India, Brazil and South Africa call for creation of "new global body" to control the Internet
On the 1st and 2nd of September in Rio de Janeiro, the Brazilian foreign relations ministry, the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee and the Center for Technology & Society held a seminar on Global Internet Governance. The goals, however, were far from being academic: in fact, India, Brazil and South Africa (IBSA) have prepared their own vision on how to govern the internet — and are planning to get into detail in the middle of October.
The IBSA calls for the creation of a "new global body", "located within the UN system", to "develop and establish international public policies" for the Internet and to "integrate and oversee the bodies responsible for technical and operational functioning of the internet, including global standards setting". It seems that this proposed new global authority would also "integrate and oversee" all the existing bodies — namely ITU, IETF and ICANN.
The IBSA paper said that the proposal will be finalized at a summit meeting of the three governments in mid-October (civil society and Internet businesses will not be allowed to participate), and then taken directly to the UN General Assembly. This leaves no space for a multistakeholder model as we know it, and IBSA doesn't seem to be interested in public comments as well.
There are several probable reasons for the initiative: the first is the current state of changes according to the Tunis Agenda, the politically binding document which is still in the process of implementation since 2005. The other reason is probably the power of being a "key figure" in the internet governance process, which is also in IBSA's plans: the countries look "to enhance IBSA’s profile as a key global player", as their statement says.
Time for special names in UAE's domain
TRA, a registry for .emarat (امارات), a top-level domain using the Arabic script, currently allows users registering their own special domain names in the domain. The names have to be simple and direct: TRA states some examples such as Hotels Dot Emarat, Autos Dot Emarat, Search Dot Emarat, Shopping Dot Emarat, Sports Dot Emarat, etc.
"Since we acquired approval from ICANN regarding the domain (DotEmarat), we have set a timeline for ourselves to promote this domain name across all sectors. We started with the governmental sector, then with trademarks, and now we have come to the special names phase, which demonstrate that we are on target with our plan, and we are achieving rapid progress in this regard", — TRA Director General, Mohamed Nasser Al Ghanim, says.
"The registration will enable users to seize the opportunity of booking their own domain name, as the availability for names is still vast. The Arabic domain name indeed provides ease in memorizing, writing, and circulating the names in Arabic, in addition to its distinct look on the browser when written in Arabic", — he added.
Boundaries for internet privacy stretch outside EU
The European Commission is now keen on users' data privacy: the topical question is how ethical it is to collect user data without obtaining a consent first? Lately, the Eurpoean commission has been considering how to put into practice a 2009 law that regulates software cookies, the digital markers that web sites place on visiting computers to identify consumers and deliver ads tailored to individual interests.
The main advertising industry group, the Interactive Advertising Bureau Europe, set up a web site this summer to let consumers choose not to receive — "opt out" of — receiving advertisements directed as a result of profiling.
EU regulators, however, are not so excited: they argue that the measure alone does not adequately protect individuals from unwittingly permitting marketers to collect personal data. Instead, the regulators want users to "opt in" to profiling by clicking on Web icons within ads.
"We believe that by having consumers opt in, rather than opt out, they will be better protected and informed about what happens with their information", — said Kostas Rossoglou, a senior legal officer at the European Consumers’ Organization, a Brussels group.
The European commissioner in charge of revising the bloc’s data protection law, Viviane Reding, says that "companies must obtain prior consent before individuals’ data is used". Mrs. Reding is responsible for developing the data protection legislation document, due early next year.
The web advertisers argue that the "opt-in" feature would require user to go through a layer of pop-up windows, and the idea could kill a popular, growing form of online advertising.
The opt-out "fits with the needs of today’s Internet users", — said Stephan Noller, chief executive of a Berlin ad firm, nugg.ad, who heads Interactive Advertising’s policy committee. "Information is provided contextually where relevant and is instantly available. We use the dynamism and interactivity of the Internet to provide pragmatic privacy control".
