The Internet has come a long way from its early days as a simple communication protocol, to the highly political space that it has now become: a powerful influence in world social and economic affairs—but with practically no global policy frameworks to govern it. With political and business interests increasingly gaining control of it these days, the Internet’s potential as a tool to “push forward a neo-liberal world order that serves dominant interests” should not be ignored.
IT for Change, a Bangalore-based NGO, urges developing countries and civil society to challenge market-driven Internet control by participating in a “Framework Convention on the Internet” to be taken up at the First Meeting of Internet Governance Forum in Athens, Greece in October 2006. The Convention's main goals are: (1) to challenge the primarily business-led vision of the Internet, by putting forward a development agenda; and (2) to establish its character as an essential social infrastructure that should be driven by the political vision for the emerging information society laid by the recent World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).
“Internet Governance (IG) needs to be driven by public interest, overriding commercial or business interests, but also facilitating free and fair trade and commerce.”
“The IGF is the space to carry on from where we left off at the WSIS. Translating the political vision for the information society into the basis and mechanisms of governance of its central infrastructure, the Internet, is one of the most important unfinished tasks.” (IT for Change)
Contact:
For any clarifications or further information, please contact Parminder Jeet Singh, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
http://www.ITforChange.net
Source:
*A Development Agenda for Internet Governance- Call for a ‘Framework Convention on the Internet’ Paper contributed by IT for Change, a Bangalore based NGO, to the UN’s Internet Governance Forum, for its first meeting in Athens in October, 2006.
Pdf file posted on http://itforchange.net/mambo/content/view/126/1/
Related site:
Internet Governance Forum – Greece 2006 http://www.igfgreece2006.gr/
FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON THE INTERNET
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