Innovation and development of the Internet has been allowed to grow and flourish around the globe for years.  However, efforts are being made to change the flow of information and Internet governance through a new U.N. regulatory treaty that would give the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) authority over the Internet. 

From December 3-14, 2012, the ITU held the World Conference on International Telecommunications Regulations (WCIT) in Dubai.  Prior to the meeting, ITU Secretary General Hamadoun Touré assured member states that the treaty negotiations would not include the Internet, a new treaty would only be adopted by “unanimous consent” of the delegates, and no votes would be taken during WCIT.  However, as the meeting progressed, a vote occurred that provided the ITU with authority over the economics and content of key aspects of the Internet, undermining the multi-stakeholder model of Internet governance. 

Led by China and Russia, 89 countries voted to provide the ITU with authority over the Internet.  The U.S. joined 54 other nations, including India, Japan, Kenya and the U.K. by refusing to sign the treaty document, instead expressing support for the multi-stakeholder governance model currently in place for the Internet.  Some countries that signed the document are lured by what they see as revenue potential through tariffs on the Internet that would fund their own communications and non-communications objectives.  Other countries would like more control over the flow of information within their borders.  The encroachments on Internet freedom adopted in Dubai are a first step toward even more intrusive international regulation of the Internet and a reduction in the free exchange of information that currently takes place worldwide. 

On February 5, 2013, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology; the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade, and the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations held a joint hearing to review the outcome of the WCIT conference.  The hearing included a discussion of draft legislation that would make reaffirm the U.S.’ commitment to a global Internet free from government control and preserve and advance the successful multi-stakeholder model under which the Internet is currently governed.

There was unanimous, bi-partisan support for a free and open global Internet operating without constraints that would be imposed under U.N. control.  Among the key strategies to promote the open Internet was the need to include developing nations who might otherwise feel disenfranchised in the multi-stakeholder approach to Internet governance. 

The former State Department Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy, Ambassador David A. Gross, testified about why it is important for the U.S. to remain engaged in the international debate over the technological and economic issues discussed at WCIT.  He cited the ITU’s fifth World Telecommunications /ICT Policy Forum, which is designed to focus explicitly on Internet governance issues in May 2013, as an opportunity for further exploration of the issues brought up at the December meeting.  There will be other opportunities to further engage internationally on these issues throughout 2013, and in 2014, the ITU will be conducting a plenipotentiary meeting that will define the ITU’s mission for the future. 

The draft legislation that was discussed during the joint hearing acknowledges the importance of the Internet to the global economy and the multi-stakeholder approach to Internet governance that has provided benefits to economic development, education and health care.  The bill also warns that proposals have been and will continue to be put forward in international regulatory bodies to increase control over the Internet, and states that it is the policy of the United States to promote a global Internet free from government control and to preserve and advance the successful multi-stakeholder model that governs the Internet.

Unless the U.S. remains at the forefront of this issue by continuing to promote a free and open Internet, guided by the multi-stakeholder approach to Internet governance, the current structure will be radically altered.  Such changes would adversely affect every aspect of the technology industry around the world.