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From: Internet Society <anne@isoc.org> Date: Fri Apr 18, 2003 4:18:40 PM US/Eastern To: globalmembers@isoc.org Subject: [ISOC members] ISOC Public Policy Announcement - 4/18/03

Earlier this year, I asked Michael Nelson to replace David Maher as the Internet Society's Vice President for Public Policy. David left this role to take up a position as the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Public Interest Registry (PIR), and I'd like to take this opportunity to once again thank David for his many contributions.

Michael is well known to many of you as he has been involved with the Internet Society for many years. He served on the Program Committees for INET2000 and INET2001 and was Co-Chair of INET 2002, held in Washington, DC last June.

Michael has been involved in Internet policy since 1988, when he came to Washington to work for then-Senator Gore, when he was the Chairman of the Science, Technology, and Space Subcommittee. He helped draft the High-Performance Computing Act of 1991, which enabled the commercialization of the NSFNET backbone. When Senator Al Gore was elected to the White House in 1992, Michael followed him. For four years, he worked closely with Vice President Gore on Internet, e-commerce, and telecommunications issues. He left the White House to spend a year and a half as Director for Technology Policy at the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) and since July 1998, Michael has been at IBM, where he is Director for Internet Technology and Strategy.

Michael's background has given him a deep understanding of both Internet technology and policy. In his new role as Vice President for Public Policy, he will help the Internet Society have a greater impact on key public policy decisions by working more closely with governments and organizations around the world. The Internet Society is uniquely qualified to help these entities understand how Internet technologies are evolving, to ensure that their actions spur the growth of the Internet around the world, and that it is for the benefit of all. He will of course be looking to ISOC Chapters and members to help him in these efforts, both in the formulation of policy as well as in our outreach efforts.

Michael has drafted a set of policy goals, included below, and we are looking forward to your comments and active participation. Please join me in welcoming Michael as he assumes this important role and please note that a new ISOC discussion list - "MemberPubPol" has been set up to facilitate member participation. You may join this list at: http://www.isoc.org/members/discuss/policy.shtml

Regards, Lynn St.Amour President & CEO Internet Society

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Michael R. Nelson ISOC VP Public Policy mnelson@isoc.org

I'm very grateful to Lynn and the Internet Society Board for selecting me as the Vice President of Public Policy and I look forward to working with all of you.

When I spoke to Lynn about the job, we agreed there was a need for the nternet Society to focus its public policy efforts on a few broad topic areas, rather than trying to weigh in on every hot issue that might arise. There are just too many issues for any single organization to engage in every Internet-related policy debate.

Instead, we should play to our strengths: (1) the Internet Society's reputation for being able to tap the brightest technical and social minds in the Internet community, (2) our understanding of leading-edge Internet technologies, (3) our involvement in the standards process both at the IETF and elsewhere and (4) our truly global perspective and outreach. To me that means that ISOC should avoid weighing in on policy issues where decisions will be based primarily on economic analysis or legal precedents. Other Internet-related organizations are more appropriate and have more standing here.

We should also think carefully before getting involved in issues which seem to affect only a handful of countries, and do so only if we fear that what is happening in those countries could be replicated or mimicked elsewhere later. In many countries, we have chapters that have the talent and the credibility needed to influence local policy debates, and ISOC's role should be to support them in their efforts.

It is going to take time to fully enunciate our public policy agenda. I want to involve as many people as possible in that process.

I have drafted a first version of a series of policy goals, which I believe can guide our public policy efforts and provide focus. Here is my first attempt at defining five goals for the Internet Society's public policy program:

Since its inception more than twelve years ago, members of the Internet Society have played key roles in the evolution of Internet technologies and in providing training on the uses of the Internet in countries around the globe. ISOC serves as the organizational home for the Internet Engineering Task Force, which develops the standards that ensure the stability, reliability, security, and scalability of the Internet. In addition, the Internet Society has provided valuable advice on key Internet-related policy decisions in order to ensure the continued rapid growth of the Internet.

Today, Internet policy is more important than ever before. The Internet is at a critical juncture in its development. In many countries, it is becoming a mass medium and as a result there is increasing pressure on policy makers to regulate it like radio, television, or other mass media. The spread of broadband technologies is enabling new powerful uses of the Internet, such as Grid computing, voice over IP, peer-to-peer applications, and Web services. The Internet is more than just a means for communications (through e-mail and instant messaging) and content distribution (through the World Wide Web). It is becoming a platform for collaboration and distributed computing. With this new phase of development of the Internet comes new technical and policy challenges, and even more need for the kind of advice and education that the Internet Society can provide.

