Governing the Global Internet

International Economic Cooperation in the New Economy
September 29, 1999

IGCC Director and former Chief of the FCC's International Bureau Peter Cowhey assessed the current and future challenges for U.S. policy and the international community in a policy seminar held in Washington, D.C. "Governing the Global Internet: International Economic Cooperation in the New Economy" focused on future challenges for U.S. and international policymakers concerning regulation of the global information economy. Some of the challenges discussed were Web expansion and its implications for international trade, Internet codes of conduct, and whether the Internet should continue to exist with minimal government regulation.

The issues of Internet governance are important in themselves for the global community. They are just as important for what they tell us about the challenges of international economic cooperation in a global information economy. Experts have disagreed thus far on whether the Internet should remain "self-governed," that is, managed without any governmental controls, and whether the convergence of communications and broadcasting can proceed without a significant dismantling of traditional regulation of the broadcast industry.

As the Web expands at home and abroad, standardization of Internet regulation and codes of conduct have also become an issue of international trade. These matters will be important in upcoming WTO developments.

Agenda

Wednesday, September 29, 1999
12:00 - 2:00 p.m.

Participants