Unclear if WTPF a Sign of Easier Consensus on Internet Issues, Experts Say

Pro-digital freedom group Access is pleased with the consensus at WTPF, said Jochai Ben-Avie, the group’s policy director. The conference’s documents included a report on Internet issues from ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré and a set of six opinions drafted by the ITU’s Informal Experts Group (IEG) on issues like encouraging broadband deployment and the use of Internet exchange points, “which are important subjects for the ITU to be working on,” Ben-Avie said. “We look forward to seeing how these opinions are implemented.” Meanwhile, concerns about a “digital Cold War paradigm” emerging from WCIT failed to materialize at WTPF, he said. “I feel we can see how much progress has been made with regards to consensus on the multistakeholder model and the legitimacy of non-government actors in Internet governance,” Ben-Avie said. “Even the representative from Iran felt the need to emphasize in his closing remarks that there ‘is no doubt’ that governments should ‘not have any role in the day-to-day management of the Internet.'"

While there was consensus at WTPF, it occurred because the IEG had drafted its six opinions during a “contentious” set of meetings, said Eli Dourado, a research fellow at George Mason University’s Mercatus Center and a member of the U.S.’s WTPF delegation. The authoritarian states that have favored more government involvement in Internet governance have also decided to change tactics after the U.S. and other liberal democracies took a hard line over the issue at WCIT; the authoritarian states are now “more incremental in approach,” Dourado said. “I wouldn’t interpret the outcome as a sign that future negotiations are going to be easier."

The delegations “seemed to want to put the rancor of Dubai behind them and engage in constructive discussions,” said Richard Beaird, senior international policy adviser at Wiley Rein and a guest at WTPF. Beaird was deputy head of the U.S. delegation to WCIT. WTPF was “a success in substance and tone,” with the U.S. being “particularly effective in setting a positive tone,” he said. “Let’s hope that this sets a positive basis for the difficult conferences coming in 2014.” The ITU is set to continue discussing telecom and Internet issues in the leadup to the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference, which is to meet Oct. 20-Nov. 7, 2014, in Busan, South Korea.

Milton Mueller, a member of the Internet Governance Project’s Scientific Committee, said he was concerned the WTPF consensus was part of a “process of co-opting the term ‘multistakeholder governance’ to mean ITU-type policy making where civil society and the private sector are allowed into the room or consulted with, but the final decisions are still made by governments.” Mueller said he favors Internet governance institutions that “directly involve Internet users, suppliers and individuals from government in deliberation and decision making."

Brazil proposed a seventh opinion at WTPF that in its final version emphasized that the multistakeholder Internet governance model needs to fully engage governments in the decision-making process, with the ITU playing an “active role” helping developing countries have an effective part in Internet governance. Brazil’s initial proposal was “quite problematic” because it emphasized the importance of governments in Internet governance and suggested “that the ITU was a multistakeholder institution and stated that the ITU must play a role in this policy arena without any regard for expertise and need,” Ben-Avie said. Brazil eventually submitted a clarified version that better reflected their intent -- “one which we're much less concerned about,” he said.

Brazil ultimately chose to withdraw the opinion from consideration and Touré said he would bring it to the ITU Council Working Group on international Internet-related public policy issues (CWG-Internet). Access is concerned about CWG-Internet taking up the opinion because it is an entirely intergovernmental body, rather than a multistakeholder venue, Ben-Avie said. Access believes the Internet Governance Forum or other multistakeholder fora would be a better venue to continue the discussion, he said. Touré said he would propose to CWG-Internet that the discussion of Brazil’s opinion be open to all stakeholders. But “just because Touré suggested openness doesn’t mean that member states will endorse it,” Ben-Avie said. “Much work will need to be done to hold Touré to his commitment and convince governments of the importance of openness, inclusivity and transparency."

Brazil’s proposal indicates that the role of governments in Internet governance will continue to be a major issue for the next few years, Dourado said. “It’s important that the discussion does not consist primarily of governments defining the role of governments,” he said. “I hope that inclusive and transparent processes are adopted by the relevant fora so that everyone can have input."

Many industry groups did not follow WTPF as closely as they did WCIT, including the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) and Public Knowledge. TIA chose not to attend WTPF because it wanted to conserve its resources for fora like the Plenipotentiary Conference that would have a bigger impact on policy outcomes, said Danielle Coffey, TIA’s general counsel and vice president-government affairs. The Plenipotentiary Conference “is definitely where we're going to be focusing a lot of our time and energy,” she said. U.S. industry groups were less focused on WTPF because once they had stepped away from the heightened interest that occurred because of WCIT and put the conference in perspective, they realized “it’s a marathon, it’s not a sprint,” Coffey said. TIA plans to meet with U.S. WTPF delegation head Daniel Sepulveda and deputy head Julie Zoller to see how the group can be helpful, she said. It’s important that U.S. industry continue to have a unified voice on these issues, Coffey said.

Public attention on ITU issues will increase once the Plenipotentiary Conference gets closer, Ben-Avie said. “I expect civil society will be focusing on this as well,” he said. “We plan to continue to engage at ITU fora.”