Internet activists are reportedly planning to make a late attempt to stop governments from taking over the Web.
Internet freedom has made some of the biggest news in recent months. It has fueled Arab revolutions, enabled mass leaks of US diplomatic cables and allowed online piracy, which many people use across the world.
Reuters reported that the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) that begins in Nairobi on Tuesday brings together companies, non-profit groups, academics, engineers, government representatives and ordinary citizens to fight for Internet freedom.
"Stronger influence of governments seems inevitable. The Internet has simply become too important for them to ignore it. They prefer a top-down approach," said Markus Kummer of the Internet Society, which campaigns for the open Internet.
"It was very exclusionary. For women and the global South there was virtually no consultation. It was a hand-picked group of white, male billionaires," Internet lawyer and consumer advocate Jeremy Malcolm told Reuters.
"The IGF is really the last best hope for this process. If it fails, what we’re going to get is India, Brazil, South Africa, China, Kazakhstan, Russia and so on putting forward the idea that we need an intergovernmental process."
"The technology continuing to change is a given that we have to accept," said Jeff Brueggeman, who runs public policy for U.S. telecoms operator AT&T and will attend the IGF. "The idea is always to be looking ahead at the next issue."
