INTRODUCTION TO

INTERNET GOVERNANCE

Mr. Vincent MUSEMINALI (MA, MSc)

Tuesday, 03.09.2024
 Definition of IG
Internet
• 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 programs that shape
the evolution and use of the Internet.
Evolution of IG
• DARPA Net (Defence Advanced Research Projects
Agency) was initiated in the late 1960
• TCP/IP was invented in mid-1970s
• The IETF was established in 1986
• ICANN was formed in 1998
… cont. (Evolution of IG)
• The World Summit on Information Society (WSIS)
[2003-2005]
• WSIS 2003 in Geneva covered a broad range of topics,
and the topic on IG was not resolved.
• WGIG was formed and had a mandate to deliver a
report to be used for next WSIS by end of 2004
• WSIS 2005 in Tunis adopted a definition for IG,
established the
• IGF, and established the MAG
• Global IGFs and Continuous Reviews of the WSIS
• Process [2006 - Today]
Internet Governance Timeline
Generic Baskets of IG
• Infrastructure and Standardization
• Legal
• Economic
• Development
• Sociocultural
Infrastructure and Standardization
ØThe first group includes the essential issues without
which the Internet and the World Wide Web could not
exist
• Telecommunications infrastructure (wired, wireless)
• Internet technical standards and services (DNS,TCP/IP)
• Content and applications standards (HTML and XML)
Infrastructure and Standardization
(cont’d)
• The second group consists of issues related to
safeguarding the secure and stable operation of the
Internet infrastructure and includes cybersecurity,
encryption, and spams.
The Telecom Infrastructure
• Internet data can travel over a diverse range of
communication media such telephone lines, fibre optic
cables, satellites, microwaves, wireless links, and
electric grids.
• Telecommunication is regulated at both the national
level and the international level
• National level via Telecommunication Regulatory
Authorities
• International level via the ITU and the WTO
Technical Standards (TCP/IP)
• Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol
• Two important aspects from an IG perspective:
üIntroducing new standards
üDistribution of IP numbers
• TCP/IP standards are guarded by the IETF.
• Any changes to TCP/IP require extensive prior
discussion and proof that they are an effective solution.
Distribution of IP Addresses
Lack of IPv4 Addresses
• IPv4 addresses sum up to close to more than 4 billion
addresses (2 to power 32 to be more precise)
• With more than 2.5 billion Internet users and billions of
devices, the IPv4 pool is close to getting exhausted
• NATing and CIDR have been some solutions to better
utilize the pool of IPv4 addresses
• The solution is the adoption of IPv6 which offers more
than 340 trillion trillion trillion addresses (2 to power
128 addresses to be more precise)
Migrating to IPv6
• The uptake of IPv6 has been quite low
• Lack of backward compatibility between IPv4 and IPv6
has been a main issue, and so tunnelling is used
• Many old devices do not support IPv6
• IPv4 and IPv6 are expected to co-exist for years
• Proper IPv6 allocation policies must be set to ensure
proper and fair distribution of v6 addresses
Cybersecurity Issues
• When TCP/IP was initially designed, cybersecurity issues were
not taken into account since the Internet was restricted to
academia
• IPv6 has introduced some security extensions, yet they are not
comprehensive
• As the Internet is being used for audio/video streaming, real-
time streaming, and VoIP, guaranteeing TCP/IP Quality of
Service (QoS) is very essential
The Domain Name System (DNS)
• Consists of root-servers, top-level domains (TLDs) and
their respective servers, and DNS servers scattered
around the world
• TLDs are either gTLDs, sTLDs, or ccTLDs
• gTLDs – Generic TLDs such as .com, .net, .org
• sTLDs – Sponsored TLDs tailored for specific uses or
communities such as .aero, .int, .asia
• ccTLDs – Country Code TLDs such as .rw, .ae, .jo, .qa
The RRR Model
• Registry, Registrar, and Registrant
• Registry – The entity managing the TLD (RICTA,
VeriSign, NeuStar, Afilias,ARI Services, Nominet,
deNIC,… etc.)
• Registrars – Sales channels of domain names
(GoDaddy,… etc.)
