WSIS

United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon this week confirmed the 47 members of the multistakeholder advisory group who will help prepare a global gathering to discuss issues of critical importance to the Internet. Several ICC/BASIS representatives are among the names selected to lend business expertise to the planning of the UN-linked Internet Governance Forum (IGF) which will take place in Rio de Janeiro in November.

Companies participating here in the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) have opposed plans for an intergovernmental body overseeing administration of the Internet, saying it would only serve to “create uncertainty and hinder innovation”.

Emphasizing the vast multi-billion dollar investment of business in creating and developing the Internet, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) today expressed disquiet at the failure of the preparatory conference that ended in Geneva last Friday to fully involve business in preparations for the final part of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Tunis on 16-18 November.

With the express aim of clearing up the confusion over Internet governance, ICC has written a new paper clarifying how the internet functions, enumerating the different technical bodies which help to run it and listing the public policy issues it currently affects.

Business today called for the strengthening of ICANN as the coordinator of the internet's domain names and numbers system.

** This press release is provided by the businessatwsis website as courtesy for information purposes only. It is not a CCBI or ICC press release, but represents the personal position of Mr Abu-Ghazaleh. **

Business is calling for more emphasis on competition and investment as preparations for the United Nations World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) enter their final phase.