Canadian Backgrounder on Internet governance, within the Context of Phase II of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)

The Government of Canada will be negotiating outcomes for the Second and Final Phase of the World Summit of the Information Society at the Third WSIS Preparatory Committee Meeting September 19–30, 2005 and at the Final Summit in Tunis, Tunisia November 16–18, 2005. Key among these issues is the governance of the internet.

What is the World Summit on the Information Society?

The objective of the first-ever UN World Summit on the Information Society is to raise global awareness of the information revolution and to foster engagement in using information and communications technologies (ICTs) for development. The Summit has been organized in two phases. The first phase, held in Geneva in December 2003, attracted nearly 50 Heads of State and over 11,000 delegates from governments, the private sector and civil society.

The Geneva Summit adopted a Declaration of Principles and Plan of Action in line with Canada's efforts to promote effective partnerships among government, the private sector and civil society. These political statements reflected core Canadian values for the Information Society, such as inclusiveness, mainstreaming of ICTs, freedom of expression, independent media and cultural and linguistic diversity.

Phase II, leading up to the final Summit, involves negotiation of a political statement or "chapeau" that aims to re-affirm the original Declaration of Principles and potentially elaborate upon the Plan of Action. The Tunis Summit will be structured similarly to the Geneva Summit.

The official WSIS website, managed by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), can be found online at: http://www.itu.int/wsis/

The Working Group on Internet governance (WGIG)

At the conclusion of the first phase of the WSIS, Internet governance remained an unresolved issue. As a result, a number of paragraphs on the topic can be found in the WSIS Declaration of Principles. These are:

"48. The Internet has evolved into a global facility available to the public and its governance should constitute a core issue of the Information Society agenda. The international management of the Internet should be multilateral, transparent and democratic, with the full involvement of governments, the private sector, civil society and international organizations. It should ensure an equitable distribution of resources, facilitate access for all and ensure a stable and secure functioning of the Internet, taking into account multilingualism.

49. The management of the Internet encompasses both technical and public policy issues and should involve all stakeholders and relevant intergovernmental and international organizations. In this respect it is recognized that:

1. Policy authority for Internet-related public policy issues is the sovereign right of States. They have rights and responsibilities for international Internet-related public policy issues;
2. The private sector has had and should continue to have an important role in the development of the Internet, both in the technical and economic fields;
3. Civil society has also played an important role on Internet matters, especially at community level, and should continue to play such a role;
4. Intergovernmental organizations have had and should continue to have a facilitating role in the coordination of Internet-related public policy issues;
5. International organizations have also had and should continue to have an important role in the development of Internet-related technical standards and relevant policies.

50. International Internet governance issues should be addressed in a coordinated manner. We ask the Secretary-General of the United Nations to set up a working group on Internet governance, in an open and inclusive process that ensures a mechanism for the full and active participation of governments, the private sector and civil society from both developing and developed countries, involving relevant intergovernmental and international organizations and forums, to investigate and make proposals for action, as appropriate, on the governance of Internet by 2005."

An additional paragraph, clarifying the process for preparing further discussions on Internet governance, as agreed by the WSIS in 2003, can be found in the WSIS Plan of Action:

"13. To maximize the social, economic and environmental benefits of the Information Society, governments need to create a trustworthy, transparent and non-discriminatory legal, regulatory and policy environment. Actions include:

1. Governments should foster a supportive, transparent, pro-competitive and predictable policy, legal and regulatory framework, which provides the appropriate incentives to investment and community development in the Information Society.
2. We ask the Secretary General of the United Nations to set up a working group on Internet governance, in an open and inclusive process that ensures a mechanism for the full and active participation of governments, the private sector and civil society from both developing and developed countries, involving relevant intergovernmental and international organizations and forums, to investigate and make proposals for action, as appropriate, on the governance of Internet by 2005. The group should, inter alia:
   1. develop a working definition of Internet governance;
   2. identify the public policy issues that are relevant to Internet governance;
   3. develop a common understanding of the respective roles and responsibilities of governments, existing intergovernmental and international organizations and other forums as well as the private sector and civil society from both developing and developed countries;
   4. prepare a report on the results of this activity to be presented for consideration and appropriate action for the second phase of WSIS in Tunis in 2005."

