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Dear Olivier,
Dear Silvia,
here’s a brief
résumé about President Macron’s speech at the IGF-2018 in Paris.
If you wish, I could present the topic orally in the second half
of our conference call later today, because a discussion would
be warranted.
If E. Macron’s
speech gave rise to some concerns, these were heard mainly on
the side of large corporations, say in the USA, who reacted to
the use of the R word, largely banished from their vocabulary.
For some, Regulation is the beginning of Communism. From the
standpoint of the global Internet user, I would point out the
following features:
- Threats to
the Internet and its users:
-
Structural: the single, unique Internet is under the risk of
breaking up into national segments or continental ‘’plates’'
- Cybercrime
is a direct threat to physical security of the Internet, and to
the continued availability of public services.
- The global
Internet now needs ‘’decisive, but lucid action’’ in order to
preserve or protect
- ideals,
values
- net
neutrality
- It is a
falsehood to describe net neutrality as leading to the end of
free thought. One must distinguish between neutrality and
universality.
- In light of
the above, it is time for us all to ‘’build a new space'', with
- ‘’an open
and safe Internet’'
- with
adequate respect for ideals and values
- In order to
preserve the Internet and global users against these dangers, it
has become necessary to set up some degree or regulation:
- because
governments espouse different values: some democratic, others
far less so
- France was
the first signatory of the ‘’Contract to Save the Internet’’
initiated by Tim Berners-Lee, with a view to protecting
democracy
- It has
become necessary to reach beyond the misleading alternative of
‘’complete self-regulation, or deregulation’’, and ‘’a segmented
Internet controlled by authoritarian states’'
- Therefore,
E. Macron is calling for a ‘’cooperative regulation’’, in the
spirit of the growing movement towards sharing commons
- France,
following Switzerland, will contribute to the implementation of
such a ‘’cooperative regulatory’’ movement, as of 2019, on 3
main issues:
1) Protect
private data (enhance protection through some regulatory
mechanism), along the EU model
2) Ensure
and enhance trust, stability and security in cyberspace; France
supports the ‘’Paris Appeal for Trust and Security in
Cyberspace’'
3) Preserve
potential for creativity, invention and economic development
- In mid-2019,
France will invite to Paris an international ‘’scientific
council'’ on AI
- Conclusion,
a quote from the late Kofi Annan: ‘’To cope with Internet in our
lives, we need to be at least as creative as those who invented
it.’’
(All the above
passage were translated into English by yours truly)
Best regards,
Jean-Jacques.