Internet Governance
Alliance.10 The very function of setting or implementing standards in such a fast developing market affords these institutions considerable influence. Who owns the electromagnetic spectrum? The current regime of spectrum management is based on the assumption that it is a scarce resource that should be managed by government institutions, regional initiatives (such as the EU’s Radio Spectrum Committee (RSC) and the Radio Spectrum Policy Group (RSPG)), and the ITU. Development of new technologies that use the spectrum more efficiently than before has resulted in it being conceived as a less scarce resource in practice. Ultimately, the volume and limits of the use of the spectrum will depend on technological developments. This approach argues that current government regulation should be replaced with an ‘open spectrum’, i.e., open access for all. There are two potential problems with this view. One is practical and related to the huge investments that telecommunications companies, especially in Europe, made in acquiring the rights to operate third-generation mobilephone networks.11 The other issue is that if the spectrum becomes a free-forall, this does not necessarily mean that it will be used by many as a public good. Rather, it will be utilised by actors that have technical capacities to utilise ‘free’ spectrum. The development of new communication services using radio spectrum, most notably wireless broadband and mobile communications, has increased the demand for radio frequencies, urging governments around the world to find solutions to accommodate an optimal spectrum use. Replacing conservative analogue broadcasting with digital television allows the freeing up of an important part of the radio spectrum that can be thus allocated to other services – the so-called digital dividend. The EU has developed a comprehensive regulatory programme for radio spectrum management,12 while the USA has taken a market-led approach by submitting the frequencies to auction processes.
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) The current situation TCP/IP is the main Internet technical standard. It is based on three principles: packet-switching, end-to-end networking, and robustness. Internet governance related to TCP/IP has two important aspects: 38