Can a Global Policy Observatory Help Clarify Internet Governance? The European Commission Thinks So

Internet governance is a messy business. The global network of networks is subject to regulation by states and control by private entities, yet it also remains a key platform for free expression around the world. The conflicts between regulation and code that occur in the day to day function of the internet are also underpinned by governance institutions that range from standards-setting bodies like the Internet Engineering Task Force, which invites open participation from technical specialists to international organizations like the ITU, where discussions primarily take place between governments and companies. Alongside these are multi-stakeholder forums such as the Internet Governance Forum, where civil society organizations are invited to participate. These UN-supported meetings are vital for raising competing ideas, but they aren’t decision-making bodies. In fact, many of the important decisions about how the internet functions – at least in terms of privacy, copyright, censorship, social networking and net neutrality – are essentially made through the competing forces of code and law (at least according to a new book by Brown and Marsden).Often, these are challenged outside of official multi-stakeholder channels, as we saw with the actions around SOPA/PIPA and ACTA.