ICANN's GAC and the Global Governance of the Internet: The Role of the EU in Bringing 'Government' Back to Internet Governance

Abstract

The European Commission has played a multi-faceted role in the global governance of the Internet. In some cases it strengthened the role of the state or it encouraged the growth of global institutions; in others it promoted the role of the market to the detriment of traditional state controls, be they national or international. This had, to a large extent, a domestic and global impact: the Commission has supported the growth of a European Market for ICT and telecommunications, and thus increased the role of the Commission in governing the Internet. This paper focuses on the activities of the European Commission in its dialogue with international partners on the subject of Internet governance, and examines in particular the growth of ICANN’s Governmental Advisory Committee. This paper illustrates the governing role of the EU outside its borders, by showing that it has pushed for a novel, yet international solution to the problem of governing the global Internet. As a case study for new forms of governance, the Internet is a worthy subject, particularly at the global level (Shahin 1999). Given that the Information Society is a matter for ‘high politics’1 the role of the European Commission in the GIS provides an under-studied case of the changing governance environment within the EU itself and particularly in the way it acts ‘on behalf’ of member states in certain areas. This case study of the role of the European Commission’s role in the global governance of the Internet shows where and how the Commission exercises its newly created mandate, and raises points for discussion concerning different forms of global governance that have been tried and tested with the birth and evolution of ICANN, and particularly the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC). In order to do so, however, it elaborates upon different mechanisms of management in the field of Internet governance, and takes a look at the role of two other standards organisations: the IETF and W3C.