• Registrants – Any person or entity interested in
registering a domain name
New gTLDs
• First round introduced in 200, second round introduced 2005,
and third round introduced in 2012
• First 2 rounds had a small number of applications, and on
each occasions 5-6 new strings would be introduced to the
root
• The New gTLD program of 2012 is by far the largest
expansion to the DNS since its inception 1,930 applications
representing 1,420 unique strings
• 116 applications for non-ASCII names (IDNs)
• A mixture of closed applications (trademarks) vs. open
applications (generic names)
 Types of TLDs
• Generic TLDs (.com, .org, .net)
üFor TLDs delegated prior to 2013, policies were developed
by the Internet community
üFor TLDs as part of the 2012 New gTLD program, policies
are developed by respective applicants
• Country Code TLDs (.rw, .ae, .jo, .us, .uk)
üPolicies developed by the respective country
• Generic IDNs
üIntroduced as part of the 2012 New gTLD program
• Country Code IDNs ( . ,. ‫اﻣﺎرات‬., ‫اﻻردن‬भारत)
üPolicies developed by the respective country
Regional TLD Organizations
• APTLD (Asia Pacific)
• CENTR (Europe)
• AfTLD (Africa)
• LACTLD (Latin America and the Caribbean)
Root Servers
• 13 different naming conventions (A-M)
üNot 13 different servers, but rather 13 different naming
conventions with each one managed by one entity
• 385 different instances scattered around the world with
the L root being the most dominant with 145 instances
• A good source for such information can be found at
http://root-servers.org/
• Alternative root-servers (Alt-root) do exist where a
different set of TLDs exist. Requires additional software
plug-ins to re-route to.
Network Neutrality
• The concept of treating all sorts of traffic online equally
üThose in favour of this concept base their claims on the
idea that “All bits must be treated equally”
üThose against this concept base their request on the
fact that some traffic could be given higher priority over
others e.g. Delays in VoIP traffic could affect the quality
of a voice call, while a delay of a couple of seconds for
an email delivery is no harm
Content and Applications Standards
(Web Standards)
• The Internet is the medium to share information, but how
can this information be viewed by the end user?
üTim Berners-Lee and his colleagues at CERN invented
HTML
üHTML was good for viewing text and images, but what
about the ever increasing demand for other sorts of
content (database connectivity, videos, voice…)
üXML and other forms of mark up languages were devised
to move forward
• The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is the body that
develops web applications standards
 Cloud Computing
• Shifting data from local hard disks to servers online
• Concept started with major online service providers such
Google, Yahoo!, Facebook, Twitter… etc.
• Has its advantages and disadvantages. Advantages include
being mobile, and being a more open platform for data
exchange. Disadvantages include privacy issues and the
need for more robust and resilient Internet connectivity.
 Cybersecurity
• The Internet was initially developed for academic usage,
and so security was not a concern back then
• With the expansion of the Internet and the need to serve
an ever growing number of users, security has become a
concern
• Many countries are developing local cyber-legislations, and
some countries are working on developing regional
initiatives
• The ITU has the International Multilateral Partnership
Against Cyber Threats (IMPACT); a global cybersecurity
initiative that deploys solutions and services to combat
cyber-threats
Encryption
• Back in the days, and due to the ever-rising security
concerns online and the lack of tools to address them,
encryption was a good solution
• Was in the hands of mainly governments, and was quite
expensive to purchase and implement
Approaches to Legal Aspects
• There are two approaches when it comes to
implementing law online:
1. Use the current laws; i.e. what is used offline can be
used online. The issue here is that no one-size-fits-all
2. Use a more cyber law approach that is tailored to the
online world. The issue here is that such laws would
need to cope with the explosive growth and expansion of
the Internet and the services it provides.
Legal Instruments
• National and Community Legal Instruments
üLegislation
üSocial Norms (Customs)
üSelf-Regulation
üJurisprudence
• International Legal Instruments
üInternational Private Law vs. International Public Law
ü International Private Law
ü International Public Law
üInternational Conventions
üInternational Customary Law
National and Community Legal Instruments
• Legislation
üConsists of rules and sanctions, and is all binding
• Social Norms (Customs)
üThey are enforced by the community through peer-to-peer
pressure
• Self-Regulation
üIs similar to social norms, but is based on an explicit and well
organized set of rules
• Jurisprudence
üMost legal cases concerning the Internet are solved through
analogies
International Legal Instruments
• International Private Law
üResolves legal disputes involving individuals and
institutions from different national jurisdictions
• International Public Law
üRegulates relations between nation states such as
telecommunication regulations, human rights
conventions, international trade treaties… etc.
• International Conventions
üDeveloped by umbrella organizations such as the
United Nations. One good example is the ITRs
International Legal Instruments
• International Customary Law
üIncludes two elements: general practice, and
recognition that such practice is legally binding. Best
example is ccTLDs and gTLDs
Arbitration and the Internet
• Here, decisions are made by one or more independent
individuals chosen by the disputants
• Provides a faster, simpler, and cheaper way of settling
disputes.
• One good example of arbitration in the online world is
the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Process
(UDRP).
