‘Common Heritage’ Proposal to ITU Suggests Cybersecurity Convention

GENEVA -- Submissions in advance of a July ITU Council meeting suggested the organization’s work on international Internet-related public policy matters should move toward a “cybersecurity convention,” that a working group on the issues should be opened up to those with a stake, or that participants meet certain criteria to participate only in consultations to be developed by the working group of member government officials. A long-time ITU participant leading cybersecurity work in the organization said the idea of conceptualizing the global Internet as a “common heritage of humankind” isn’t a new one. The concept in the past has been used to extend jurisdiction by a global intergovernmental organization, he said.

Indonesia said there’s “an urgent need” to engage “all ITU member countries” in formulating “a global legal platform for future cybersecurity convention.” That refers to work in the Council working group on international Internet-related public policy matters. Sweden said the working group should be open to anyone with a stake in Internet policy. The U.S. backed Sweden’s proposal. A related open consultation should include both the opportunity to submit written comments and attend meetings, Sweden said. All documents should be publicly available, it said. The group’s working methods should only be agreed after consulting with those with a stake in international Internet-related public policy issues, it said.

A report from the first meeting of the working group, earlier this month, addressed submissions from Brazil and Saudi Arabia, which is chairing the group. Brazil submitted 10 principles developed by the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee for coordinating its national and international actions, and decisions on Internet governance, the report said. Brazil’s aim is for the ITU to develop principles on Internet governance based on a participative and open model, it said.

Participants at the meeting differed on the Brazilian principles, the report said. Some countries said the principles were a good model that could be used when developing national principles for governance and use of the Internet, it said. Others said some of the principles didn’t correspond with some topics in ITU resolutions on the matters. The ITU secretariat suggested that questions for open consultation could be drafted on the Internet’s developmental aspects, and Internet security, safety and reliability, it said. There was no consensus on the suggestion, it said. Some countries said the suggestions would first have to be submitted and discussed in the group.

Saudi Arabia, in the report, said the decision was to open the council working group only to ITU member countries, and to open consultations to interested parties. It wanted to boost participation by administrations and set criteria for participation in the consultations. The ITU secretariat suggested a methodology for conducting the open consultation, the report said. Some officials proposed an open consultation on the process, it said. Others said a consultation wasn’t required, it said.

A new game plan, not seen since the 1970s, has arisen in the ITU, said Tony Rutkowski, the long-time ITU participant, who heads up technical work on cybersecurity. It involves conceptualizing some natural resource as the “common heritage of humankind” for the purposes of exercising jurisdiction over it by a global intergovernmental organization, said Rutkowski. He worked in the ITU secretariat when a regulatory provision calling for avoiding technical harm to networks in other countries was added when two treaties were merged in 1988 to form the International Telecommunication Regulations. The concept was originally applied to the open oceans, Antarctica and then outer space to provide jurisdiction for the purpose of creating treaty instruments, Rutkowski said. It was used in the ITU in the 1970s to provide jurisdiction to engage in detailed planning and regulation of the use of geostationary orbits for satellite radiocommunication systems, he said. It was only a matter of time before the notion would be resurrected for “the global Internet,” Rutkowski said.

Preparations for the July ITU Council meeting have prompted a “significant number” of proposals related to the December World Conference on International Telecommunications, Rutkowski said. The council is the highest-level interim body of ITU member countries that meets between quadrennial policy-setting conferences.

The Indonesian proposal would “attract more countries, particularly developing countries” in taking on more responsibility for national and international cybersecurity matters, “thereby combating cybercrime,” Indonesia said. The U.S. and European countries have pressed for ITU to steer clear of cybercrime, which they've argued isn’t in its mandate. Following the Indonesian approach “would reduce illicit use” of information and communications technology, “including child pornography, drug trafficking and other crimes,” that country said. Elevating the ability of each nation, particularly least-developed countries, is important for “combating cybercrime, by also involving them in the global management of Internet,” Indonesia said.

The aim of the council working group is to “identify, study and develop matters related to international Internet-related public policy issues,” including matters identified in a related 2009 Council resolution, Sweden said. The resolution said the issues include “multilingualization” of the Internet, including multilingual domain names, international Internet connectivity, management of Internet resources, including domain names and addresses, Internet security, safety and reliability, cybercrime, spam, Internet misuse, affordability and quality of service especially in the developing world.

There was no consensus during a June meeting of the working group on how to initiate and conduct open consultations in an open and inclusive manner, Sweden said. Finding the right balance in global governance structures that takes full account of the interests of “all stakeholders” for the future evolution of the Internet is a “challenge,” Sweden said. A “multi-stakeholder” approach is one of the most important aspects, Sweden said. It referred to the examples of the Commission on Science and Technology and Development, which allows “all stakeholders” to participate and make interventions, and The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers’ Governmental Advisory Committee. Russia said regional telecom organizations should be allowed to attend council meetings as observers, a submission said.