Keep the net beyond the autocrats’ reach

[Commentary] Next week, out of sight of all but the most obsessive geeks, the future of the internet will be determined. Any drama, however, will be hard to discern. Men in suits will gather in Dubai to pore over interminable clause provisions, talking in acronyms and jargon. Yet what happens at the World Conference on International Communications will potentially affect every citizen and every business – those who go online to network, to buy, to sell and to express themselves.

The issue at stake is will the internet continue to be run by a series of semi-formal groups that meet to assign domain names and to debate free expression, or will it be handed over to governments, most of which have pushed hard to assert control over cyberspace? Few deny that the internet governance needs to adapt. Its discourse needs to be less American, more internationalist so as to reflect the shifting power balance between north and south. The question is not which countries have jurisdiction over the internet, but to make sure that citizens from all regions, particularly developing nations, are properly represented. Even if they don’t make the breakthrough they seek in Dubai, the authoritarians will come back for more in 2013. If they succeed, internet restrictions will soon become the norm and users around the world will have to get used to governments watching them.