Any Opt-Out of ITU Web Regulations by U.S., Other WCIT Proposal Foes Could Wreak Havoc

Such a situation would be good for lawyers and bad for all other Internet stakeholders, said luncheon panel moderator David Gross, who was U.S. coordinator for international communications and information policy in an ambassador role under then-President George W. Bush. Gross said half-jokingly it would be good for Richard Wiley, who runs the law firm where the ex-ambassador works as a lawyer. Countries seeking to have IP traffic fall under the ITR are trying to replace the billions of dollars in annual interconnection and other fees for exchanging phone and other analog traffic that nations saw in years past, Gross said. Opponents of the European Telecommunications Network Operators’ Association’s proposed revisions to the ITR misinterpreted ETNO’s proposal as an attempt to regulate the Internet, which it’s not, association Chairman Luigi Gambardella told us this week (CD Sept 12 p5).

Don’t be lulled into false assurances by network regulation proponents linking their WCIT proposals to platitudes that don’t seem alarming, like protecting kids, the luncheon audience heard. Don’t believe any speculation there’s disagreement on the issue among U.S. political parties, said NTIA Associate Administrator Fiona Alexander and FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell. “It’s actually kind of nice, because people here in town don’t disagree, it’s very, very rare” in Washington, said Alexander. “We've always had the philosophy, irrespective of administration,” that a multistakeholder approach to Internet governance is best and less open to “capture” than other approaches, she said. That’s also true with issues like privacy, she said. Her agency has been conducting workshops on privacy before coming up with do-not-track principles. The ITU’s “not inclusive enough for everyone” on Internet regulation, which isn’t “just about domain names” but also includes cybersecurity and other issues, Alexander said. “I will reserve judgment on that a little longer,” she said of whether U.S. efforts to defeat WCIT Internet regulatory proposals will be successful.

Nations implement ITU treaties such as ITR by adopting them, which points up all that’s at stake at the WCIT meeting, Alexander said. “When I go home and ratify it, I'm going to implement it,” she said of nations in the union. “There’s much more at stake” because countries will “implement it,” she said. Opting out of it “at a minimum … creates chaos, uncertainty,” McDowell said of the “borderless network of networks.” From an engineering perspective, that’s “just as bad as a bad treaty,” he said in response to a question by Media Institute President Patrick Maines on whether a vote will occur.

The ITU doesn’t usually vote, instead adopting proposals by consensus, which is good news for Internet regulation opponents, McDowell said. It’s “unprecedented” for the ITU to have a vote, “but you could have a scenario that’s effectively the same” if some opt out, he said. Even if there’s no vote, a plausible outcome, the debate over Internet Protocol regulation “has been going on for many years, and will go on for many years,” he said, answering a question from FCC Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake on consequences of a vote for such regulation. “You need to be aware of this, and part of a standing coalition” or multiple groups, McDowell advised any company with an Internet business. Encouragement by the Internet Society, under whose auspices the Internet Engineering Task Force meets, of industry to be active on the issue is the right tactic, Alexander said. “The more you can talk to customers, academics, the better,” she said. “It’s incumbent that everybody make the case."

European telcos want money to further build networks, so they're pursuing a proposal for the sending party to pay for IP traffic, said Verizon Senior Vice President Kathy Brown. That approach would “foul up this system that is working,” she said. “We're not saying this should be a world of no governance, we're saying there should be a governance structure that doesn’t … lock things in place.” Should the proposals be approved, the countries seeking it won’t find it the salve some see it as, said Wentworth, Internet Society’s senior public policy manager. “Three lines in a treaty does not change the need to introduce competition” nor “the need to strengthen independent regulators,” she said of the “quick fix” that could lead to “a lot of very disappointed countries."

A better idea than the WCIT proposal is for more countries to add independent telecom regulators like the FCC, and some nations have added them in recent years, panelists said. “The idea of having as many independent regulators as possible” to promote competition and buildout of facilities “actually produces a tremendous net benefit and actually helps produce a rising tide,” McDowell said. “It’s actually to the benefit of all nations’ economies” to stimulate Internet and technology competition “that actually grows economies and improves the human condition more than anything,” he said.