Governance

The Sun Sets on the 2014 ITU Plenipot

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As the sun rose in the ARIN region, the sun set on another Plenipot…In Busan, Republic of Korea, the main policy-making conference of International Telecommunications Union (ITU) just concluded after a long three weeks. This Plenipotentiary Conference (PP for short) is held every four years for Member States to decide on the future role of the organization. It’s funny how things change in four short years. At this time four years ago at the ITU PP in Guadalajara the mood was far from collegial. The RIR community was in attendance physically, but not there in the eyes of many of the Member States.

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Give Your Input on the IANA Stewardship Transition

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The community involved in making sure Internet numbering runs smoothly wants to make sure it continues to run smoothly for years to come. Since the news broke that the global Internet Community was to develop a proposal for stewardship of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) so that it could be contractually released from US government, there has been a lot of talk about how to proceed. Here in the ARIN region we’ve been keeping you up to date with developments…

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IANA Oversight Transition Q&A

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There is a lot of confusion about the IANA oversight transition, so we pulled together this Q&A to answer your questions about what is really happening. As we get ready to discuss this topic as a community at ARIN 34, we want to make sure you have a clear understanding of the issues. Is the US government giving the Internet away? No, the intention has always been to transfer the oversight of the Internet Assigned Names and Numbers (IANA) functions away from the U.S. government to the global community. Exactly what was proposed in the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) 14 March announcement? The NTIA intends to transfer the role of oversight of the IANA functions it currently performs to the global multistakeholder Internet community.

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Internet Governance Forum 2014 in Istanbul, Turkey

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Last week I had the privilege of attending the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Istanbul, Turkey to support the Number Resource Organization (NRO) on behalf of ARIN. More than 2,300 people convened in Istanbul, Turkey plus another 1,100 tuned in online to discuss Internet Governance matters with the theme “Connecting Continents for Enhanced Multistakeholder Internet Governance.” This being the first IGF I’ve attended in person, I have a few observations I’d like to share with you.

The IGF brings together varied viewpoints from around the world and from many cross sections of the Internet community; there were stakeholders representing development, regulatory, technical, economic, social, and civil society communities. These individuals, many experts in their respective fields, meet at the IGF to share and represent their interests, and this leads to many rich discussions.

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What do terms like multistakeholderism, Internet governance, and technical community really mean?

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Last year I went to my first Internet Governance Forum in Bali, Indonesia. I was involved in several workshops and discussions about “the role of the technical community in Internet governance,” including the Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) and Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF); the role of governments; questions of increasing access to communications resources for the next billion users; and reactions to “pervasive monitoring” of Internet communications by US and other intelligence agencies. I’ve been involved with “Internet policy” for many years now, as a member of ARIN’s AC, on various ICANN Advisory Committees, and as a liaison to the ICANN Board of Directors…which turned out to be a useful perspective, but by no means complete!

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Caribbean Internet Governance Forum (CIGF) Celebrates 10 Years

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CTU Telecommunications Specialist, Nigel Cassimire, shares what happened at this year’s Caribbean Internet Governance forum. The 10th edition of the Caribbean Internet Governance Forum (CIGF) was held at the Atlantis, Paradise Island Resort in The Bahamas from 6th to 8th August 2014. The CIGF is a regional, multi-stakeholder forum which was initiated by the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat in 2005 in order to coordinate a regional approach to Internet Governance issues for the final session of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Tunis that year. The CIGF has since been convened annually by the CTU and lays claim to being the first such regional forum in the world, all others having been convened after the initial global Internet Governance Forum in 2006.

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Internet Governance Affects Us All

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We recently attended the IGF-USA in Washington, DC and it got us thinking about why it is important for the ARIN community members to be involved with what is happening with the Internet as a whole. Here are three things that are important to us as users of the Internet and part of ARIN and the global Internet community. All Internet users should probably put these issues on their radar too. Evolution of the Internet governance ecosystem is occurring. With the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) preparing to turn over oversight of the IANA stewardship functions to the multistakeholder community, there is a huge effort underway to determine a replacement that meets the requirements of the US government and more importantly the global Internet community’s needs for a healthy Internet.

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Gearing up for IGF-USA

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It isn’t news that the Internet community is living in interesting times. Since the NTIA announced its intention to transition oversight of the IANA functions to the global multistakeholder community in March of this year, the debate has been fast and furious. At ICANN 50 in June the panels on the transition process and the larger issue of ICANN accountability were among the most heavily attended sessions on the agenda. While discussion in ICANN continues, we are heading into the Internet Governance Forum USA (IGF-USA) on 16 July, when thought leaders from across the US Internet community will meet at George Washington University for this full-day event, from 8:30 AM to 7:00 PM.

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Discussing Governance of the Internet

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The Internet is a victim of its own success due to its complex, global nature. At first the Internet was just made to work, but now it is growing up. Governments are wondering how to fulfill their traditional responsibilities and how to deal with this technology that has transformed almost every aspect of our world.

At the most recent NANOG meeting, an expert panel touched on the subject of Internet governance from an outline of current events to how to get involved. The focus of panel landed on transitioning the oversight of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions.

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2014 WTDC – Looking Forward

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The 2014 World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC), centered on the theme of Broadband for Sustainable Development, came to a successful conclusion on 10 April in Dubai, UAE. The general tenor of the conference was one of collaboration and open dialogue amongst attendees. The Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) were fully represented and involved.

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