Multi-Stakeholder Governance And The Internet Governance Forum

by Jeremy Malcolm

Multi-stakeholder governance is a fresh approach to the development of public policy, bringing together governments, the private sector and civil society in partnership. The movement towards this new governance paradigm has been most marked in areas involving global networks of stakeholders, too intricate to be represented by governments alone. Nowhere is this better illustrated than on the Internet, where it is an inherent characteristic of the network that laws, and the conduct to which those laws are directed, will cross national borders. Thus momentum has developed to bring multi-stakeholder governance to the Internet, through reforms such as the Internet Governance Forum (IGF). In this groundbreaking and incisive book, Jeremy Malcolm examines the new model of multi-stakeholder governance for the Internet regime that the IGF represents, and builds a compelling case for its reform to enable it to fulfil its mandate as an institution for multi-stakeholder Internet governance.

640 pages, Paperback

First published May 12, 2008

About the author

Jeremy Malcolm is Executive Director of Prostasia Foundation, a child protection nonprofit. Prior to that he was Senior Global Policy Analyst at Electronic Frontier Foundation, where he worked on the international dimensions of issues such as intellectual property, intermediary liability, net neutrality, Internet governance, and trade. Previously he worked at Consumers International coordinating its global programme Consumers in the Digital Age. Jeremy graduated with degrees in Law (with Honours) and Commerce in 1995 from Murdoch University, and completed his PhD thesis at the same University in 2008 on the topic of Internet governance. Jeremy's background is as an information technology and intellectual property lawyer and IT consultant. He is admitted to the bars of the Supreme Court of Western Australia (1995), High Court of Australia (1996) and Appellate Division of New York (2009). He is a member of the Multistakeholder Advisory Group of the United Nations Internet Governance Forum.