Introduction
Narrow vs broad approach The narrow approach focuses on the Internet infrastructure (DNS, IP numbers, and root servers) and on ICANN’s position as the key actor in this field. According to the broad approach, Internet governance negotiations should go beyond infrastructural points and address other legal, economic, developmental, and sociocultural issues. This latter approach is adopted in the WGIG report and the WSIS concluding document. It is also used as the underlying principle of IGF architecture. Technical and policy coherence A significant challenge facing the Internet governance process has been the integration of technical and policy aspects, as it is difficult to draw a clear distinction between the two. Technical solutions are not neutral. Ultimately, each technical solution/option promotes certain interests, empowers certain groups, and, to a certain extent, impacts social, political, and economic life. In the case of the Internet, for a long time both the technical and the policy aspects were governed by just one social group – the early Internet community. With the growth of the Internet and the emergence of new Internet governance actors – mainly the business sector and governments – it was difficult for the Internet community to maintain an integrated coverage of technical and policy issues under one roof. Subsequent reforms, including the creation of ICANN, have tried to re-establish coherence between technical and policy aspects. This issue remains open, and as expected, has shown to be one of the controversial topics in the debate on the future of Internet governance. ‘Old-real’ vs ‘new-cyber’ approach There are two approaches to almost every Internet governance issue. The ‘oldreal’ approach argues that the Internet has not introduced anything new to the field of governance. It is just another new device, from the governance perspective, no different from its predecessors: the telegraph, the telephone, and the radio. 15