Session
Organizer 1: Private Sector, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Organizer 2: Private Sector, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 1: Alissa Starzak, Private Sector, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 2: Mona Gaballa, Technical Community, Intergovernmental Organization
Speaker 3: Jason Pielemeier, Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Classroom
Duration (minutes): 60
Format description: This session would benefit from a room setup that can facilitate maximal discussion, which we believe to be the classroom setup. We believe 60 minutes is an appropriate amount of time to set the scene, share background information, and have a robust discussion.
What policies, regulations and technical practices drive Internet fragmentation? What are the broad economic consequences of Internet fragmentation? What are policies that drive Internet fragmentation - like network blocking, DNS interference, sovereign Internet models, and network fees - trying to accomplish? Are there any key themes or commonalities across the intent behind those policies? How should we evaluate the long term economic impact of those policies? What economic impacts of these policies have we already seen? What other technical, policy or legal impacts should we consider? What alternative approaches to these types of policy challenges mitigate potential adverse impacts?
What will participants gain from attending this session? Participants will gain a better understanding of the regulatory and legal implementation of policies around the world that potentially cause Internet fragmentation. Participants will gain an understanding of the technical consequences associated with those policies, including at the infrastructure layers of the Internet. Participants will gain a better understanding of the economic costs of those policies, including unintended or less understood consequences like over-blocking, cloud service interruption, or other online disruptions.
Description:
This session will focus on the economic costs of Internet fragmentation. It will focus on a range of recent policies and regulations that could impact the free and open Internet, including shutdowns, blocking, DNS interference, sovereign Internet models, and network fees. The impact of Internet shutdowns and other Internet access disruptions on human rights are well-documented. A number of organizations have also conducted research on the costs of Internet shutdowns to help inform policy makers about the economic impact of such extraordinary measures. This session will seek to broaden that discussion to explore the potential economic costs, as well as technical, policy, and legal impacts, of recent policies that could lead to fragmentation of the free and open Internet.
The goal of the sessions is to provide a more thorough understanding of the impact, costs, benefits, and tradeoffs associated with recent policies and regulations that could impact the free and open Internet (e.g. Internet fragmentation). We expect the discussion will provide material for participants and other stakeholders to directly engage with policy makers on these issues moving forward.
Hybrid Format: All participants are familiar with facilitating discussion with onsite and online speakers and attendees. For example, the Cloudflare team recently participated in hybrid sessions at RightsCon last month. We will set aside significant time to facilitate conversation and ensure equal participation. We're happy to discuss additional tools and best practices, if IGF has a preference beyond hosting the session itself.