Tunis – 17th November 2005 – Internet organizations from around the globe, who have gathered at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Tunis, join together to reaffirm their commitment to open methods of community participation at local, national, regional and global levels, to ensure that the Internet is a balanced resource for all.
This statement comes after yesterday’s WSIS’ recommendation for developing the governance of the Internet, including a new forum for dialogue, and increased coordination by all stakeholders to ensure the Internet’s continued stability.
The Internet organizations believe WSIS’ recommendation for an additional forum for multi-stakeholder policy dialogue, called the “Internet Governance Forum” is a useful step forward to encouraging broader engagement in such dialogues by all those with an interest in the Internet’s future. The WSIS document also encourages the forum to build on existing governance mechanisms.
“We are delighted that there is now much broader recognition than ever of what the organizations that support the Internet community have achieved,” says Lynn St. Amour, President and CEO of the Internet Society. “These organizations, along with their open, consensus-based processes, clearly have a vital role to play in driving the further development of the Internet. It is also significant that the WSIS debate has moved beyond the details of technical administration and on to broader issues that require increased coordination by all stakeholders in order to ensure the continued stability of the Internet.”
The organizations support the WSIS’s clear decision that governments should not become involved in the daily operational and technical matters of the Internet but allow for the continued successful operation of the Internet by the Internet community as a whole.
“The outcome of the Tunis Phase of the WSIS is very significant, and quite remarkable,” says Axel Pawlik, Chairman of the Number Resource Organization. “We are very pleased that the policy development processes of the Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) have been recognized and reinforced by the Tunis Agenda. Over the coming months and beyond, we will continue our ongoing efforts to reach out to governments, as well as other stakeholders, in order to exchange views on the Tunis outcomes and to develop priorities for the future”.
The WSIS has recognized the long standing bottom-up processes and services provided by the RIRs to the Internet community. It affirms that neither competitive nor parallel registry systems are needed, recognizing that RIR processes fully support open participation by the community at large, allowing for fair, equitable, and representative resource allocation policies. It further recognizes that these processes will also continue to balance the priorities for Internet resource management at the global, regional, national and local levels, in order to ensure stability and integrity of the Internet’s global addressing and routing structures.
“The outcome of such a long debate on the Information Society shows that the incredible success of the Internet is due to the diversity of stakeholders and organizations operating in an environment that has ensured creativity and innovation at the edge,” says Paul Twomey, CEO and President of ICANN. “The model that has lead to the Internet’s success – collaboration, cooperation and coordination — will of course continue to evolve. The recognition of the role of governments in the realm of public policy has been longstanding and we look forward to working with them to ensure this continues to mature.”
Building on the success of the WSIS, the organizations participating in the Internet Pavilion look forward to increased participation of all stakeholders in regional and global policy processes. As the Internet landscape continues to evolve and change, the organizations see this as a means to develop processes and services which will continue to meet its needs. The organizations look forward to continued participation as full partners in all future dialogues.
The seven global Internet organizations are exhibiting together at the WSIS ‘Internet Pavilion,’ stand 1323, in the Kram Palexpo.