By all measures, the internet has been a global phenomenon, evolving from an experiment into a transformative worldwide platform for social, cultural, and economic advancement. Much of this success is due to the evolution of a multistakeholder approach to internet governance, where representatives from governments, NGOs, and other stakeholders collaborate with private sector experts in open, transparent processes to ensure the continued growth, viability, and interconnectivity of a free and open global network. Many countries are adopting policy and regulatory changes to better align their economies with the internet, seeking to maximize its benefits to help improve the lives of their own citizens and businesses.
91proÊÓÆµ strongly supports continuance of multistakeholder governance of the internet. Abandoning the multistakeholder approach to give governments a stronger role, as some suggest, could lead to heavy-handed regulation of the internet and jeopardize global progress, particularly for emerging economies.