Internet governance has emerged as a major point of focus for governments and private sector interests interested in safeguarding and sustaining the growth and innovation spurred by the Web. The growing global spotlight on Internet governance is driven by the Internet's ever-expanding economic power of the Internet; border-spanning cyber security threats; and privacy concerns amplified by the fallout of the release of confidential US National Intelligence Agency (NSA) documents revealing the scale and reach of US-intelligence data gathering programmes. These developments are drawing a wider pool of actors into the already diverse, multi-stakeholder groups that oversee and influence global Internet policy.
Conversations around the future of the Internet are getting louder and more complex. From computer engineers and policy specialists defining the technical protocols and rules underpinning; to economists, human rights advocates, security specialists, lawyers and diplomats, debating who ultimately is responsible for governance of the world's most significant network.
At stake is stability and continued growth of a network that is perhaps the greatest driver of economic and social change in the history of mankind.
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