ügTLDs are enforced to use this process to resolve
disputes
üSome ccTLDs use this either as is, or customize it is
based on national laws and regulations
 Trademarks
• Trademarks are relevant to the Internet because of the
registration of domain names
• Cybersquatting is the practice of registering names of
companies and selling them later at a higher price
• When ICANN was formed in 1998, one of the first tasks it
was asked to undertake was to develop and implement a
mechanism for the protection of trademarks in the field of
domain names.
üThe UDRP was developed by WIPO and was introduced by
ICANN as an answer to this request.
Cybercrime
• Cybercrime is defined as all crimes committed via the
Internet and computer systems, and would include a
broader range of crimes such as computer-related
fraud, infringements of copyright, child pornography,
and network security
• In combating cybercrime, there is a thin line with
human rights and privacy issues; mainly when ones
computer has to be investigated
Data Protection and Privacy
• Data protection is a legal mechanism that ensures
privacy
• Privacy is the right of any citizen to control their own
personal information and to decide about it (to disclose
information or not)
• Privacy is a fundamental human right
• The Internet is heavily being used today for all sorts of
transactions. And due to the routing of traffic across
many nodes, protecting data and maintaining privacy
across various borders is hard to attain
The Economic Basket (E-Commerce)
• The production, distribution, marketing, sale, or
delivery of goods and services by electronic means
• The importance of e-commerce is illustrated by the title
of the document that initiated the reform of Internet
governance and established ICANN; i.e. “Framework for
Global Electronic Commerce”
• Many countries have been developing a regulatory
environment for e-commerce
• Laws have been adopted in the fields of digital
signatures, dispute resolution, cybercrime, customer
protection, and taxation
Types of e-commerce
• Business-to-consumer (B2C) – The most familiar
type of e-commerce. An example is amazon.com
• Business-to-business (B2B) – Economically the
most intensive, comprising over 90% of all e-commerce
transactions
• Business-to-government (B2G) – Highly important
in the area of procurement policy.
• Consumer-to-consumer (C2C) – Such as eBay
auctions
E-Commerce
• Consumer trust is one of the main preconditions for the
success of e-commerce
• E-commerce regulation should protect customers in a
number of areas:
üOnline handling of payment card information
üMisleading advertising
üDelivery of defective products
 Digital Signature
• Digital signatures are linked to the authentication of
individuals on the Internet
• The main challenge here is to create a new regulatory
environment in which most have no practical experience
• Approaches to the regulation of digital signatures:
üThe minimalist approach – E-signatures cannot be denied
because they are in electronic form.
ühe maximalist approach – Specifies a framework and set of
procedures for digital signatures, including cryptography and
the use of public key identifiers
üA combination of the above two – E-signatures are
recognized, but with cryptography, they are stronger legally.
E-Banking
• Involves the use of the Internet to conduct
conventional banking operations, such as card
payments or fund transfers
• Provides advantages to customers by introducing new
services and reducing the costs of transactions
• Issues related to the governance of e-banking
ü “Virtual” banks posses issues related to licensing since
they are “borderless”
üSecurity issues
üCustomer protection at the international level
E-Money
• Associated with so-called smart cards issued by
companies such as Visa and American Express
• Its characteristics include it being stored electronically,
transferred electronically, and transactions involve a
complex system of the issuer, the network operator, and
a clear transaction
• Mobile money (m-money) is another form of e-money
that is transferred over mobile phones
The Development Basket, ICT for
Development
• The term “ICT for Development (aka ICT4D)” has been
one of the hottest topics within the past couple of years
• Developing a proper telecommunication and Internet
infrastructure is key for the developing and least
developed countries to develop their economies
• The term “Internet Governance for Development (aka
IG4D)” has emerged of late WSIS and the IG process does
promote access of all countries to information, knowledge,
and communication technologies for development
The Digital Divide
• The digital divide can be defined as the gap between
those who have access and capabilities to use ICT and
the Internet, and those who do not.
• Digital divide exists within the same country, between
different countries, between rural and urban
populations, between the young and the elders, as well
as between men and women.
Telecom and Internet Infrastructures
• While infrastructure is well developed in North American
and Europe, other regions of the world are less developed
in this context
üSubmarine cables are being installed at various under-
served regions
üSmall remote islands face connectivity issues, and rely on
expensive satellite connectivity
• Introduction of Internet Exchange points (IXPs) can
resolve issues related to transit of local traffic to remain
local
Initiatives for Development
• The infrastructural aspect of the digital divide has been the
focus of the ITU through its ITU-D
• After WSIS, the Digital Solidarity Fund was established in
Geneva as an independent foundation mainly supported by
cities and local authorities worldwide
• Other sources of funding include the UNDP and the World
Bank
• Initiatives such as the “One Laptop per Child” have been
undertaken in various parts of the world
• ISOC’s initiative with the AUC to develop IXPs around Africa
is another good example
Brain Drain
• Brain Drain is defined as the move of skilled labour to
the developed world in search of a better life
• Considered a main obstacle hindering the development
of developing and least-developing countries
• One approach to reverse this dilemma is outsourcing
ICT tasks to developing countries. One good example is
India.
