Internet Governance or Internet Control?

Controlling the Internet has for a long time been the privilege of academics in the
USA. However, with the evolution of the Internet as the world communication
medium of the 21st century and the world-wide-web providing the infrastructure for
business and public services in the digital era, the stakes have risen dramatically.
The value of the Internet is nowadays considered extremely important in a number
of key areas of public life ranging from business, law, local and central government
to international politics. Various proposals as to who should be responsible for
controlling or even policing the Internet have been considered and debated upon
over the past few years. The issue has been raised at an unprecedented level with
governments of the most powerful countries on the planet locked in serious and
longstanding diplomatic negotiations as to which of the super powers should be in
control. Yet the less powerful and smaller nations have repeatedly called for the
establishment of an international organization to guarantee independent control of
the Internet. This paper considers the above two proposals and attempts to answer
the following questions: a) Do single countries deserve the right of having absolute
control and acting as the sole guardian of the ultimate communication medium? b)
Would an international organization be the answer? If so, how independent can it be
and how much security can it offer to the smaller nations and the individual user?
The study of each case is performed on the basis of what criteria would apply in
terms of legal framework adopted, transparency of procedures and degree of
acceptance of the controlling body on a world wide basis. The ultimate question
raised is: can the guardian be trusted and if so how widespread this trust would be?
The results of the first internet governance forum meeting in Athens in 2006 and the
aims of the second due in Rio de Janeiro in November 2007 are also discussed.

Citation:
7. Pimenidis E. (2009) Internet Governance or Internet Control?, International Journal of Information Science and Management (IJISM), Vol. 7, No.1 ISSN 1726-8125, pp. 67-78..