of that split between states, and offers possible ways forward.
On 18 December, the United Nations General Assembly adopted by consensus Resolution A/RES/68/167, The right to privacy in the digital age (see page 139 of document A/68/456/Add.2). This Resolution was initially introduced by Brazil and Germany and was subsequently supported by other countries.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay today said at the outset of a meeting with World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee that human rights must always be at the heart of discussions about the Web, as it affects so many aspects of society.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), celebrating its 15th birthday during its 48th meeting in Buenos Aires this week is not only busy pushing forward the introduction of new top-level domains. ICANN President and CEO Fadi Chehadé also inserted the organisation into the middle of preparations for a conference on the future of internet governance to be held in Sao Paolo on 23-24 April. ICANN is the overseer of the internet domain name system.
Cypto-guru Bruce Schneier, who has analysed thousands of documents provided by Edward Snowden on the secret surveillance programmes of the US National Security Agency, has called on the technical community to add encryption to the network and also come up with a new model for internet governance.
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has announced a workshop in Ukraine next year aimed at fighting counterfeit technology products, representing a notable foray into intellectual property rights protection by the UN agency.
Away from traditional free trade agreement negotiations with secret chapters on stricter intellectual property protection, perceptions are slowly evolving about the need to make IP systems work better. One of 100+ sessions at the 8th United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Bali, Indonesia last week featured “intellectual property exchanges” as marketplaces for knowledge. But IP policy did not take centre stage and neither did other access topics in Bali, which instead was overshadowed by the recent revelations of mass surveillance by US intelligence services.
The revelations of mass surveillance by the US and other intelligence services are expected to considerably influence the 8th Internet Governance Forum in Bali, Indonesia this week.