Brussels, 27/09/2011 (Agence Europe) - Digital Strategy Commissioner Neelie Kroes set out, at the Internet Governance Forum in Nairobi on 27 September, the factors necessary for sound internet governance. She supports a transparent and multi-party approach, where public authorities cooperate to provide legal security and to avoid conflict on the Web, fully respecting the interests of the internet community and shunning over-intrusive regulation. She said that international bodies, such as the Council of Europe, the G8 and the OECD must work to bring a degree of convergence to their visions. The European Union will contribute to the debate and the commissioner recalled her vision for internet governance. This is a vision she presented for the OECD on 28 June, at a high-level meeting on the internet economy. Seven “ingredients” are needed to ensure that the internet continues to have a positive effect in the world. These ingredients she gathers together in the logo “compact”: C for civic responsibility: we each have our responsibility on the Web, a responsibility which goes beyond the purely legalistic and leads us to act against harmful behaviour; O for one internet: the internet functions as a single unit, that is what allows it to thrive, so fragmentation must be avoided; M for multi-stakeholder governance of the internet: the involvement of all stakeholders in internet governance is essential (as is implied in the previous two headings); P for pro-democracy: with the right tools, such as open access to government information and platforms for collective action, the internet can become an instrument that supports democratic values; A for architecture matters: as new challenges emerge, changing the architecture, each model must be carefully examined to be aware of its implications; C for confidence of users: this is a prerequisite, hence the fundamental need to resolve all the issues related to personal data protection, child protection and cybercrime; and T for transparent governance: the role played by governments in particular must be transparent.
Kroes set out for the conference the work being done by the European Commission on security and personal data protection: the review of rules on personal data protection, an initiative on an information campaign on online bullying and child pornography and an internet security strategy to respond to cyber-threats. “The internet carries enormous potential for the future of our economy and society. For me, principles on the lines of the Internet Compact provide an inspiration, a lens through which to scrutinise proposals for shaping that future”, she said in conclusion. (IL/transl.rt)