What is Needed to Initiate ICT4D?
• The gradual de-monopolization of the telecommunication
market
üHaving a strong telecommunication regulatory authority,
üTelecom operators and ISPs are suggested to be privately
owned and not owned by the state
• Introduction of Internet-related laws
üCovering copyright, privacy, e-commerce, etc.
• The granting of access to all without restrictions
The Sociocultural Basket (The
Impact of the Internet)
• The Internet has made a considerable impact on the
social and cultural fabric of modern society
• Introduces new patterns of social communication
• Breaks down language barriers
• Creates new forms of creative expressions
The Internet and Human Rights
• Privacy
• Freedom of expression
• The right to receive information
• Various rights protecting cultural, linguistic and minority
diversity
• The right to education
Internet Governance Actors
• Governments
üPolicy authority for Internet-related public policy issues
(including international aspects
• The Business Sector (Private Sector)
üThe development of the Internet, both in the technical
and economic fields
• Civil Society
üHave an important role on Internet matters, especially
at the community level
• Technical Community and Academia
Internet Governance Actors, cont.
• International Organizations
üThe development of Internet-related technical standards
and relevant policies
üExamples include ICANN, ISOC, IETF, IAB… etc.
• Inter-Governmental Organizations
üThe coordination of Internet-related public policy issues
üExamples include ITU, UNESCO,UNCTAD… etc.
Governments
• During the early days of WSIS and IG, it was mainly
governments involved in the process; mostly ICT
ministries and those involved with the ITU
• Moving forward, ICT ministers realized that other
governmental bodies had to be included in the process
such as Culture,Media, Economy, and Justice.
The Business (Private) Sector
• The main players include:
üDomain name companies (Registries and Registrars)
üISPs
üTelecommunication companies (Internet Infrastructure)
üSoftware developers (W3C and IETF)
ü Internet content companies (Google, Yahoo!, Facebook)
Civil Society
• Has been the most vocal and active promoter of a
multi-stakeholder approach to Internet governance
Internet Society (ISOC)
• Engages in a wide spectrum of Internet issues,
including policy, governance, technology, and
development
• Have chapters all around the world
• Provide online training as well as physical training
• Develop lots of content and materials
• More at http://www.internetsociety.org/
IETF
• Internet Engineering Task Force
• A large, open, and international community of folks
concerned with the evolution of the Internet
architecture
• Work is done via working groups, and mostly happens
over mailing lists
• Hold 3 annual meetings
• The Internet Architecture Board (IAB) is a committee of
the IETF
• More at http://www.ietf.org/
ICANN
• Coordinates the Critical Internet Resources (CIR);
domain names and IP addresses
• Maintains one of the root-servers (L-root)
• Holds 3 annual meetings around the globe
• Develops Internet related policies in a bottom-up,
consensus-driven, multi-stakeholder model
ICANN GOVERNANCE
 ICANN/ IANA
• The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and
Numbers (ICANN) is a non for profit organisation
coordinating the Domain Name System (DNS), Internet
Protocol (IP) addresses, space allocation, protocol
identifier assignment, generic (gTLD) and country code
(ccTLD) Top-Level Domain name system management,
and root server system management functions.
• The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) is
responsible for the global coordination of the DNS Root, IP
addressing, and other Internet protocol resources such as
IP numbers or addresses.
 ICANN/ IANA
•IANA manages the global pool of
Internet numbers (Internet Protocols
IPs and Autonomous System Numbers
ASNs) and distributes them among the
five regional Internet registries (RIRs).

•
ITU Internet Policy and Governance
•Plenipotentiary Resolution 101, Rev. Bucharest, 2022
Internet Protocol-based networks
•Plenipotentiary Resolution 102, Rev. Bucharest, 2022
ITU's role with regard to international public policy issues
pertaining to the Internet and the management of Internet
resources, including domain names and addresses
•Plenipotentiary Resolution 133, Rev. Bucharest, 2022
Role of administrations of Member States in the management of
internationalized (multilingual) domain names
ITU Internet Policy and Governance
•Plenipotentiary Resolution 179, Rev. Bucharest, 2022
ITU's role in child online protection

•Plenipotentiary Resolution 180, Rev. Bucharest, 2022

Promoting deployment of Internet Protocol version 6

•Plenipotentiary Resolution 206, Dubai, 2018

OTTs
Global IGF
• The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) was set up by
the United Nations following on the working sessions of
the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).
