ENSURING THE FREE FLOW OF DATA IN THE ASIA PACIFIC REGION JIM FOSTER PROFESSOR, KEIO UNIVERSITY DIRECTOR, KEIO INTERNATIONAL PROJECT FOR THE INTERNET & SOCIETY (KIPIS)

THE INTERNET IN THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION The Asia-Pacific is the fastest growing region in the world and increasingly it is the Internet that is supporting this growth. China has 600 million users and will soon have a billion. India is not far behind. If a defining characteristic of the Internet is scale, the center of the Internet will be Asia Already, the balance in the Asia-Pacific region and globally is tipping in favor of a dynamic group of Chinese companies that have been pushed forward by a large domestic market. You probably already know these names (and if you don’t you will): Alibaba, Baidu, Tencent, Sohu, Taobao, Tudou, Ushin and Weishin. But what about the rest of us – how do we preserve diversity, competition, innovation and choice for the future of the Internet in the Asia-Pacific region?

INTERNET GOVERNANCE IN THE ASIA- PACIFIC REGION Internet grew as fast as it did because the leading countries – the US, EU and Japan embraced the global nature of the Internet and shared certain fundamental values. This is not necessarily the case for all countries in Asia-Pacific region. China has been quite blunt in asserting its “cyber sovereignty” and the diversity of cultures, languages, levels of economic development and political systems has made it difficult to develop a common approach on policy issues. There is awareness of the challenge, but to date regional discussions have not produced desired results despite efforts within ASEAN and APEC to forge common approaches on privacy and security.

WHY HAS PROGRESS BEEN SO SLOW? Making rules for the global Internet is challenging due to the global and multi- stakeholder character of this technology. Traditional rules and processes for governing telecommunications and broadcasting are not necessarily relevant. Despite its obvious economic and commercial importance, Internet governance is intrinsically a political problem concerned with the appropriate balance between states and individuals in controlling and using information. Problem is not unique to Asia. Making rules for the global Internet is challenging due to the global and multi-stakeholder character of this technology. Traditional rules and processes for governing telecommunications and broadcasting are not necessarily relevant. But problem is particularly acute in the Asia-Pacific region – because the potential is so great and the challenges so large.

GUARDING A “FREE AND OPEN” INTERNET In a period when the principle of a “free and open” Internet is under considerable challenge internationally, close coordination among like-minded nations in the Asia-Pacific region on such questions as privacy, security, net neutrality and standards is essential to preserving the global Internet and its benefits. A basic principle should be that changes to the administration and governance of the Internet should be based on a broadly sourced multistakeholder process and avoid unilateral assertions of “cyber sovereignty.” A related principle is that government involvement should be reserved as a “last resort” to preserve the integrity of the infrastructure of the Internet. The US is showing the way in this regard with the announcement of its willingness to cede its role in overseeing web addresses and domain names by 2015 – although how this will occur is not yet clear

AN ASIA-PACIFIC MODEL FOR THE INTERNET? In the past, a small group of leading academics and engineers in the US, EU and Japan provided the leadership for the global Internet. But this model is now under intense scrutiny, with many countries calling for wholesale change. We need to build a new coalition centered in the Asia-Pacific, including most prominently the US, Japan, Korea, Australia, Singapore and India – these countries are all leaders in the technology field and reflect the diversity of languages, cultures and histories that make this region unique. The message is simple and clear that a market-based approach to Internet governance is necessary to preserve innovation and competition in the Internet Economy in Asia. The starting point is domestic policy – our coalition partners should be models for other Asian countries on issues like privacy, the sharing of online content and net neutrality.

WHAT ARE THE STAKES FOR THE ASIA- PACIFIC? The Internet is the future driver of growth in Asia and a template for future integration Internet economy in G-20 countries is forecast to grow at an annual rate of 8 percent through 2016; globally, Internet users are estimated at 3 billion by 2016 and the Internet Economy will be worth 4.2 trillion dollars (and probably more) Internet already constitutes 8 percent of Korea GDP, 7 percent of Chinese GDP and nearly 6 percent of US and Japanese GDP The hardware is in place, but can we solve the problem of governance? Just as coal, steel and nuclear power provided a platform for European integration, could “data” and “cloud computing” be the vehicles by which a broader Asia-Pacific economy community emerges? If the world organizes itself around Internet time zones, the chances are good –but we have to get the policy right!

DATES AND UPDATES April NETmundial (Global Stakeholders Meeting on the Future of Internet Governance) in Sao Paulo, Brazil; goals: globalize ICANN, preserve the single network and support a process for global community participation in Internet governance August 3-6 Asia Regional Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in New Delhi, India; deadline for panel submission is April 9; defining characteristic is its openness and support for a wide ranging discussion of Internet governance issues October 20 – November 7 ITU Plenipotentiary Meeting in Busan, Korea; a quadrennial meeting focused on role ITU might play in overseeing the Internet; crucial test for future direction of Internet Governance Role of US business communities: need to underscore to governments the importance of an open and global Internet to innovation and growth and urge a market-based approach based on an inclusive multistakeholder process For more information and discussion, see our KIPIS website at