Internet Governance: Asia-Pacific Perspectives
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Internet Governance: Asia-Pacific Perspectives Internet Governance: Asia-Pacific Internet Governance Asia-Pacific Perspectives The Internet raises significant challenges for public policy and sustainable human development, both internationally and for individual nations. While the Asia-Pacific region contains the highest share of global Internet users, it is under-represented in the forums that develop Internet-related policies. This book presents the work of the Open Regional Dialogue on Internet Governance, a year-long initiative by UNDP Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme that has collected perspectives from regional experts and end users. It summarizes the key debates in Internet Governance from those involved in international policy-making. It also provides detailed analysis of critical issues such as spam, wireless technologies, security, Internet multilingualism, and cultural diversity in the Asia-Pacific region. The book contributes regional perspectives to important global Governance processes, and will assist anyone involved in planning Internet- related development policies or projects. Asia-Pacific Perspectives UNDP-APDIP ICT4DUNDP-APDIP Series US $ 30 Edited by Danny Butt Foreword by Nitin Desai Internet Governance Asia-Pacific Perspectives Edited by Danny Butt Foreword by Nitin Desai Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme The Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme (APDIP) is an initiative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) that aims to promote the development and application of new Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for poverty alleviation and sustainable human development in the Asia-Pacific region. UNDP ASIA-PACIFIC DEVELOPMENT INFORMATION PROGRAMME Regional Centre in Bangkok 3rd Floor, United Nations Service Building Rajdamnern Nok Avenue, Bangkok 10200, Thailand Tel: +66 2 288 1234; 288 2129 Fax: +66 2 280 0556 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.apdip.net All UNDP-APDIP documents on Internet Governance are available at: http://igov.apdip.net. The analysis and recommendations of this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations Development Programme nor do they necessarily reflect the views of the institutions with which the authors are affiliated. 17A/1, Lajpat Nagar IV, New Delhi-110 024 Tel: +91 11 2644 7160 Fax: +91 11 2644 7156 Website: www.asiaelsevier.com ISBN-13: 978-81-312-0110-7 ISBN-10: 81-312-0110-4 Academic Press, Butterworth-Heinemann, Digital Press, Elsevier, Focal Press, Morgan Kaufmann, North Holland, Pergamon are the Science and Technology Imprints of Elsevier. © UNDP-APDIP 2005 Printed and bound in India Internet Governance: Asia-Pacific Perspectives Table of Content Foreword The Working Group on Internet Governance v Nitin Desai Abbreviations x Introduction The Open Regional Dialogue on Internet Governance 1 Danny Butt PART I: PERSPECTIVES ON GOVERNANCE 7 Chapter 1 The Legacy of the Working Group on Internet Governance 9 Peng Hwa Ang Chapter 2 Strengthening the Voice and Participation of Developing Countries in Internet Policy-making 19 Mohamed Sharil Tarmizi PART II: INTERNET GOVERNANCE ISSUES 35 Chapter 3 Internet Governance in the Asia-Pacific Region 37 UNDP-APDIP Chapter 4 Internet Governance and Socio-cultural Inclusion 66 Danny Butt and Norbert Klein Chapter 5 Governing Internet Use: Spam, Cybercrime and e-Commerce 89 Suresh Ramasubramanian, Salman Ansari and Fuatai Purcell Chapter 6 Development and the Regulation of Access Technologies: Wireless and VoIP 105 Fuatai Purcell, Samudra Haque and Onno Purbo PART III: INTERNET GOVERNANCE – COUNTRY REPORTS FROM THE REGION 113 Chapter 7 Country Reports: China, Indonesia, India, Pakistan and Thailand 115 Internet Policy Priorities in China 120 Internet Policy Priorities in India 123 Internet Policy Priorities in Indonesia 126 Internet Policy Priorities in Pakistan 129 Internet Policy Priorities in Thailand 132 Contributors 136 Acknowledgements 139 Internet Governance: Asia-Pacific Perspectives Internet Governance: Asia-Pacific Perspectives Foreword The Working Group on Internet Governance –Nitin Desai The Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) was established by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, in accordance with the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Declaration of Principles adopted in Geneva 2003. The relevant principles read as follows: 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: a) 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; b) 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; c) Civil society has also played an important role on Internet matters, especially at community level, and should continue to play such a role; d) Intergovernmental organizations have had and should continue to have a facilitating role in the coordination of Internet-related public policy issues; e) 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 Internet Governance: Asia-Pacific Perspectives v 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. WGIG was asked in its report to develop a working definition of Internet governance, identify the public policy issues that are relevant to Internet governance, develop a common understanding of the respective roles and responsibilities of governments, existing international organizations, and other forums, as well as private sector and civil society, and to make recommendations as appropriate. This was not an easy task. The Internet is now critical infrastructure in many parts of the world, and its impact can be felt among many spheres across the globe. Even though most people in the world are not yet online, they are nevertheless affected by the far-reaching changes the Internet brings to institutions responsible for international trade and development, media and information, commerce, government, and education, to name but a few. There are many varied perspectives on the nature of the Internet, what constitutes its governance, and who should have responsibility for which parts of its management and development. The report has achieved what was asked of it. Three key features of its process helped in arriving at this happy conclusion. First, the WGIG was a multi-stakeholder process, bringing together 40 people from very diverse backgrounds, from many different parts of the world, with very different concerns and preoccupations, which made people listen to one another and hence allowed mutual understanding to develop. The second feature that made a huge difference to the working of the Group was the insistence of some members that the process be kept open. The Group met with all stakeholders in open consultations at every meeting and members participated in a large number of outreach events, including regional processes like the Open Regional Dialogue on Internet Governance (ORDIG) in the Asia-Pacific region. This openness reminded the Group members of the sentiment and opinions outside the Group. The third crucial process feature was that the Working Group was not a negotiating group. The effort was not to try and negotiate a compromise amongst different points of view. The stakeholder groups sought to understand different points of view, and then to try and agree on the range of options which needs to be looked at by the preparatory process. More than that, they functioned as individuals rather than as representatives since they were not formally committing any stakeholder group. These features of the WGIG process are as important as the product, because they have brought a new type of open and participative modality into UN diplomacy. These features also reflect, in some ways, the manner in which the present arrangements for Internet governance work. In this sense, the WGIG reflects the influence of the Internet ethos on diplomatic culture. vi Internet Governance: Asia-Pacific Perspectives The Report of the Working Group The report of the WGIG is quite short: the substantive part of the report is about 15 pages, concentrating