The Internet Governance Forum is an annual platform
for multi-stakeholder consultation for the global
Internet fraternity to explore, discuss and solve crucial
Internet-related issues. Since 2006, the IGF brings
stakeholders together from the government sector, the
Industry, and the Civil Society to discuss Internet
governance issues at annual meetings.
Regional IGFs
• The Regional Internet Governance Forums (IGF) are
multi-stakeholder platforms focusing on Internet
governance issues such as access, cyber security,
critical internet resources and Internet governance for
development (IG4D) specific to each sub region. The
outcome of these forums is shared at the Global IGF.
African IGF (AF-IGF)
• The Internet Governance space in Africa has been very
active during the WSIS process with regional meetings
held from 2002 to 2005 in Bamako, Accra, Addis Ababa,
Cairo, Johannesburg, Douala and Tunis.
• In 2012, over 200 participants attended the first AF-IGF
held in Cairo, Egypt.
• The 2nd African Internet Governance Forum was in
Kenya from 24-26 September 2013 at the Multimedia
University.
Arab IGF
• This multi-stakeholder forum consists of 22 Arab
nations. The Arab IGF was launched in 2012 following
the endorsement of the outcome of the Conference and
Public Consultations, jointly in Beirut, to establish the
Arab IGF.
EAIGF, FGI-CA
• The EAIGF regroups East African stakeholders to build a
common understanding of East Africa Internet
governance issues to enable meaningful participation in
global Internet policy, governance and development.
• This multi-stakeholder forum tackles several ICT related
themes and Internet governance issues in the Central
African region. The participating nations are:
Cameroun, Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, DR
Congo, Central Africa Republic and Chad.
West Africa Internet Governance
Forum (WAIGF)
• The West Africa Internet Governance Forum (WAIGF) aims to
promote Internet Governance issues in West Africa through a
multi-stakeholder process. It is run by a consortium led by the
Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa (FOSSFA).
Other members of the consortium include AFRINIC, Panos West
Africa, the IISD, APC, ISOC and the Economic Community of
West African States (ECOWAS). The Member states
participating in these forums are: Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory
Coast, The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra
Leone, and Togo.
AF*
• AF* are organisations that constitute the African
Internet ecosystem. The idea to set up the AF*
regrouping organisations supporting Internet
development in Africa dates back to December 1998. A
meeting held in Cotonou, Benin was organised where
African Internet pioneers debated on the theme of
Internet Governance in Africa. This was the First global
meeting on Internet governance to discuss Internet
governance issues in the Africa
AF*
• These organisations today constitute the ecosystem of
the African Internet. They cover the following areas:
Numbers (AFRINIC), Security ( AfGWG, AfricaCERT ),
Community and Policy (AIG, AfGWG), Capacity building
(All AF*), Research and Education (AfREN),
Infrastructure (AFPIF), Names (AfTLD). Other
organisations in Africa are emerging within the
ecosystem.
Global Digital Compact | Rev.3
• Objective 1. Closing all digital divides and accelerating progress
across the Sustainable Development Goals
• Objective 2. Expanding inclusion in and benefits from the
digital economy for all
• Objective 3. Fostering an inclusive, open, safe and secure
digital space that respects, protects and promotes human
rights
• Objective 4. Advancing responsible, equitable and
interoperable data governance approaches
• Objective 5. Enhance international governance of artificial
intelligence for the benefit of humanity
Conclusion
• There is an increased importance of the Internet for
all countries;
• Our mission is to defend the essential characteristics
of the Internet:
qits open architecture;
qits open and collaborative governance model;
• The challenges of investment, infrastructure,
regulation, capacity building, and governance are
deeply interlinked, requiring the commitment and
cooperation of stakeholders from across sectors,
nations, and regions.
Thank you
Group discussions
• WHO GOVERNS THE INTERNET?
• WHAT IS THE MULTISTAKEHOLDER PROCESS?
• WHAT IS THE CYBER DIPLOMACY?
• WHAT IS THE ROLE OF ICANN AND ITU IN INTERNET
GOVERNANCE?
• WHAT IS GLOBAL DIGITAL COMPACT AND WHAT
WOULD BE ITS OUTCOME?
• WHAT ARE THE MAIN STAKEHOLDERS OF INTERNET
GOVERNANCE IN RWANDA?