Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Digital Trade

Data has become the most traded good and/or service across borders. The American economy is increasingly reliant on digital trade. But the US does not yet participate in any explicit binding digital trade agreements. Meanwhile, many countries have adopted policies that inhibit digital trade, including requirements that data be stored locally or restricting services provided by foreign firms. Such policies not only affect U.S. Internet and technology firms, but the users and small businesses that rely on an open digital environment.

Encryption Briefing: Understanding Its Technical and Human Elements

Dangerous myths about encryption are being increasingly used to justify laws that erode the basic foundation of trust on the Internet. It’s time to get the facts straight and learn the truth about encryption and what’s needed to make sure policies protect citizens, democratic institutions, commerce and critical infrastructure online. The Internet Society, in partnership with the Center for Democracy & Technology, LGBT Tech, ISOC-DC and the Open Technology Institute at New America will host a public event to help you understand the day-to-day impact of encryption and how to make sure policies protect people, vulnerable communities, commerce and national security.

Data Privacy: Challenges, Opportunities, and the Prospects for Legislation in the U.S.

In 2019, the debate around data privacy has peaked with numerous events elevating the issue, including the Cambridge Analytica scandal, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation coming into effect, and passage of the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018. As pressure builds, calls for federal legislation on data privacy have emerged from all sides. With the issue driving forward rapidly, this event will convene key stakeholders discussing challenges and opportunities around data privacy, including the risks and harms associated with consumer data collection, the possibility of a data privacy framework in the US, and the intersection of data privacy and Internet governance.

Plenipot 2018 Debrief: The role and impact of civil society

Join the Internet Society and the Greater Washington DC Chapter of the Internet Society and Diplo US for a roundtable on civil society engagement at the ITU Plenipotentiary. The ITU’s quadrennial Plenipotentiary sets organizational priorities that determine the trajectory of policy and standard developments that shape the future of the Internet. At the 2018 Plenipot, civil society played an important role in deliberations on connectivity and access, privacy, protection of human rights, limiting surveillance, and other issues. The contributions of civil society took over a year to organize, coordinate and strategize.

InterCommunity 2018 and Visions for Internet Governance

Calls for increased regulation of the Internet are growing in force and frequency. As a result, the future of Internet governance is at play. Over the past year, we have seen increased tension between governmental regulations and the historical model for governing the Internet. During the past few months, this tension was on full display at the 2018 ITU Plenipotentiary, the Internet Governance Forum, ICANN 63 and numerous other events. This event provided a debrief of the major developments in Internet governance events that have happened in Autumn 2018 and discussed the potential ways they could shape the future of the Internet.

The Battle for the Global Internet

From the physical infrastructure to the services that run on top of it, the Internet has become a major focal point of debate around the world. Globally, Internet governance is split into three camps. On one side, there are proponents of an internet driven by ideals of freedom and openness, whose domestic governance usually manifests in an equitable multistakeholder approach. On the other side, authoritarians see the Internet as a threat to regime security and opt for a sovereign and controlled model, where the state is the primary force in governance over the Internet’s infrastructure and services. In the middle, there are the undecideds—some unsure of which direction to go, and others seeking a third way.

Governing the Internet of Things

The Internet’s architecture and governance structures have been designed to enable innovation, global communication and the free flow of information, but the Internet of Things presents a new range of governance challenges. An Internet embedded in the material world creates new and increased concerns around privacy, security, and the possibility of physical harm to people and disruption of material infrastructure. To what extent do the Internet’s underlying architectural and governance principles need to evolve to address these risks? What is the outlook for security and privacy in the context of ubiquitous cyber-physical systems that range from cars to medical devices to home control systems? What forms of inequality and discrimination are emerging in this environment?

Choosing New Technologies for a Better Internet: Who Decides?

The recent high-profile debates on encryption and surveillance policy mean that less attention has been paid to ongoing efforts to deploy new technologies and protocols to enhance the network layer, the Domain Name System, the World Wide Web, and other parts of the Internet. On some fronts, such as adoption of transport layer encryption for web and email, progress has been significant. In other cases, such as the deployment of the DNSSEC and BGPSEC standards, progress has been more limited. How can the security and stability of the Internet be improved, at the level of technical standards and practices? What are the different roles of network providers, cloud services companies, browser companies, Internet security firms, and others trying to promote new technologies and standards?

Visions of the Internet from Delhi, Wuzhen, Geneva, and Everywhere Else

ISOC-DC held its annual debrief on the UN’s Internet Governance Forum (IGF). In addition to discussing IGF2017, which was held from December 18 to December 21 in Geneva, participants will discuss their observations from the Global Conference on Cyber Space (GCCS) held in November in New Delhi, India, as well as the 4th annual World Internet Conference held in Wuzhen, China, in December. These three conferences examined the forces and decisions that are shaping the Internet but from three very different perspectives. This was an audience participation event with opportunities to share observations, questions, and opinions.

Digital Preservation: Policy Challenges (with Vint Cerf)

In 2018, the Internet Society New York Chapter (ISOC-NY), with the support of Google, has embarked on a new project to explore and define Digital Preservation principles, protocols, and practices. The first event, in this two-part series, is presented in partnership...

Baked In: Can Policy Help Create Incentives in the Cybersecurity Marketplace?

How does policy impact evolution and innovation of cybersecurity markets and the tech sector? How can technology, standards-setting, and policy narrow the scope of risk within which cyber defenders operate? How can policy, markets, and the tech sector help to create the incentives necessary to enhance the security of the Internet?

Is the Internet Fragmenting, Part 1

Recent developments related to the Internet have prompted alarming questions about whether it is fragmenting. They include a diverse set of technical, economic, and policy developments and decisions that have been taken in response to the continued growth and globalization of the Internet, and its evolving role as critical infrastructure for the digital economy.

Is the Internet Fragmenting, Part 2: The Technical Lens

This event is Part 2 of a four-part series of dialogues organized in response to recent developments related to the Internet that have prompted alarming questions about whether it is fragmenting. They include a diverse set of technical, economic, and policy developments and decisions that have been taken in response to the continued growth and globalization of the Internet.

Is the Internet Fragmenting, Part 3 The Business Lens

“The Business Lens” examines how technology choices and policy decisions that potentially fragment the Internet affect global commerce and economic growth. Microsoft and ISOC-DC are bringing together policy stakeholders, including government, the technical community, civil society, industry, and other organizations, to consider these issues more fully.

Is the Internet Fragmenting? Part 4: The Policy Lens

The discussion, the final in a four-part series that has explored multiple facets of fragmentation, will bring together stakeholders from government, industry, civil society, and the technical community to examine how policy decisions can lead to fragmentation, and the impact of such fragmentation on the digital economy globally and nationally.