INTERNET : COMMISSION CALLS FOR REFORM OF INTERNET GOVERNANCE.

The European Commission finds that the ICANN(1) - the private US-based body responsible for coordinating key elements of the internet - should be obliged to report to the internet community as a whole and not just to a single government. Indeed, the US government is the only body with formal oversight of ICANN's policies since its inception in 1998. The expiry of the joint project agreement between ICANN and the US Trade Department on 30 September 2009 gives the Commission the opportunity to seek more transparency and multilateral responsibility in internet governance. It details its analysis in a communication adopted on 18 June(2).

The Commission recommends discussions with its international partners on these issues, in particular on ways of improving the internet's reaction capacities in case of accidental failure or deliberate attack. "The starting point for these discussions should be the need to maintain private sector leadership in all matters of the day-to-day management of the internet. The multi-stakeholder process must also be encouraged wherever possible," it writes.

"The vast majority of internet users do not participate in ICANN activities," notes the Commission. "There is therefore a need to ensure that ICANN is accountable externally to the global internet community, which in the first instance (partly by virtue of the absence of alternatives in many countries) means being accountable externally to the governments of the various countries of the world."

The EU's initiative of creating its own domain name (.eu) has met with huge success, with more than three million .eu sites registered to date. However, ...