The internet is decentralised, self-regulating and has be-come increasingly driven by market forces. In contrast to the traditional telephone system, it is based on packet switching and has developed outside that system’s highly regulated structures. As it is based on the technical and commercial interactions between a myriad of internet service providers (ISPs), internet economics is like an ecosystem in which the behaviour of each ISP is shaped by the market forces of these interactions. The opportunity for direct policy inputs is therefore much lower, and the most meaningful interventions are those with commercial relevance. However there remain fierce debates over its level of inclusiveness and its overall effectiveness.
The global nature of the internet, and its growth outside of the control of governments, have meant that there is no international internet governing body. The closest thing to international internet governance is therefore comprised of technical bodies, ranging from the engineering side, such as the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), to other technical areas such as responsibility for allocating domain names (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers – ICANN), and IP addresses (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority – IANA), or organisations which set generally recognised standards such as W3C.
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On Internet Governance in the APC Monitor
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 Global call to back free and open standards 
19/05/2008 (Tectonic) --
The Digital Standards Organization (Digistan) and its supporters are calling on governments around the globe to use only free and open standards. The organisation, which was set up to defend and promote open digital standards, plans to adopt the Hague Declaration on May 21. Organisations and individuals supporting the effort are also being asked to sign the declaration.
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East Africa prepares for global IGF
26/12/2008 (Computerworld) --
Representatives from Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda have gathered in Nairobi to discuss common issues regarding internet governance, in preparation for next month's global Internet Governance Forum (IGF).
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IGF gets under way in India
12/01/2009 (KICTANeT) --
The First East African Internet Governance Forum was inspired by the realization that there was a need to address the limited participation of African stakeholders in global internet governance debates. That's according to KICTANeT's Alice Wanjira, who was speaking at the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) currently taking place in India.
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Kenya: Internet governance still on the back-burner
26/12/2008 --
Kenya has yet to fully address its legal, infrastructure, access, content and security issues. That's according to a report called "Online Deliberations on Internet Governance" released ahead of the up-coming global Internet Governance Forum (IGF) meeting in Hyderabad.
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IGF: Just a talk shop?
24/04/2008 --
This APC paper by Abi Jagun identifies and documents the main areas of discussions and 'recommendations' that were generated under the Access theme at the second Internet Governance Forum in Rio De Janeiro, November 2007. While recognising that the IGF is currently viewed and operates primarily as a space for discussion, the paper finds that it is also a space in which commonality of opinion occurs to the level at which ‘recommendations’ can be made and repeatedly asserted in the forum's workshops, and strategically reinforced at different levels of the IGF.
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