Following the Government of Canada proposal, made in Phase I of the WSIS process, the UN Secretary-General formed a Working Group on Internet governance (http://www.wgig.org) to contribute to the formation of a working definition of Internet governance and to the identification of the related public policy issues. The WGIG is not a negotiating body, but has been tasked with preparing the ground for the negotiations to be held within the context of the WSIS.

The WGIG Secretariat was formed in July 2004 and the members of the WGIG established in the Fall of 2004. The WGIG is composed of stakeholders from both governments and civil society. The composition of the WGIG can be viewed online at: http://www.wgig.org/members.html.

The February 15–16, 2005 WGIG Open Consultation Summary Report is available online at: http://www.wgig.org/meeting-february.html

The Preliminary Report of the WGIG, presented at plenary of WSIS PrepCom II February 24, 2005 is available online at: http://www.itu.int/wsis/docs2/pc2/off5.pdf

Information on the Third Meeting of the WGIG, April 18–20, 2005, is available online at: http://www.wgig.org/meeting-april.html

The Government of Canada position on the World Summit on the Information Society and the Working Group on Internet governance

The Government of Canada continues to support the WSIS Declaration of Principles and Plan of Action of Phase I of the Summit and does not support the re-opening of these agreements during Phase II. In addition, the Government of Canada continues to fully support the establishment of the WGIG and its multidisciplinary and multistakeholder composition. The Government of Canada also supports the work plan of the WGIG and its endeavouring to formulate a working definition of Internet governance and identify the related public policy issues.

For reference, the Government of Canada submission, "Canadian Comment on the Working Group on Internet governance Consultations" of September, 2004 is available online.

The Government of Canada broadly supports the four categories identified by the WGIG in paragraph 34 of its Preliminary Report, as presented to plenary of Preparatory Committee meeting II of Phase II, February 24, 2005:

"34. The next phase of this segment of work is to establish what are the key public policy areas for further investigation and discussion. Following the group's second meeting, and taking into account the views of the public, the following areas have been identified:

1. Issues relating to infrastructural issues and the management of critical Internet resources, including administration of the domain name system and IP addresses, administration of the Root server system, technical standards, peering and inter-connection, telecommunications infrastructure including innovative and converged technologies, as well as multilingualization. These issues are matters of direct relevance to Internet governance falling within the ambit of existing organizations with responsibility for these matters;
2. Issues relating to the use of the Internet, including spam, network security, and cybercrime. While these issues are directly related to Internet governance, the nature of global cooperation required is not well defined;
3. Issues which are relevant to the Internet, but with impact much wider than the Internet, where there are existing organizations responsible for these issues, such as IPR [Intellectual Property Rights] or international trade. The WGIG started examining the extent to which these matters are being handled consistently with the Declaration of Principles; and
4. Issues relating to developmental aspects of Internet governance, in particular capacity building in developing countries. "

The full text of this Preliminary Report of the WGIG, presented at plenary of WSIS PrepCom II February 24, 2005 is available online at: http://www.itu.int/wsis/docs2/pc2/off5.pdf

For reference, the Government of Canada statement in response to the presentation of the preliminary WGIG report to plenary of Preparatory Committee meeting II of Phase II, February 24, 2005 is available online at: http://www.wgig.org/PrepCom-Statements.html

The Government of Canada is on record as supporting the above and its position on Internet governance can be expected to similarly support and be consistent with these views.

Current Canadian domestic policy with respect to Internet-related issues

The Government of Canada and its position on Internet governance can similarly be expected to support and be consistent with the principles and values established by key Canadian policy developments and decisions, such as:

The Government of Canada Convergence Policy refers to the principles of technological neutrality and reliance on market forces in terms of broadcasting and telecommunications policy and regulation. Such self-regulatory mechanisms are viewed as being key components to Canadian broadcasting and telecommunications policy and regulation. The modernization of policy and legislative frameworks to ensure the security and stability of the Internet is an ongoing consideration for the Government of Canada. The Convergence Policy Statement can be viewed online at: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/smt-gst.nsf/eng/sf05265.html.

