Internet Governance
What does Internet Governance Mean?
The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) developed with the following working definition of Internet governance:
Internet Governance is the development and application by governments, the private sector, and civil society, in their respective roles, of shared principles, norms, rules, decision-making procedures, and programmes that shape the evolution and use of the Internet.
The Internet Governance regime is complex, has national and international affects, and involves many issues, actors, mechanisms, procedures, and instruments.
Internet governance issues may be categorised in the following groups or baskets:
• Infrastructure and standardisation – e.g. Internet Protocol (IP), Domain Name System (DNS)
• Legal – e.g. Legislation, Copyright, Trademarks, Cybercrime
• Economic – e.g. e-Commerce, Consumer Protection, Taxation, Economic Models, Spam
• Development – e.g. Digital Divide, Universal Access
• Sociocultural – e.g. Content Policy, Freedom of Expression
• Managing Critical Internet Resources