[kictanet] Day 1 0f 10:-Internet Governance Discussions, Introductory Theme

Mon Aug 11 17:02:05 EAT 2008

Brian, you have pointed out issues that we need to consider at a national
level with the increased use of the internet;
What are the stakeholders initiatives are there in the area of promoting
cyber-security and trust?   For example is the Computer Security Incident
Response Team (CSIRT-KENYA: http://www.csirt.or.ke/) active?   Do the
provisions of the Draft ICT bill 2008 (Part IV – Electronic Transactions and
Cybercrime) adequately address your concerns?

Regards

Mwende

Disclaimer: These comments are the author's own.

On 8/11/08, Brian Munyao Longwe <brian at caret.net> wrote:
>
> Good intro Walu. I will add a few points:
>
> Besides the concern that other governments had/have over USA's
> control over the numbering and naming mechanisms of the Internet,
> there are also a number of themes that have arisen within the
> Internet Governance debate that have prompted many countries to start
> seriously considering measures that relate to governance of the
> Internet within as well as without their borders. Some of these follow:
> 1) Cyber-Crime: Due to the vast nature of the network, the Internet
> can be used as a medium for electronic crime or computer assisted
> crime/fraud without the perpetrator ever physically stepping into the
> "victim" countries territory. Investigations have shown that in many
> cases, multiple computer and network systems in multiple
> jurisdictions have been compromised and used as part of elaborate
> schemes that either target a particular system or series of systems.
> a good example here is the Nigeria "419" scams which in the recent
> past seem to be originating more from the USA/Europe than from
> Nigeria itself.
> 2) Cyber-Warfare: also known as "information warfare" it is defined
> in Wikipedia as "... the use and management of information in pursuit
> of a competitive advantage over an opponent. Information warfare may
> involve collection of tactical information, assurance that one's own
> information is valid, spreading of propaganda or disinformation to
> demoralize the enemy and the public, undermining the quality of
> opposing force information and denial of information collection
> opportunities to opposing forces." - the Internet plays a key role in
> many country's cyber-warfare strategies. An excerpt from a USA
> department of Defense report says this about China's Peoples
> Liberation Army "The PLA is investing in electronic countermeasures,
> defenses against electronic attack (e.g., electronic and infrared
> decoys, angle reflectors, and false target generators), and computer
> network operations (CNO). China's CNO concepts include computer
> network attack, computer network defense, and computer network
> exploitation. The PLA sees CNO as critical to achieving
> "electromagnetic dominance" early in a conflict. "
> 3) Child Pornography: Among other evils that plague the Internet,
> this is probably the most disturbing. Law enforcement agencies across
> the globe have been stretched beyond their limits in trying to catch
> and shut down producers and propagators of these illicit materials.
> Once again, the vastly international nature of these networks makes
> it very hard to deal with cross-jurisdictional issues, laws on
> evidence, privacy and the like. While there have been cases where
> multi-national networks have been busted and entire child-porn rings
> dismantled, there is still great concern in this area
> 4) Spam: it has been reported that unsolicited commercial email and
> more recently malicious, meaningless email garbage constitutes almost
> 80% of all email transmitted over the internet. This carries
> incredible implications especially for the end users who pay a high
> price for their connectivity. Once again, a largely multi-national
> phenomenon - spam is clearly an issue that will need many countries,
> network, techies etc to sit together and figure out a way of dealing.
>
> I could keep going on but will rest my case here - hope that the
> discussions find time to discuss/shed light on some of the above
> areas....
>
> Regards,
>
> Brian
>
> On Aug 11, 2008, at 9:56 AM, John Walubengo wrote:
> > Greetings all,
> >
> > Today we just want to get upto speed with the genesis and rationale
> > for Internet Governance.  Internet Governance issues arose from the
> > increasing  use of the Internet during the mid and late 1990s.
> > Most countries were surprised at the increasing role the internet
> > was having on their Socio-economic as well as Political landscape.
> > They then realised that lacked the oversight power the US
> > government unilatery enjoyed over the development and use of the
> > Internet resources.
> >
> > Indeed one of the Key questions then as it is now, was why should
> > one Government influence the direction of a global resource without
> > reference to other governments?  The way the Internet was governed
> > was definitely not commensurate with its global reach or nature. A
> > lot of lobbying and pressure particularly from Latin America, Asia
> > Pacific and ITU started agitating for a change in the oversight
> > role the US government had and continues to have over the
> > Internet.  The anti-change proponents however maintained that the
> > current governance structure through the US Dept of Commerce and
> > ICANN is what has given the Internet this phenomenal growth – hence
> > the famous cliché – "If it ain't broken, why try to fix it?"
> >
> > The World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) process was
> > commissioned by UN in the late 1990s to look into this and other
> > emerging issues of the Internet such as the legal, economic and
> > social-cultural dimensions of the Internet. The WSIS process
> > concluded in Tunis, 2005, give no definite rulings on these issues
> > but recommended instead the creation of a multi-stakeholder forum,
> > the IGF – the Internet Governance Forum which continues to study
> > and deliberate on these issues to date. WSIS also supplied the
> > working definition for Internet Governance as:- the development and
> > application by Stakeholders of the rules, norms, procedures and
> > practices that influence the evolution and use of the Internet.
> >
> > The Stakeholders (States, Civil Society, Academia, Media,
> > Businesses, etc) are all actively involved in the Internet
> > Governance Forum with the sole objective of ensuring that their
> > interests are catered for as the Internet continues to evolve. The
> > IGF has so far held two summits, Greece, and Brazil with a 3rd due
> > at the end of this year in India.  The stakeholders propose
> > positions on the emerging and contentious issues that are used to
> > somewhat inform the direction the Internet takes. However, most of
> > Africa continues to sleep as Nations and other stakeholders
> > scramble to claim a stake and positions on what is becoming the
> > most important battle of the 21st Century – the battle for the
> > Information Superhighway.
> >
> > Those with experiences, comments, clarifications, observations or
> > objections have 1day to say something on today's Introductory theme.
> >
> > walu.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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