On February 5, USCIB members took part as the House Energy and Commerce Committee hosted a joint committee hearing on “Fighting for Internet Freedom: Dubai and Beyond.” The hearings focused on developments at last December’s World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT), which saw a split over a proposed treaty that some, including the United States and a number of other countries, saw as sanctioning greater government involvement in the management of the global Internet.

At the hearings, all House members present expressed support for the U.S. government’s decision not to sign the WCIT treaty because it included provisions that would subject the Internet to international regulation, according to Barbara Wanner, USCIB’s vice president for information, communications and technology (ICT) policy.

“There were bipartisan expressions of support for a draft bill that would affirm U.S. policy as supporting an Internet that is ‘stable, secure, and free of government control,’ and governed through a multi-stakeholder model involving dialogue on Internet policy among government, business, civil society, academia, and the technical community,” Wanner said. The bill has not yet been formally introduced, with Congressional staff seeking to secure as many principal sponsors and co-sponsors from both parties as possible.

All of the witnesses, which included Ambassador David Gross, chair of USCIB’s ICT Policy Committee and a partner at Wiley Rein LLP, said the proposed legislation would serve as a powerful statement of U.S. commitment to policies aimed at ensuring that the Internet does not come under the purview of international regulations. The witnesses, all of whom participated in the WCIT, said that last year’s bipartisan support in Congress for a non-binding resolution supporting an Internet unregulated by inter-governmental agencies had a substantial impact on treaty negotiations, according to Wanner. Countries understood the U.S. negotiating posture and ultimately why the U.S. could not sign the WCIT treaty, since it so clearly flew in the face of principles supported by the Congress.

Wanner said the witnesses underscored that those seeking to subject Internet governance to international regulations would use the upcoming World Telecommunications Policy Forum and World Summit on the Information Society forum, to be held this May in Geneva, to try to build momentum in favor of expanding the role of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in Internet governance at November’s ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in Busan, South Korea. The so-called ITU Plenipot, held every four years, is the top policy-making body of the ITU.

In his testimony, which he delivered in his personal capacity as the former top U.S. official on global Internet policy, Ambassador Gross outlined funding problems faced by the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), which for the past seven years has served as the principal venue for multi-stakeholder dialogue on Internet policy and governance. He proposed that if the U.S. government’s goal is to ensure continued multi-stakeholder governance of the Internet, then the United States needs to join business and other governments in providing financial support to the IGF.

Sally Shipman Wentworth, senior manager with the Internet Society, concurred that the IGF warrants greater support because it plays an invaluable role in helping to build not only technical capacity but also “human capacity” in developing countries. The IGF needs more plentiful and stable funding to enable outreach and engagement to developing countries who may prove invaluable allies as the debate on Internet governance ratchets up in the events leading up to the 2014 ITU Plentipot, Wentworth suggested.

In addition to Gross and Wentworth, witnesses included FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell, Harold Feld, senior vice president with Public Knowledge, and Bitange Ndemo, permanent secretary in the Kenyan information and communications ministry, who, befitting the occasion, participated via the Internet.

All formal testimony presented at the hearing is available by clicking here.

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The open and free nature of the Internet has helped to fuel tremendous economic activity in developed and developing countries alike. The keys to ensuring its continued success as a driver of development and innovation lie in a multi-stakeholder approach to governance, and in liberalized telecommunications markets – not in government regulation.

This was the main message delivered by Ambassador Terry Kramer, the head of the U.S. delegation for the upcoming World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT), at a USCIB briefing today in Washington, D.C. Kramer discussed preparations for the WCIT, which will be held December 3-14 in Dubai, with USCIB members and other interested parties at the event, which was hosted by David Gross, a partner with Wiley Rein LLP and chair of USCIB’s Information, Technology and Communications Committee.

Kramer discussed the latest U.S. submission to WCIT, a treaty conference held under the auspices of the UN’s International Telecommunication Union (ITU). He also explored the state of play concerning proposals aimed at increasing ITU control over Internet governance.

Citing figures showing that, in recent years, the highest average annual growth rates for Internet use have been in Africa (30 percent) and Asia (17 percent), as compared to lower growth in Europe (10 percent) and the United States (4 percent), Kramer said U.S. negotiators will have a very compelling argument at WCIT that the Internet is not the sole province of the United States. In fact, emerging economies have benefited the most from their ability to freely access cyberspace.

Certain developed and developing economies have supported proposals aimed at generating revenue from content transmitted online from a sending party, as well as giving governments a greater hand in managing internet traffic. Kramer said the U.S. delegation will strongly oppose both proposals. The former, which amounts to a tax in the Internet, would have the effect of stifling Internet-generated economic activity in many developing countries, while the latter represents a very slippery slope toward online censorship, he said.

Kramer stressed that a treaty negotiation like WCIT, which potentially could result in revised, binding International Telecommunications Regulations (ITRs), is not the appropriate place to address the issues driving these proposals, which include financing broadband build outs and addressing spam, hacking, and other security-related challenges. Rather, these issues are best dealt with in appropriate global forums that enable dialogue and input from multiple stakeholders.

Kramer acknowledged that all parties concerned want a forward-looking successful outcome to WCIT – which may not be easy to realize given complexity and divergent nature of the proposals. He said he favors an approach aimed at identifying opportunities for success. Further discussion of problematic proposals would then be pursued in other non-treaty forums.

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USCIB and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) will use their presence at the 7th annual Internet Governance Forum (IGF) on November 6-9 in Baku, Azerbaijan to reinforce the value of a multi-stakeholder approach to public policy development around the Internet and enhanced cooperation in stimulating economic growth.

Jean-Guy Carrier, secretary general of the ICC on behalf of ICC’s Business Action to Support the Information Society (BASIS) initiative, delivered a key message that stakeholders must collaborate more fully in order to bring about the positive policy changes needed to deliver open trade and Internet investment to enhance future economic growth and maintain the free flow of information online.

“There is a clear and positive correlation between investment in the Internet and the growth of economic activity,” he said. “To truly capitalize on this potential for economic growth, cooperation needs to be facilitated and promoted across the whole spectrum of organizations addressing Internet-related issues, including those that are private sector-led, multi-stakeholder and intergovernmental.”

Addressing approximately 1,700 business leaders, government officials, Internet technical experts, and civil society representatives attending this year’s IGF, Mr. Carrier said: “Business feels more strongly than ever that open trade and investment, respect for the rule of law and regulatory predictability, provide a path to growth and job creation. What’s more, bridging borders through global trade and the economic ties made possible by the Internet, has lifted millions of people out of poverty and contributed to improving living standards around the globe.”

Every year at the IGF, ICC’s BASIS serves as the voice of global business in the international dialogue on how the Internet and ICTs can better serve as engines of economic growth and social development. It is ICC’s’ longstanding belief that the IGF’s unique format and founding principles should be protected to ensure that genuine progress continues to be made towards addressing some of the most important global economic and social Internet issues.

David Gross, chair of USCIB’s Information, Communications and Technology (ICT) Committee and partner at Wiley Rein LLP, will be a featured speaker, providing the business perspective on a plenary panel exploring “Managing Critical Internet Resources.” In addition, Joseph Alhadeff, vice president of global public policy and chief privacy officer of Oracle Corporation and chair of Information, Computer and Communication (ICCP) Committee for BIAC, the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD, will contribute his considerable expertise on global privacy policy to a plenary session, “Security, Openness, and Privacy,” which will examine issues affecting security and openness of the Internet as it relates to human rights and access to knowledge. Barbara Wanner, USCIB’s vice president of ICT policy, will also attend the IGF.

Click here to read more on ICC’s website.

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