Page History
Drake begins by explaining that the standard by which various interested groups are saying Internet should be governed by is unclear, “particularly with respect to the underlying critical Internet resources, name, numbers, security issues, interoperable, and so on.” As the roundtable discussion begins, Jeanette Hofmann offers an academic overview of current research surrounding public interest issues. Hoffman argues that the term “public interest” refers to regulation. According to her research, in order for public interest not to privilege specific interests at the expense of others, due process and active social demand are the two conditions that must be met.
Olga Cavalli emphasizes the connection between public interest
- At-Large EURALO General Assembly Part 1 (online here) October 21, 2015, ICANN 54 Public Meetings in Dublin, Ireland
Extracts from Wolf Ludwig’s working paper discussed below can be accessed online here.
Oliver Crépin-Leblond sets up the discussion by drawing attention to the need for a consensus regarding the term “public interest” as it is prevalent in official ICANN documents. Wolf Ludwig presents a paper on the term “public interest” from a political and historical context rather than a legal one. Tracing references to “public interest” from Aristotle through the Spanish Constitution of 1976, Ludwig concludes that the term can be used as a guiding principle. Bill Drake follows with references to “public interest” from ICANN, the NETmundial Initiative (NMI), the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). The term, according to Drake has been contentious since the Radio Communications Act in 1927, without a singular definition. Issues of price management, market concentration, consumer protection, balancing individual and aggregate interests, scarcity of resources and content are all debatable concepts related to regulation of the “public interest.” Lauren Allison addresses the attempts to define the concept in ICANN’s 2013-2014 strategy panel on the public responsibility framework which was tasked at analyzing both how ICANN approaches the term “public interest” and also how ICANN approaches public responsibility work. This panel proposed a definition that has not yet been formally adopted. The discussion that follows raises issues of regional perspective, accessibility, legal ramifications, human rights and privacy.
Participants: Wolf Ludwig, Comunica Switzerland; Oliver Crépin-Leblond, outgoing Vice-Chair of At-Large; Lauren Allison, DPRD ICANN; Bill Drake, EURALO
- Global Public Interest of the Internet, WS159 (online here) September 4, 2014, Internet Governance Forum meeting in Istanbul, Turkey
From the report:
The workshop on the Global Public Interest of the Internet, moderated by Pierre Dandjinou, Vice President of Stakeholder Engagement at ICANN, was very well attended. Panelists included Nii Quaynor from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana and Chair of the ICANN Strategy Panel on the Public Responsibility Framework, Nevine Tewfik from the Egyptian Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, Rinalia Abdul Rahim the Managing Director of Compass Rose Sdn Bhd and ICANN Board Member, and Titi Akinsanmi, Public Policy and Governments Relations Manager at Google.
Panelists shared their experiences in regards to the global public interest of the Internet. Nii Quaynor discussed the ICANN Strategy Panel on the Public Responsibility Framework, which lay the foundation for the Development and Public Responsibility Department (DPRD) at ICANN. The DPRD’s strategic framework is currently oriented towards outreach and capacity building, to address gaps in participation in policymaking, as well as to inform and encourage the next generation to participate in the Internet governance process. Nevine Tewfik also shared her experience in Egypt working to create the Information, Communication, and Technology (ICT) Trust Fund, a mechanism and platform that allows suggestions for projects to be proposed, and to facilitate collaboration between government and different organizations.Titi Akinsanmi discussed and highlighted three key issues to keep in mind when looking at the public interest of the Internet: transparency, simplicity for participants, and avoiding replication of existing projects. Rinalia Abdul Rahim also drew from her experiences, stating that firstly, the “public interest” is a challenge to define, as it should take into account the consultation of all affected stakeholders. She also spoke about how organizations in the Internet governance ecosystem can forge better partnerships to address the global public interest agenda by sharing goals, recognizing roles and mandates of partners, effective communication and knowledge sharing, and shared measures of success between partners.
Participants: Pierre Dandjinou, VP Stakeholder Engagement in Africa, ICANN; Nii Quaynor, University of Cape Coast, Ghana; Nevine Tweflik, Minister of Communication and Information Technology, Egypt; Bob Hinden, The Internet Society; Raúl Zambrano, UN Development Programme
Related Academic Resources ); Rapporteur: Stefania Milan, Tilburg University, the Netherlands
- Broeders, Dennis (2015). The Public Core of the Internet: An International Agenda for Internet Governance (The Hague: Amsterdam UP). See chapters 3-4 regarding ‘global internet good.’
- Hofmann, Jeanette (2015). ‘Internet Governance: Theoretische und empirische Annäherungen an einen schwer fassbaren Gegenstand.’ Journal of Self-Regulation and Regulation, 1, pp 31-45. This article builds on her assessment of public interest as a regulatory expression mentioned in the round table discussion above.
- Kleinwachter, Wolfgang (2003). ‘From Self-Governance to Public-Private Partnership: The Changing Role of Governments in the Management of the Internet's Core Resources,’ 36 Loyola of L.A. Law Rev. pp 1103-26. The article quotes “public interest” several times while examining the relationships between private, state, and global Internet governance.
- Nazarro, Edward (2014). ‘Welcome to the New Internet: the Great gTLD Experiment’ Indonesian Journal of International & Comparative Law (Jan) 1:1, pp 36-72. See pp 56-8 for discussion and critique of the role of IO with regards to protecting public interest.
Online Material
.’ Abdul Basit Haqqani, ed. The Role of Information and Communication Technologies in Global Development: Analyses and Policy Recommendations (United Nations ICT Task Force). See pp 23-6 regarding the connections between broad representation and serving global public interest. the-lawyers/
- Raises the question of how an individual or a group determines whether the ICANN board is acting in the public interest: http://policyreview.info/articles/news/tough-call-avoiding-internet-governance-becoming-fifa/359
- Queries the connection between ICANN requiring Public Interest Commitments from Registries and whether and how ICANN enforces this according to their own public interest remit: Post, David. (9 March 2015) ‘ICANN, Copyright Infringement, and “The Public Interest.” The Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2015/03/09/icann-copyright-infringement-and-the-public-interest/