Internet Studies

Here is a summary and my thought on Internet Governance - A Primer by Akash Kapur.

What is “Internet Governance”?

There is a conceptual confusion as to what Internet Governance means. Should it be approached in a pure technical way or also include the social, legal and economic consequences. Secondly, how can you have one government to rule the Internet in all the countries in the world? And thirdly, would existing organisations suffice or will we need a new system?

Internet Governance Issues by Layers

The Internet can be broken into three layers with each having different matters that need to be addressed:

• Infrastructure Layer—the technical architecture of the network.
• Logical Layer—administration of IP allocations and the Domain Name System as well as the software programs and protocols.
• Content Layer—what the web suers contribute and on this level, we would like to resolve issues concerning cybercrime. Intellectual properties rights and pollution control (for example spam emails)

The Internet is so difficult to govern due to its infrastructure that there isn’t one central server and that every node has equal rights to be able to contribute to the Internet content.

My thoughts on these issues so far are:
The Internet purpose when it started was to enable information sharing between scholars; which is what I believe is the biggest advantage to its success. When you think of it, it is a contradiction to military concept of control of information and knowledge from the top on a need to know bases. But it didn’t take DARPA long to disconnect their network from the Internet one once it expanded into public domain.

These ideas are important to acknowledge because the internet’s success does, to a significant extent depend on its free and open culture…. (Page 7)

Back to the Primer…

The Infrastructure Layer

In this context we need to look at three levels of Internet access providers: international, national and local (regional) service providers. There are no international regulations and developing countries suffer due to high costs and no financial gain to small business in developing the infrastructure in regional areas. Also, lack of content stored on local servers increases the costs of international connectivity. By having a governing body in place, we can ensure better development of the network infrastructure in undeserved areas to provide universal access to all.

The Logical Layer

Without standards specifications, the Internet can be developed by private organisations using proprietary specifications that will restrict the openness and interoperability of the Internet and its components. A good example is the browser standards wars a few years ago when some web sites worked (and some still are) only on Internet Explorer browser.

Furthermore, the management of the Domain name System is entrusted in the hands of ICANN, which functions under the US government and apparently favours some industries over others. This management should be done by a neutral apolitical organisation.

The Content Layer

Internet pollution is a general term that refers to illegal and harmful actions such as spam emails, viruses, spyware and more. These reduce the level of trust of the average user in the network even more.
Other issues in this layer involve identity theft, cybercrime, financial fraud, security attacks, copyright issues and more. Another issue is the criminal liability of service providers.

Link: Akash Kapur (2005), Internet Governance: A Primer, UNDP-APDIP