US embassy cable - 05THEHAGUE2905

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 THE HAGUE 002905 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EB/CIP (GROSS), EUR/ERA, EUR/UBI 
STATE PLEASE PASS FCC AND FTC 
STATE PLEASE ALSO PASS USTR 
COMMERCE FOR NITA (CSPECK) 
JUSTICE FOR CWILNER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/21/2015 
TAGS: ECON, ECPS, KIPR, NL, EUN 
SUBJECT: DUTCH WANT "SHARED RESPONSIBILITY" FOR INTERNET 
GOVERNANCE 
 
REF: A. OCTOBER 20 NAMDE (IO/T)-ENSTROM EMAIL 
 
     B. LONDON 8166 
     C. THE HAGUE 665 
     D. STATE 196384 
 
Classified By: ECONOMIC COUNSELOR RICHARD HUFF, 
REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D) 
 
1.  (C)  SUMMARY.  Dutch Foreign Ministry contacts appear 
more receptive to USG concerns about the risks posed by the 
EU's recent proposal to create an "international cooperation 
model" for internet governance to further innovation of the 
Internet and freedom of information issues.  Working-level 
Economic Ministry officials agree on the need to keep the 
technical management of the Internet in private hands but 
want oversight of the internet to evolve into a form allowing 
for greater shared international responsibility of 
decision-making.  They do not believe that such a step will 
require the creation of a new international organization or 
UN entity and remain open to suggestions from the USG on 
future structures.  Intervention at higher levels in the 
GONL, including proposed calls by IO A/S Silverberg to senior 
Dutch officials (ref A), may be necessary to bring the Dutch 
around to the USG position.  Dutch Economic Minister 
Brinkhorst has asked for a meeting with the head of the U.S. 
delegation to the November World Summit on the Information 
Society.  See para 10 for action requests.  END SUMMARY. 
 
MEA WANTS "SHARED" INTERNATIONAL OVERSIGHT 
------------------------------------------ 
 
2.  (C)  As a follow up to the October 13 conference call 
with Ambassador David Gross (EB DAS and U.S. Coordinator for 
International Communications and Information Policy) and U.S. 
missions in EU member countries, Econoff met October 20 with 
Rodrigo Pinto Scholtbach and Thomas de Haan, Senior Policy 
Officers in the Directorate-General for Telecommunications 
and Post, Ministry of Economic Affairs (MEA), to discuss USG 
concerns with the recent EU proposal on internet governance 
submitted to the September 30 Geneva PrepCom for the November 
World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Tunis. 
Both Pinto Scholtbach and de Haan attended the Geneva PrepCom 
and were likely responsible for the hard-line Dutch text 
proposed at the meeting (see ref B).  De Haan also serves as 
a Dutch delegate to the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) 
within the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and 
Numbers (ICANN). 
 
3.  (SBU)  Pinto Scholtbach noted that the Dutch and its EU 
colleagues had raised concerns about reaching an agreement on 
internet governance during Ambassador Gross' March visit to 
the Netherlands (reported ref C) and subsequent US-EU 
meetings.  He said the Dutch supported the new EU proposal 
for a new "international cooperation model," which calls for 
equitable and efficient global allocation of Internet 
Protocol (IP) addresses, procedures for changing the root 
zone file, continuation of crucial DNS functions, the 
establishment of an arbitration and dispute resolution 
mechanism, and rules applicable to the DNS system.  He noted 
that the MEA had also briefed Dutch industry providers, who 
agreed on the need for a discussion on the future of internet 
governance.  (NOTE:  Post has already shared points similar 
to those in ref D with GONL officials and will also provide 
these points to industry and business leaders.) 
 
4.  (SBU)  Both Pinto Scholtbach and de Haan were aware of 
USG opposition to the EU proposal, but believed that the 
media had exaggerated differences between U.S. and EU 
positions.  Pinto Scholtbach stressed that there was general 
agreement with the USG on the need to ensure that the 
technical management of the DNS remained in private hands. 
De Haan stressed that the Dutch and the EU continued to 
support the work of ICANN as the technical manager of DNS and 
had no intention of proposing any replacement organization. 
There was no doubt of ICANN's success and progress in 
managing this aspect of the Internet. 
 
5.  (SBU)  Differences did exist, however, over the future 
role of the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) and its 
supervisory relationship with ICANN.  With a growing 
worldwide dependence on the Internet, de Haan argued that no 
government should have a sole mandate for decision-making 
regarding the Internet, including the determination and/or 
changing of the root zone file system.  Rather, this role, 
which is currently played by the DOC, should be placed within 
a "more international setting" with participation by all 
interested governments.  Pinto Scholtbach added that the 
"internationalization" of this oversight role would not 
require the creation of a new international organization or 
UN entity.  However, the status quo was not acceptable. 
6.  (SBU)  While it was too early to discuss models,  Pinto 
Scholtbach suggested that the GAC might play this supervisory 
role if it were moved outside the ICANN.  Econoff countered 
that such an international mechanism controlled by 
governments could risk stifling further innovation of the 
Internet and could ultimately endanger the security of the 
system.  Econoff added that the DOC relationship with ICANN 
was not a case of the regulator and the regulated, but rather 
a joint partnership, where the DOC played no role in the 
internal governance of the day-to-day operation of ICANN. 
Pinto Scholtbach agreed that governments should not be 
involved in the technical aspects of managing the Internet. 
The key issue for the Dutch and the EU, he stressed, was a 
"sharing of the responsibility" of the oversight of the 
system. 
 
