UN group calls for more Internet rulesA recent United Nations report calls for more international rules for the Internet, especially with respect to how nations treat each other.
"Making cyberspace stable and secure can be achieved only through international cooperation," said the report, published last week, "and the foundation of this cooperation must be international law and the principles of the Charter of the United Nations."
Among its findings, the report said state actors "should not conduct or knowingly support" cyber crime "that intentionally damages critical infrastructure or otherwise impairs the use and operation of critical infrastructure to provide services to the public." To that end, it said, there should be "effective cooperation among States to reduce risks to international peace and security."
It additionally suggests that nations should respect human rights, suggesting that they "comply with their obligations under international law to respect and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms."
The group recommended that the UN play "a leading role in promoting dialogue" on "the application of international law and norms, rules and principles for responsible State behavior" in the field of cybersecurity, and asked that the UN General Assembly schedule the group to reconvene in 2016.
The statements in the report echo those made by Secretary of State John Kerry in a speech in South Korea this year. Kerry suggested that countries not be permitted to damage or impede critical infrastructure, or prevent emergency teams from responding to cybersecurity incidents; refrain from cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property; take accountability for cyberthreats emanating from their soil; and do what they can to assist other countries that have been victimized in cyberattacks.
"I guarantee you if those five principles were genuinely and fully adopted and implemented by countries, we would be living in a far safer and far more confident cyberworld," Kerry said.
The report, which took more than a year to compile, was the product of a 20-nation working group founded in 2004 titled the "Governmental Group of Experts," or GGE. It's an unwieldy assemblage, and includes nations that stand in varying degrees of compliance with the principles of its non-binding documents.
China, for instance, has reportedly charged 197 people for spreading "online rumors" in recent years, and engaged in cyberespionage against the U.S. for both commercial and political purposes. Spying conducted by the U.S. on citizens around the world, meanwhile, may violate what the documents call "the right to privacy in the digital age" and "full respect for human rights."
In addition to China, members of the working group included Belarus, Colombia, Egypt, Estonia, France, Germany, Ghana, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, South Korea, Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland. Brazil sat as chair.
Though the report was finished in July, it was not made public until late August. Russia's ambassador to the UK was quick to issue praise, saying that any agreement was valuable as "information and communication technologies" were "being increasingly used for unlawful and hostile purposes" that were "inconsistent with the basic principles of international law." He also voiced support for the creation of actionable treaties, adding, "Russia would prefer to launch a discussion on a legally binding international convention … though we understand that our partners are not ready for this yet."
He went on to liken cyberwarfare to the Cold War, stating, "As in the nuclear weapons story, some still hope to maintain a permanent edge over others."
Creating a multilateral regime to govern cyber policy is an old refrain for Russia. The country and its economic allies — Brazil, India, China, and South Africa — called on the UN to develop a "universal regulatory instrument" for combating cybercrime at their summit this year. China and Russia have been particularly enthusiastic about the prospect of creating multilateral bodies over the years. The U.S. has avoided binding documents and sought to impose multistakeholder governance where applicable, involving participation from the private sector rather than restricting it to state actors.
The GGE report was written after two meetings in 2014 and two more in 2015 at the UN's headquarters in New York. It was predicated on previous reports the group published in 2010 and 2013. The largest breakthrough for the group made may have been in 2013, when it finally determined that international laws on sovereignty should apply to the online space.
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