Thursday, December 02, 2004
Governments Should Have Voice in Internet Governance,
says South African Minister
Cape Town
By Thrishni Subramoney
Highway Africa News Agency
South African Communications Minister, Dr. Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri has called on Internet authorities to allow governments of developing countries to have more of a say in how the Internet is governed.
Matsepe-Casaburri was officially welcoming delegates attending the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) conference, in Cape Town, South Africa today.
While the South African minister praised the global Internet organization (that manages Internet
addresses) for the lengths it has made in transforming itself, she also reminded delegates that from the perspective of African governments much still needed to be done.
“ICANN is transforming itself from a club of “haves” to include the “have-nots. The geographical
diversity of its offices and hopefully the creation of one in Africa soon is very encouraging,” she said.
However she added: “Names and numbers are important, but they are not the only concern. We need to create affordable Internet access in a legal environment.
South Africa is not anti-ICANN, but we have always been critical because governance structures have always skewed in favor of those who started the technology. Governments should have a greater voice in Internet governance.”
Matsepe-Casaburri's comments come on the heels of heated debate at the first UN Internet-related conference, the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) - held in Geneva in December last year.
Developing countries at WSIS argued that bodies that managed the Internet (like ICANN) were based mainly in the developed world and therefore representation from the developing world in Internet governance was largely absent.
A Working Group on Internet Governance was formed at WSIS to look at how the medium is governed and what role goverments should play (if any) in managing the medium.
Matsepe-Casaburri urged the Internet fundis from around the world attending the Cape Town gathering to also bear in mind what she sees as ICANN's challenges.
Among her concerns were a need for Internet governance structures to be more inclusive and “security and stability” in the medium. She cited the scourge of child pornography as one threat to security that needed to be dealt with firmly.
Answering the South African minister in his welcome address, ICANN President, Paul Twomey gave his assurance that one of the reasons that the conference was brought to Africa was to create engagement on Internet governance issues between the developed and developing worlds.
“ICANN is not about creating core access infrastructure, but we can ensure that there is a single, global, inter-operable Internet,” Twomey said.
“What ICANN can do is ensure that every new voice has access to the world and the world has access to every new voice.”
says South African Minister
Cape Town
By Thrishni Subramoney
Highway Africa News Agency
South African Communications Minister, Dr. Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri has called on Internet authorities to allow governments of developing countries to have more of a say in how the Internet is governed.
Matsepe-Casaburri was officially welcoming delegates attending the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) conference, in Cape Town, South Africa today.
While the South African minister praised the global Internet organization (that manages Internet
addresses) for the lengths it has made in transforming itself, she also reminded delegates that from the perspective of African governments much still needed to be done.
“ICANN is transforming itself from a club of “haves” to include the “have-nots. The geographical
diversity of its offices and hopefully the creation of one in Africa soon is very encouraging,” she said.
However she added: “Names and numbers are important, but they are not the only concern. We need to create affordable Internet access in a legal environment.
South Africa is not anti-ICANN, but we have always been critical because governance structures have always skewed in favor of those who started the technology. Governments should have a greater voice in Internet governance.”
Matsepe-Casaburri's comments come on the heels of heated debate at the first UN Internet-related conference, the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) - held in Geneva in December last year.
Developing countries at WSIS argued that bodies that managed the Internet (like ICANN) were based mainly in the developed world and therefore representation from the developing world in Internet governance was largely absent.
A Working Group on Internet Governance was formed at WSIS to look at how the medium is governed and what role goverments should play (if any) in managing the medium.
Matsepe-Casaburri urged the Internet fundis from around the world attending the Cape Town gathering to also bear in mind what she sees as ICANN's challenges.
Among her concerns were a need for Internet governance structures to be more inclusive and “security and stability” in the medium. She cited the scourge of child pornography as one threat to security that needed to be dealt with firmly.
Answering the South African minister in his welcome address, ICANN President, Paul Twomey gave his assurance that one of the reasons that the conference was brought to Africa was to create engagement on Internet governance issues between the developed and developing worlds.
“ICANN is not about creating core access infrastructure, but we can ensure that there is a single, global, inter-operable Internet,” Twomey said.
“What ICANN can do is ensure that every new voice has access to the world and the world has access to every new voice.”
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