Internet Governance Forum 2006 Legal Workshop Summary Report …

Internet Governance Forum 2006
Legal Workshop
Summary Report

                                     WORKSHOP REPORT

             BUILDING LOCAL LEGAL CAPACITY ON INTERNET GOVERNANCE

                                 INTERNET GOVERNANCE FORUM
                                        Athens, Greece,
                                 29 October to 3 November 2006

         The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) was the principal outcome of the two-staged UN
World Summit on Information Society (WSIS), which culminated in Tunis in November, 2005.
More information about the IGF, including the agenda of plenary sessions and workshops, is
available at:       http://www.intgovforum.org/.  The IGF also had an official blog
(http://igf2006.intgovforum.org/)

       In addition to the four main substantive plenary sessions of the IGF (on "Openness,
Security, Access and Diversity), there were some 30 workshops on a variety of topics.
Following is a summary report, submitted to the IGF Secretariat of the workshop on Building
Local Legal Capacity on Internet Governance (Legal Workshop).

Organizers and Sponsors:

             · David Satola, Senior Counsel, the World Bank
             · Alfa-Redi www.alfa-redi.org/
             · Cyberspace Law Committee, Business Law Section, American Bar Association
               www.abanet.org/buslaw/home.shtml
             · Diplo Foundation www.diplomacy.edu/
             · Global Internet Policy Initiative www.internetpolicy.net/
             · Internet Society ­ Bulgaria www.isoc.bg/
             · Science and Technology Law Section, American Bar Association
               www.abanet.org/scitech/

Panelists:

               Name                  Organization
               Ang, Peng Hwa         Nanyang Technical University, Singapore
              Barrio, Fernando       London Metropolitan University
              Dandijou, Pierre       UNDP
              Dempsey, Jim           Center for Democracy
              Dorrain, Kristine      National Arbitration Forum
              Greve, Hanne Sophie    Court of Appeals, Norway
              Kurbalija ,Jovan       Diplo Foundation
              Markovsky, Veni        ISOC Bulgaria
              Satola, David          Moderator
              Tipson, Fred           Microsoft



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Legal Workshop
Summary Report



Agenda:

   1. Introduction: A brief survey of the legal dimensions of different aspects of Internet
      Governance issues (IP addressing, domain name policy, data privacy protection, network
      security, cybercrime, spam, intellectual property rights, e-commerce, competition,
      jurisdiction, access to infrastructure, freedom of expression and other human rights issues,
      consumer protection and related issues, etc.)

   2. Highlights of actions at the national level typically associated with Internet Governance ­
      which substantive areas are normally associated with national laws; examine different
      ways in which national legal frameworks develop (legislation, judicial decisions,
      regulatory acts, etc.) and how this process is linked to developments at the int'l level.

   3. Impact and effect of application of Public International Law on Internet Governance at
      the national level - the Human Rights Perspective

   4. Impact of other international "legal" initiatives relating to Internet Governance ­ Domain
      name dispute resolution

   5. Role and interrelationship of technical and industry standards on development of national
      and international legal frameworks.

   6. Country Case Studies:

           a. Bulgaria - Role of Public/Private Partnerships in building local capacity
           b. Latin America ­
           c. Singapore -

   7. How can the international public sector better manage the dialogue on developing
      "international law"?

   8. What are the real impediments preventing stakeholders in developing countries from
      participating in the international dialogue, and what concrete recommendations are there
      for addressing these issues?

Summary Report:

       There is an important legal dimension (at the national and international levels) to nearly
every aspect of Internet Governance (for example, privacy, intellectual property, trade,
cybercrime, freedom of information, and the other issues raised in the Report and Background
Report of the Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG)). While conventional wisdom
suggests that the Internet creates a borderless space ­ we know that national laws, regulations
and even political and judicial actions at the national level can have an impact internationally.
The focus of this workshop was on building capacity, particularly in developing countries, with
respect to cross-cutting legal issues of the enabling environment affecting the range Internet


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Legal Workshop
Summary Report

Governance issues, both at the national and at the international levels. The Workshop examined
the horizontal relationships among and between the various Internet Governance issues and the
vertical relationships among national, regional and international approaches. As such, this
workshop supported the four themes of the Athens Forum ­ openness, security, diversity and
access, and provides a platform for capacity building with respect to the legal aspects of the
enabling environment described in the WSIS Tunis Agenda.

       The workshop focused on building legal capacity of policy makers, legislators, regulators,
legal practitioners and users, by exploring the relationship that actions at the national level (laws,
judicial decisions, etc) have on the development of international legal norms, as well as the effect
of actions at the international level have on the evolution of national laws.



