Global Commission On Internet Governance

It's been a busy day in cyber-related news.  The last entry (for now) is the announcement in Davos of the creation of a Global Commission on Internet Governance.  As readers of this blog know, I think the question of international internet governance is one of the most important question facing us these days.  The new Commission, which is to be chaired by former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt, will conduct a 2-year program designed to develop a set of alternatives, going forward -- hopefully, ones that the entire world (or at least the West) can all get behind.  As the Commission says, it will address four themes:

The commission will address four key themes, within which are a number of sub-themes:

• Enhancing governance legitimacy — including regulatory approaches and standards;

• Preserving innovation — including critical Internet resources, infrastructure and competition policy;

• Ensuring rights online — including establishing the principle of technological neutrality for human rights, privacy, cyber-crime and free expression;

• Avoiding systemic risk — including establishing norms regarding state conduct, cybercrime cooperation, and proliferation and disarmament issues.

American members of the Commission, which has 26 members, are Pascal Cagni, Michael Chertoff, Melissa Hathaway, Beth Simone Noveck, Joseph Nye, and Michael Spence. This is an important initiative.  How successful it will be remains to be seen.