By Thrishni Subramoney
South African communications minister, Dr Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri has called on Internet authorities to allow governments of developing
countries to have more of a say in how the Internet is governed.
Matsepe-Casaburri was officially welcoming delegates attending the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) conference in Cape Town on Thursday.
While the South African minister praised the global Internet organisation (that manages Internet addresses) for the effort it has
'We need to create affordable Internet access in a
legal environment' made in transforming itself, she also reminded delegates that from the perspective of African governments, much still needed to be done.
"Icann is transforming itself from a club of "haves" to include the "have-nots. The geographical diversity of its offices and hopefully the creation of one in Africa soon is very encouraging," she said.
Continues Below ↓
However she added: "Names and numbers are important, but they are not the only concern. We need to create affordable Internet access in a
legal environment. South Africa is not anti-Icann, but we have always been critical because governance structures have always skewed in
favour of those who started the technology. Governments should have a greater voice in Internet governance."
Matsepe-Casaburri's comments come on the heels of heated debate at the first UN Internet-related conference, the World Summit on the
'What Icann can do is ensure that every new voice has access to the world' Information Society (WSIS) - held in Geneva in December last year.
Developing countries at WSIS argued that bodies that managed the Internet (like Icann) were based mainly in the developed world and therefore representation from the developing world in Internet governance was largely absent.
A Working Group on Internet Governance was formed at WSIS to look at how the medium is governed and what role governments should play (if any) in managing the medium.
Continues...
|
StumbleUpon
Reddit
Digg
Delicious
Newsvine
Facebook
muti
Twitter
