What is Internet governance? Alone the attempt to explain the term, is no easy undertaking. The ""classic"" question in
the discussion has been: Who rules the Internet and who controls the system?

Internet Governance

To us as a registry, it is particularly relevant to know who rules the Internet and ""administers"" the system. Therefore,
we actively participate in the discussion process at ICANN, the International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. ICANN is responsible for the worldwide domain name system, which forms the basis of Internet addressing. The following common understanding of Internet Governance was adopted at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) that takes place annually in Geneva (Switzerland).

In addition, however, there are many more aspects that fall under the concept Internet Governance and are discussed in various committees: The focus is on freedom of opinion, human rights, security, data protection, Internet access, technological standards, and much more – so on how the Internet is changing all aspects of society and how these global challenges should be risen to.

Internet Governance Forum (IGF)

At an international level, the United Nations laid down the groundwork for the "Internet Governance Forum" (IGF) in 2006, that has been taking place annually ever since. What makes this special is what is referred to as the multi-stakeholder approach: countries, international organisations, the private industry, and civil society are equal participants. This also exists on a European level as the "European Dialogue on Internet Governance" (EuroDIG). Similarly, many countries have established national Internet Governance Forums. They develop statements on a national level, supporting both national politics, while contributing to the international debate. They also operate according to the multi-stakeholder principle, in which all stakeholders have the opportunity to participate and contribute their position. More information can be found on www.intgovforum.org.

In September 2014, Austria reached a milestone, when the first Internet Governance Forum Austria (IGF) took place on the initiative of the Federal Chancellery. nic.at and ISPA were on board as coorganisers. Numerous stakeholders formulated their positions and expectations of the forum, unanimously stating their desire for it to be more than just a one-off exercise and calling for structures to be put in place that support regular discourse on the most diverse aspects of the Internet. More information on IGF Austria can be found on www.igf-austria.at.