Making SDOs too powerful crushes the internet.

Clément Perarnaud, “Finding the path to a more open internet. A new European approach toward internet standards,” Open Future, 02-12-2024, https://openfuture.pubpub.org/pub/internet-standards/release/3

a.     De-privatizing standard-setting

The literature on the feudalization of the internet describes at length the power and control accumulated by large technological companies over the internet, which evolved, according to Tim Wu, from “a freely accessible channel to one strictly controlled by a single corporation or cartel – from open to closed system.”

The approach of the EU in relation to technology standardization has been grounded for decades, if not longer, in the belief that industries are better suited to lead such processes. Micklitz makes the argument that “the relocation of knowledge from the administration to industry is the result of a process that dates back to the late 19th century and begins with industrialization,” underlining the emergence of vast discrepancies in the technical expertise held within state bureaucracies and large technological companies.  

In relation to the internet, the current legitimacy of this largely private-driven standardization process falls short. The words of Ben Tarnoff and his critique of the industry-dominated internet are essential in this context: “Understanding how privatization made the modern internet is essential for any movement that seeks to remake it. Movements must know their enemy. If they expend their energy on the wrong target, the opportunity for meaningful change is lost. History shows why privatization is the right target, how it forms the common foundation for the diverse dysfunctions and depredations of the modern internet.” 

Though a strictly multilateral governance regime for internet standards is evidently not a desirable option from a human rights standpoint, the EU should support the emergence of an internet standardization regime that is not captured – or even saturated – by a few multinational corporations. This effort could take the form of enhanced political exchanges with internet SDOs to discuss how their policies related to inclusion and transparency could be improved, based on the practices and guidelines developed by the EU through its European standardization system, for instance. These exchanges could be nurtured through bilateral activities, similar to those of the Internet Society, aimed at familiarizing policymakers with the work of the IETF, and vice-versa.