Strengthening the Internet for Global, Ubiquitous and Secure Commercial Use: Perspectives, Lessons, Issues and Challenges

Today we have near-universal availability of the Internet, with over 3 billion users in some 200 countries worldwide. Simultaneously the mobile phone, with some 7.1 billion subscriptions globally by the end of 2015, has become the most widely used communications device in the world, the access device of choice in developing countries and it is often the only available device there for accessing the Internet and its associated services.The positive socio-economic benefits derived from the Internet and the World Wide Web are enormous and well documented. However, the negative developments (e.g. malware, hacking, identity theft, organized cyber-fraud, cyber-crime, loss of Trust and Confidence in the Internet as a platform for commercial transactions) are increasing in magnitude. They need to be studied more carefully and understood better by the TPRC community, among others, so that practical and workable remedial measures can be proposed.In this paper the authors will show that the building of an appropriate institutional and legal infrastructure for the global digital marketplace and its underlying Internet infrastructure, as well as the creation of commonly accepted, understandable and internationally enforceable marketplace rules which provide trust and confidence for all those who operate in or are affected by it, is a necessary condition for the efficient functioning of a global, digital economy. Although the Internet has transformed our economy and society, it was never designed and built for global, ubiquitous and secure commercial use. As broadband mobile Internet access becomes more readily available and affordable, intelligent mobile devices are being used widely for business applications and financial transactions, as well as for personal and social purposes. This expansion will create more billions of vulnerable new mobile Internet users worldwide, with the bulk located in developing countries, who are likely to become an additional major target for malware, identity theft, cyber-fraud and cyber-crime.The paper makes the case that the status quo is untenable in the medium term. The increasing quantitative load put on the Internet by billions of new users (e.g. mobile users) and new uses (e.g. the Internet of Things), combined with increasing net threats, will eventually degrade the public Internet unless new institutional and governance arrangements can be created. For the Internet to achieve its maximum economic and social potential, there will have to be agreed upon and effective “rules of the road”, both nationally and globally. The task of building an environment of trust and confidence in the digital economy is complex: there is no magic or silver bullet. It will require a multi-stakeholder global approach and will involve concerted actions among many stakeholders: to create the requisite legal and regulatory environment; to develop voluntary codes of practice; to educate businesses, consumers and public service providers; and to create tools that are easy to use. Drawing upon the lessons of history and historical analogies, as well as examining some ideas proposed in various fora such as the OECD, ITU, WTO and by various experts, the paper will explore some possible solutions.

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