LOOKING FOR USG SUGGESTIONS ON FUTURE MODELS 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
7.  (C)  When pushed for examples of cases where the USG and 
ICANN had failed to administer the Internet in an equitable 
manner, de Haan noted Chinese concerns about a shortage of IP 
addresses.  He suggested that such issues could be addressed 
within a more independent GAC structure, which could also 
include a dispute and appeal mechanism to deal with such 
issues as root zone file changes.  Econoff said that the USG 
recognized that governments had legitimate public policy and 
sovereignty concerns in this area and was committed to 
working with the international community to address these 
concerns.  Such a dialogue was already taking place among 
stakeholders within various fora, including the GAC and the 
International Telecommunications Union (ITU).  When de Haan 
raised concerns about a possible Chinese-led fragmentation of 
the Internet system, Econoff questioned whether there really 
were economic benefits in creating a separate system, adding 
that such a development might even be a welcomed step forward 
as economic realities would necessitate inter-connectivity of 
such systems. 
 
8.  (SBU)  While differences clearly remained, Pinto 
Scholtbach stressed that the Dutch and EU were open to 
suggestions from the USG on future "international cooperative 
models" on internet governance that would give other 
governments more of a say in decision-making.  Given the 
success of the current system and the lack of a viable 
alternative to the existing DOC-ICANN partnership, Econoff 
argued that the work of the WSIS would be better spent on the 
issue of how the developed world could better extend the 
benefits of the Internet to the developing world. 
International cooperation, she added, was also needed in 
critical areas such as spam prevention, cybersecurity, and 
privacy issues. 
 
MFA TAKES NOTE OF FREEDOM OF INFORMATION RISKS 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
9.  (C)  In a separate meeting later that day, Bart Paans, 
Policy Advisor on WSIS issues in the United Nations and 
International Financial Institutions Department, Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs (MFA), noted that the MEA had the lead on the 
technical substance of the Dutch position on internet 
governance.  He agreed in principle with Econoff's arguments 
about the risks posed by the creation of a new 
intergovernmental body to further innovation of the Internet. 
 He took note of Econoff's point that such a body could play 
into the hands of regimes seeking to restrict Internet access 
to their citizens.  However, he acknowledged that his 
Ministry needed to consult further with the MEA before 
responding officially to USG concerns. 
 
SEEKING MEETING WITH U.S. WSIS DELEGATION HEAD 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
10.  (U)  ACTION REQUESTED:  At the conclusion of the MEA 
meeting, Pinto Scholtbach requested assistance in seeking a 
meeting between the head of the U.S. delegation to the WSIS 
and Dutch Economics Minister Brinkhorst, who will lead the 
Dutch WSIS delegation.  He added that Dutch parliamentarians 
planned to be at the meeting in Tunis and asked whether U.S. 
Congressmen also planned to attend.  He suggested that a 
meeting could also be arranged between these representatives. 
  Post would appreciate guidance from Washington on the 
possibility of a meeting between Minister Brinkhorst and the 
head of the U.S. delegation to the WSIS for 20-30 minutes 
(sometime between 11 am and 1 pm) on Wednesday, November 16, 
on the margins of the morning plenary session.  Post would 
also appreciate guidance on whether U.S. Congressmen plan to 
attend the November WSIS event and the possibility of 
meetings with Dutch parliamentarians.  The following is a 
list of proposed Dutch delegates to the WSIS: 
 
-- Laurens Brinkhorst, Minister of Economic Affairs, 
Delegation head 
-- Mark Frequin, Director-General for Telecommunications and 
Post, MEA 
-- Mark Esseboom, Director for Strategy and International 
Affairs, Directorate-General for Telecommunications and Post, 
MEA 
-- Willem Rullens, Director for International Affairs, 
Directorate-General for Telecommunications and Post, MEA 
-- Rodrigo Pinto Scholtbach, Senior Policy Officer, 
Directorate-General for Telecommunications and Post, MEA 
-- Thomas de Haan, Senior Policy Officer, Directorate-General 
for Telecommunications and Post, MEA 
-- Judith Thompson, Communications Division, MEA 
-- Hans Franken, Member of the Upper Chamber of Parliament 
(CDA) 
-- Jos Hessels, Member of the Lower Chamber of Parliament 
(CDA) 
-- Martijn van Dam, Member of the Lower Chamber of Parliament 
(PvdA) 
-- Zsolt Szabo, Member of the Lower Chamber of Parliament 
(VVD) 
-- Bart Paans, Policy Advisor, Policy Advisor, United Nations 
and International Financial Institutions Department, MFA 
-- Sanne Kaasjager, Dutch Permanent Mission to the UN in 
Geneva 
-- Ian de Jong, Dutch Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva 
 
 
COMMENT -- REINFORCING OUR MESSAGE 
---------------------------------- 
 
11.  (C)  Dutch MEA officials have said that they do not 
favor the creation of a new international organization or UN 
entity for international oversight of the Internet.  However, 
their views clearly convey dissatisfaction with a perceived 
USG control of the Internet.  Beyond the suggestion of a 
possible GAC structure outside the ICANN, Dutch thoughts for 
such an "international cooperation model" remain unclear. 
Their key concern is that the current internet governance 
structure evolves into a form that allows for greater shared 
international responsibility of decision-making.  They may 
also view the current EU proposal as a means of pushing the 
USG to come forward with suggestions for future internet 
governance models. 
 
12.  (C)  Post has underscored that the USG does not support 
the creation of a new oversight mechanism of ICANN to replace 
the DOC.  Follow-on calls from IO A/S Silverberg to key 
senior officials at the MEA and MFA will reinforce this 
message.  Our Dutch MFA contact was clearly more receptive to 
USG views on this issue than his MEA colleagues.  The MFA 
could prove to be an ally in bringing MEA officials around to 
the USG position.  END COMMENT. 
BLAKEMAN