EuroISPA regrets the failure of the World Conference on International Telecommunications

EuroISPA regrets the failure of the World Conference on International Telecommunications (“WCIT”) to agree an acceptable new Treaty, and strongly supports the decision of EU Member States to refuse to sign up to an expanded scope for International Telecommunications Regulations (ITRs).

EuroISPA saw the WCIT as a chance to promote the benefits of competitive and liberalised telecommunications markets, which are achieving so much within the EU and other developed nations and could offer so much to the developing world. Sadly, the ITU Member States chose instead to expand the scope of the International Telecommunications Regulations, risking harm to innovation and growth as well as watering down internationally agreed standards on human rights.  Europe was left with no choice but to reject this approach.

EuroISPA opposes extending the ITRs to cover Internet governance, and supports the existing multi-stakeholder model that has proven so successful.

EuroISPA also regrets the blatant attempts seen at WCIT by some of the world’s most authoritarian regimes to use concerns about spam and security to legitimise their repressive controls on Internet content, and to use United Nations agencies to extend the effective reach of their power.

Malcolm Hutty, President of EuroISPA said: “This was a missed opportunity to extend the benefits of competitive and liberalised markets, but the blame lies with those non-European governments that insisted on creating new rights for governments instead of focusing on what’s good for end users”.