POLICY GOALS:

The Internet Society is committed to working with governments, industry, and Internet users around the world to ensure that the Internet develops in a way that ensures that all Internet users can harness the full power of the Internet. Accordingly, we work to ensure that all users enjoy the following:

1) The Ability to Connect -- We want to preserve the essential, end-to-end nature of the Internet and will oppose efforts to establish standards or practices that would make it difficult or impossible for some users of the Internet to use the full range of applications being developed for Internet users.

2) The Ability to Speak -- The Internet offers a powerful tool for self-expression and is becoming a new mass medium. We will work to ensure that the Internet will continue to allow private and where appropriate, anonymous, means of communication and collaboration. Accordingly, we will oppose efforts to censor what Internet users can read or distribute over the Net.

3) The Ability to Innovate -- The explosive growth of the Internet and the incredible variety of Internet applications are a direct result of the fact that the key standards for the Internet and the Web are open. Any company, regardless of size or location, has been able to develop and distribute its new "killer application" for the Internet. We will oppose efforts by government and others to restrict how technology can evolve in the future.

4) The Ability to Share -- The many-to-many nature of the Internet makes it a powerful tool for sharing, education, and collaboration. It has enabled the global, open source community that developed many of the key technological components of the Internet, such as the Domain Name System, the Web, and Apache (the most common Web server software). The Internet has also made the vision of digital libraries a reality. Accordingly, we will foster the development of open source software and oppose new technologies and legislation that would limit the well-established concept of fair use, which is essential to scholarship, education, and collaboration.

5) The Ability to Choose -- The growth of the Internet has been fastest where markets are the most free and open. Unfortunately, in too many countries, particularly many less developed countries that could most benefit from the power of the Internet, government regulation and the economic power of incumbent telecom monopolies severely limit the ability of new competitors to provide new, better, cheaper, and innovative Internet-related services. We will continue to advocate for government policies that foster competition in telecommunication services, Internet service provision, Internet-related software, and e-commerce applications.

In the past, most of ISOC's successful efforts to influence Internet policy and standards fit comfortably into one or more of these five categories.

For instance:

-Promotion of IPv6 -- Ability to Innovate -Opposition to censorship -- Ability to Speak -Digital Divide -- Ability to Choose (because competition drives down prices) -Promotion of new wireless technologies (e.g. 802.11) -- Ability to Connect and Ability to Innovate -Opposition to new database protection legislation -- Ability to Share -Opposition to Panama's restrictions on Voice over IP -- Ability to Connect and Ability to Choose -Opposition to provisions requiring ISP's to retain user data in Council of Europe Cyber-crime treaty -- Ability to Speak -Accessibility for the Disabled -- Ability to Connect -Opposition to encryption controls -- Ability to Innovate and Ability of Speech -Opposition to legislation dictating Digital Right Management standards -- Ability to Share

Most of the Internet Society's public policy efforts should focus on the "lower part of the stack." We are uniquely positioned to address policy issues related to the transport of bits and to the middleware that supports applications. Many other organizations weigh in on public policy issues that impact applications software and the business models that e-commerce companies might adopt. In areas such as on-line consumer protection and taxation of Internet commerce, I would recommend that the Internet Society actively support the work of other organizations but not take a leadership role.

Defining the Internet Society's public policy role and developing new mechanisms for impacting policy debates will depend critically upon Internet Society chapters and individual members. Local chapters can help identify the key policy issues that matter in their countries. More importantly, they can help deliver Internet Society positions and white papers within their country.

In addition, the Internet Society's educational programs can help distribute information on key policy issues, particularly in developing countries.

CONTRIBUTIONS WELCOME:

I would welcome your comments on the public policy goals outlined above. I would also welcome suggestions on how the Internet Society can have an even greater impact on policy debates around the world. And most of all, I would welcome volunteers willing to help articulate and share our public policy messages with policy makers, the press, NGOs, and the general public. Please feel free to contact me at mnelson@isoc.org or join the ISOC Policy discussion list at: http://www.isoc.org/members/discuss/policy.shtml. I look forward to hearing from you.

Michael R. Nelson ISOC VP Public Policy mnelson@isoc.org

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