Canada's technology-neutral Telecommunications Act (1993) provides the basis for competition in telecommunications and calls for government supervision and, where required, regulation of facilities-based telecommunications common carriers under federal jurisdiction. Competition allows Canada to have amongst the lowest costs of all OECD countries (OECD 2003). The Telecommunications Act can be viewed online at: http://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/T-3.4/index.html

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) held a proceeding on new media (1998/1999), which clarified the regulatory status of new media. The Commission decided not to regulate new media activities on the Internet, under the Broadcasting Act. Furthermore, the CRTC decided that regulating the Internet based on controlling traffic or access to content is difficult, costly and highly susceptible to being bypassed, if not technically impossible. Also, regarding illegal and offensive material on the Internet, the CRTC decided that generally applicable Canadian laws, coupled with self-regulatory initiatives, are a more appropriate means for dealing with illegal and offensive material than the Broadcasting Act. The related CRTC Public Notice can be viewed online at: http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/1999/PB99-84.HTM

The Canadian Domain Names Consultative Committee (CDNCC) recommended in 1998 that a not-for-profit, private-sector corporation run the dot-ca registry. This resulted in the incorporation of the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA). The Government of Canada continues to encourage reliance on market forces and private sector leadership in the management of the dot-ca domain space and further encourages transparency and multistakeholder participation in CIRA's operations. CIRA's website can be viewed online at: http://www.cira.ca/home-en/?lang=en

The Government of Canada is also an active member of Government Advisory Committee to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). This participation indicates the Government of Canada's interest in ensuring the continued stability and security of the internet through working with ICANN. The ICANN website is available online at: http://www.icann.org/

Numerous initiatives have been undertaken by the Government of Canada in order to establish connectivity across Canada. For example, the world's first national optical research and education network (CA*net) was established in 1998. Canada connected 100% of schools and libraries to the Internet by 1999 and has connected 12,000 volunteer organizations to the Internet. Furthermore, 40,000 internet access sites have been established across Canada. The National Broadband Program, recognising the strong role the private sector can play, has developed private sector partnerships for development of infrastructure in rural and northern Canada. 64 percent of Canadian households (HIUS 2004) and 75 percent of Canadian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) use the Internet. Canada has also been ranked first for "government online" (Accenture, 2001 to 2005).

The Government of Canada has established a forward-looking e-commerce policy framework, addressing the areas of consumer protection, public key infrastructure (PKI), security and encryption, standards, tax neutrality, digital signatures and privacy legislation. All are key elements to ensuring the growth and stability of e-commerce and contending with its inherent challenges. The Government of Canada continues to respond to the policy challenges associated with e-commerce. Additional information on Canada and e-commerce can be viewed at: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/ecic-ceac.nsf/eng/Home

Certain issues related to the Internet, such as spam, have become more pressing concerns. In May 2004, Industry Canada released an action plan for addressing spam and announced the creation of a Special Task Force. The Task Force brought together experts from government as well as private sector representatives and consumers, reflecting the need for strong private sector and civil society involvement in addressing issues related to the internet. An Anti-spam Action Plan for Canada can be viewed at: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/ecic-ceac.nsf/eng/h_gv00246.html

The Government of Canada position on Internet governance, within the context of the World Summit on the Information Society, will continue to reflect these domestic Government of Canada policy and regulatory actions and initiatives. In particular, the Government of Canada will seek to ensure the stable and secure growth of the Internet while taking into consideration its openness, its international reach and its on-going contribution to innovation and economic growth. Further, the Government of Canada will continue to respond to internet-related issues in light of its linguistic, cultural, ethnic and socio-economic diversity.

To Canadians interested in international Internet governance issues:

Comments can be submitted directly by e-mail to the Secretariat of the UN Working Group on Internet Governance at wgig@unog.ch or through the WGIG Web site at http://www.wgig.org.

There are a number of specific issue papers on the www.wgig.org website, which the WGIG is considering in its process. These are open for comment and we are encouraging interested Canadians to respond directly to the WGIG. Submitted views and recommendations that are both compatible with Canadian interests and effective on a global scale would be of particular interest to the Government of Canada.

Interested Canadians making submissions to the Secretariat of the WGIG should be aware that this is a process conducted under the auspices of the UN WGIG Secretariat. Parties making submissions should not assume that the Government of Canada will directly consult submissions made as a part of this separate process. However, those parties wishing to copy Industry Canada on submissions to the WGIG can cc their submissions to wsis-smsi@ic.gc.ca.

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Canadian Backgrounder on Internet governance, within the Context of Phase II of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)
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