                        In te rn e t G o v e rn a n c e
           I n t e r n a t io n a l   In te rn e t s ta n d a rd s                                                T r a d e p o l ic y
                                              IE T F , W 3 C                                                                      W TO
                                               D o m a in n a m e s                                  S p e c t r u m p o li c y I TU
                 R e g io n a l                           IC A N N                                          C y b e r -c r im e
                                                                                                                                 COE
                                                                                                    D e v e lo p m e n t a i d

                   N a t io n a l                                                           CERTs                 E -g o v e rn m e n t
                                                                                                          T e le c o m r e g u l a t i o n
                                                               C y b e r - s e c u r it y
                                                                                                                      M i n i s t r ie s
                                                                                                                      P a r lia m e n t s
      C o m p a n y /L o c a l           P e e r in g
                                                           Spam                       O n - lin e p r iv a c y


                I n d iv id u a l               U s e r D e c is io n s o n
                                                P u b l i s h i n g / A c c e s s in g


                                       N o g o v e rn m e n t                           A ll g o v e r n m e n t
                                                 D e g r e e o f g o v e r n m e n t in v o lv e m e n t


        Mr. Dempsey set the stage for the workshop by mapping substantive legal issues
normally associated with Internet Governance as we know them today against two axes -
whether the governance issue was International or Individual, and the extent to which there was
government involvement in the Internet governance issue (see chart above). He stressed the
importance of national telecommunications law and regulation as a key issue affecting the whole
Internet medium, and that one practical lesson learned in developing national legal frameworks
was technology neutrality.

        The workshop then examined three facets of the international legal dimension affecting
Internet governance ­ public international law, other international initiatives, and industry-driven
standards and codes of conduct. First, Judge Greve discussed the impact of public international
law, using the European Court of Human rights as an example. She emphasized role that
different formal, public international law fora, conventions and even customary international law
play in influencing countries' behavior. The workshop then looked at other international


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Legal Workshop
Summary Report

initiatives, such as domain name dispute resolution, played in national governance. Ms. Dorrain
gave examples from the UDRP and raised questions about why countries adopted such rules (and
why not), as well as whether reforms in UDRP would be desirable. Finally, Mr. Tipson
addressed the process by which industry standards and codes of conduct, for example, are
adopted and implemented, stressing the importance of balanced multistakeholder involvement
and consultation in their development.

        The workshop then moved on to three case studies of development of national
frameworks for Internet Governance. In the first case study, Mr. Markovski gave an overview of
the bottom-up approach taken in Bulgaria, including, the role that Bulgarian NGOs and civil
society played in formulating an approach to addressing Internet Governance issues in the WSIS
process. He emphasized the importance of first addressing governance issues locally, and then
moving on to international governance issues. In contrast, Dr. Ang noted the top-down,
government-driven approach adopted in Singapore, noting that the high level of trust created in
the process in Singapore also led to a high level of Internet penetration. Dr. Ang noted the
phenomenon of the "first mover disadvantage", and cited examples where early attempts at
addressing legal issues such as e-commerce, though path-breaking at the time, may now
becoming obsolete and in need of reform. Mr. Barrio spoke about efforts at shrinking the digital
divide were policy-driven at the international level, but had the effect of restricting access to
content, rather than increasing connectivity. He also observed that, in some circumstances, the
development of national legal frameworks were "unwilling followers" of global ICT trends, and
that traditional models of capacity building would need to be revisited if they were to be
effective. It was noted from the floor that a regional initiative in South America has been
successful in bringing together state and non-state actors in evolving regional policy on these
issues.

        In its final section, the workshop addressed questions of the role that multilateral
organizations can play in developing capacity as well as identifying concrete recommendations
for addressing capacity building issues. Mr. Dandijou noted a number of international
organizations were involved in certain issues affecting Internet Governance, but also noted that
national actors could better leverage those institutions to develop national legal frameworks, but
that other factors ­ such as a lack of a common vocabulary ­ posed limitations. He recommended,
in practical terms, that different national actors undertake a coherent approach with these
international institutions and emphasized the need for advocacy, knowledge sharing and
coaching as a way to better articulate their positions. Mr. Kurbalija that noted that capacity
building is not a one-size-fits-all proposition and described different capacity building programs
tailored for different needs. He also emphasized the fundamental importance of inter-
professional communication in developing Internet governance frameworks ­ different actors
need to engage with each other - governmental actors, technologists, civil society and academia ­
in a dynamic way.

        The Workshop Report submitted to the IGF can be found at:
http://www.intgovforum.org/Athens_workshops/IGF%20Workshop%20report%20Legal%20Asp
ects.pdf .




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