Growing Up: The Maturing of the Internet and the Implications for Internet Governance

Abstract

This paper aims to sketch a road map for Internet governance based upon the state of development of various aspects of the Internet. The framework for analysis was eveloped by Deborah Spar in her 2001 book Prophets, Pioneers, and Pirates, in which she convincingly demonstrates that new technologies go through four phases of policy development: innovation, commercialization, creative anarchy, and rule-making. The analysis suggests that Internet governance for three of four clusters has reached a level of maturity in policy development. The most developed aspect is the cluster of issues around physical infrastructure of what has been described as the ICANN issues. Two other clusters-Internet use and Internet-related issues-are less developed, with their state of development linked to economic advancement. The least developed aspect of Internet governance is that of the use of the Internet for economic, social, and cultural development. The analysis suggests that development aspects of Internet governance should perhaps not be addressed in the current framework but should be discussed separately, with, however, the same level of impartance attached to this venue as to the Internet Governance Forum.