September 16, 1999

Leading Internet Executives Speak Out in Support of ICANN; Address New Internet Policies

Brussels - The Global Internet Project (GIP) today called on governments, commercial and non-commercial Internet users and the entire Internet community to support the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a new, private sector, not for profit corporation. At this meeting of leading Internet executives, members of the GIP voiced their support for the administration of the domain name system by ICANN and solicited the Internet community to work together to ensure it fairly reflects the interests of all stakeholders.

"The GIP is firm in its commitment to support a transparent, participatory process -- and ICANN is working hard to provide that. In fact I see no other existing, viable alternative," said Vint Cerf, Senior Vice President at MCI Worldcom. "Organizations whose business plans rely on the smooth functioning and continued growth of Internet can assure stable administrative management of Internet domain and address space by providing interim financial support to ICANN, which needs at least another $1 million in funds until an agreed financial support framework can be established," he added.

ICANN was selected by the U.S. Department of Commerce to oversee the privatization of domain name allocation in 1998. The GIP has raised over U.S. $400,000 in start-up funding for ICANN. Contributions to the start-up fund were made by GIP member companies as well as companies from outside the GIP membership.

The Global Internet Project also released a statement on jurisdiction in cyberspace. The group cautioned policymakers from simply applying existing jurisdictional principles based on paper-based transactions to a medium that presents unique challenges. Specifically, the GIP voiced concern over a draft regulation being considered by the European Commission that could mean Web-based sellers would be subject to the jurisdiction of a European consumer.

"It is important for governments and international organizations to understand the complexities of the legal issues raised by the Internet that has no geographic borders, said Michio Naruto, Vice Chairman of Fujitsu Limited. "Without clear and predictable jurisdictional rules, the growth of the Internet and global electronic commerce will encounter legal barriers that will hinder new economic opportunities and benefits for all societies. "Therefore," Mr. Naruto noted, "we must work to avoid inconsistencies in local, national, and international laws dealing with jurisdictional rules in order to build business and consumer confidence in using the Internet for communications and information as well as purchasing goods and services."

The group pointed to several private sector efforts to address jurisdiction and laid out several guiding principles which include: freedom of contract, applying the jurisdiction of the country of origin in disputes, and the use of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.

The GIP is in Brussels to meet with officials from the European Commission and to conduct a day and a half Workshop on Next Generation Internet Issues at which they hope to identify Internet-related policy issues of the future. The Workshop will identify critical policy issues that governments and industry will need to address as the Internet emerges as the most prominent platform for telecommunications and electronic commerce. Specifically, the workshop will focus on: ensuring Internet infrastructure competition; universal service in the Internet age; the collision of the Internet and broadcast law; privacy and societal impacts; enhancing the user experience; and, globalization and culture clash.

The workshop is being co-sponsored by the Global Internet Project, European Commission, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Internet and Telecoms Convergence Consortium, Telecom Italia and Bell Canada.

"The Next Generation Internet will be 10 times larger and at least 100 times faster than today's Internet. It will enable thousands of new services and applications--for e-business, entertainment, education, government--many of which we can't even imagine today. It will also pose difficult new problems for policymakers and regulators," said John Patrick, Vice President of Internet Technology for IBM and chairman of the Global Internet Project. "The GIP is working in partnership with industry groups, governments and research organizations to find new non-governmental and non-regulatory solutions to Internet policy problems. We want to ensure that the convergence of the telephone, television, and the Internet does not result in old national regulations being imposed on this global medium."

The Global Internet Project (GIP) is an international group of 13 senior executives committed to spurring the growth of the Internet worldwide. The thirteen member companies are primarily from the software and telecommunications segments of the Internet industry. The founder of the GIP is Dr. James Clark, Chairman of Netscape Communications Corporation, and its current chairman is John Patrick, Vice President of Internet Technology at IBM. The Global Internet Project is helping decision-makers around the world to better understand the nature of the Internet and to craft policies that maximize the benefits of this powerful, global medium. For more details, visit the GIP Web site at http://www.witsa.org/gip.