By Klaus Stoll
Macron has declared the Internet to endure nether threat. Without stepping dorsum to inquiry together with explore the underlying causes of those threats, he uses them every bit a justification to suggest a dissimilar approach to, albeit limited, electrical flow Internet Governance processes. Here nosotros explore his proposals together with some of the issues they generate.
He acknowledges that Civil Society together with the individual sector remove hold been inwardness drivers inward the creation of the Internet. He argues that its benefits together with beingness are endangered past times predatory practices. He proposes that, inward monastic tell to hold the Internet together with relieve it from itself, governments must assume leadership through the musical instrument of regulations.
Throughout the speech, Macron replaces key digital values alongside governance values:
Multilateralism, (a formal alliance of multiple countries pursuing a mutual goal), displaces multistakeholderism (the electrical flow articulation management of inwardness Internet resources past times governments, concern together with the civil social club inward their respective roles), every bit the driving forcefulness together with inwardness model for Internet Governance.
The proffer of Net Neutrality is replaced past times "universal values" every bit defined inward a pre-digital age. Macron references the creation together with validity of universal values for real-world governance, but without recognizing the historical fact of their conditionality depending on context. He together with thence argues for freely transposing these values, together with associated governmental mechanisms, onto the digital realm. In doing so, he fails to admit that the nature of the Internet transcends the concepts of nation-states, together with that policy making together with governance require their ain consultative dialogues to achieve consensus on the values together with governance mechanisms necessary to enable the dignity together with integrity of the global digital citizens.
As justification for his approach, Macon forwards 2 head arguments:
a) Protection through rule is a government's inwardness activity. If denied this role, governments are unable to protect their citizens together with this lessons their ground to exist. He completely overlooks that the start chore of authorities is to empower its citizens, to ensure their integrity together with dignity inward jointly designed policies, including their protection. It is the purpose of authorities to enshrine the rights together with duties of citizenship, together with and thence create everything necessary to protect that citizenship. Protection is virtually empowerment of personal dignity together with integrity together with non simply protection from perceived threats. Protection without something that is worth protecting is meaningless. Does Macron desire to engage inward cyber state of war through regulations? Does it brand feel to become to state of war for the real affair that undermines what nosotros essay to protect: the dignity together with integrity of digital citizenship?
b) The challenge is rule that "safeguards the vision of the founding fathers." What happened to the founding mothers? Women played key roles inward the early on evolution of the Internet, but the alternative of linguistic communication seems to operate out them victims to a chauvinism that devalues the purpose of women together with women's minds inward technological change. As a façade of democracy, civil together with individual sector roles every bit whistle-blowers together with implementation partners are proposed. His vocalism communication is an illustration of political "backward engineering." What he wants is mightiness over the Internet. To arrive at this power, he needs to innovate regulations together with taxes. In monastic tell to justify them, he must nowadays them every bit measures that relieve an Internet that is nether threat from itself. In monastic tell to realize his ambition, he declares existing Internet Governance efforts together with structures exterior his command every bit illegitimate together with failing. He together with thence introduces novel Internet Government mechanisms or favors empowering existing ones that are already nether his control. There is no house for engaged citizenship inward the policy-making process.
Macron fails to admit or consider the cardinal differences betwixt the sovereignty of nation states together with the compass of cyberspace on the Internet. People forthwith alive a dual national together with digital reality calling for a global digital citizenship alongside its respective rights together with responsibilities. Both citizenships are intermingled, but they are fundamentally different. Digital Citizenship exists inside the sovereignty of global virtual spaces. There is a necessitate to educate together with implement governance structures where persons, entities together with fifty-fifty governments are engaged stakeholders. All stakeholders — endure they individual users, NGOs, corporations or governments — are digital citizens alongside rights together with responsibilities. No ane stakeholder is to a greater extent than equal inward the blueprint or execution of those rights together with responsibilities.
Macron observes that nosotros had thousands of years to educate governance structures that foster together with protect humankind inward the literal world, but that nosotros remove hold had solely a few decades to create the same for our digital citizenship inside the Internet ecosystem. While diverse national, regional together with international entities are engaged inward Internet policy making, much of the focus is on privacy together with security, on intellectual property, together with on cybercrime together with cyberwar. Less has focused on defining the digital rights together with duties of stakeholders or embraced the notions empowered digital citizenship without which at that spot is no soil for simply together with legitimate Internet Governance, leaving the integrity together with sustainability of the Internet ecosystem at risk.
Macron, at best, is misguided together with premature. One agency or some other at that spot is a purpose for some of what he is proposing but non every bit authorities regulations dictated from above. They volition best come upward from awareness together with collaboration from below, together with governance models that come upward out of genuinely engaged stakeholder dialogue.
One fearfulness alongside Macron's starting shout out for is regulations designed gratuitous of stakeholder engagement, saved past times those who already remove hold entitled access to policymaking, volition presently atomic number 82 to wider together with wider rule of the DNS itself. In the absence of a multistakeholder process, fifty-fifty to underpin multilateral policies, all stakeholders (Registries, Registrars, bloggers, etc.) volition human face straight authorities interference, together with non simply inward the domain elevate aspects of their businesses.
There are many areas that volition target ICANN.org's inwardness remit. Issues involving Internet oligopolies together with the Internet fringes of the Internet ecosystem are rich inward DNS-linked problems. The French Government has made its intentions clear when it of late demanded rights on second-level domain names similar france.com. There are worries virtually a "China Internet" while, at the global level, Red People's Republic of China is simply some other stakeholder inward the Internet ecosystem. There are both educational together with governance challenges there.
There is much hallway chatter roughly the issues of Internet governance; virtually the risks of a wolf inward the hen solid (to borrow from Children's literature). Can you lot imagine the security, stability, together with resilience of a UN-run Internet? Can you lot imagine the same run past times the ITU? Can you lot imagine ICANN trying to screen all the bases of Internet ecosystem governance or fifty-fifty simply downstream consequences of DNS deployment? I can't! But tin you lot imagine a sustainable Internet ecosystem inward which the UN, the ITU, ICANN, or Country X are non engaged every bit stakeholders inward the governance processes? I can't! This is non just a instance of concur your friends closed together with concur your enemies closer, but it is ane of edifice knowledgeable together with engaged stakeholder citizen communities.
Buat lebih berguna, kongsi:
