Public AffairsMalcolm HuttyLINX Head of Public AffairsNew EuropeanCommissionersannouncedAndrus AnsipAndrus Ansip, a former Estonian PrimeMinister, will be Vice-President for theDigital Single Market. According to theCommission announcement:As Vice-President forthe DigitalSingle Market,Mr Ansipwill workclosely withthe other Vice-Presidents.In his area ofresponsibility, he will steer andcoordinate the work of severalCommissioners, in particularthe Commissioners for DigitalEconomy and Society; InternalMarket, Industry, Entrepreneurshipand SMEs; Employment, SocialAffairs, Skills and Labour Mobility;Justice, Consumers and GenderEquality; Economic and FinancialAffairs, Taxation and Customs;Regional Policy; and Agricultureand Rural Development.Other AppointmentsGünther OettingerGünther Oettinger (picturedbelow) will be Commissioner forthe Digital Economy and Society,leading the Directorate-General forCommunications Networks, Contentand Technology (DG-CONNECT).In an interesting move, responsibilityfor both copyright policy and copyrightenforcement policy has been movedfrom DG-MARKT (Internal Market andServices) to DG-CONNECT.Andrus Ansip’s political affiliation iswith the Estonian Reform Party, aliberal, pro-free market party affiliatedat the European level with the liberalgroup ALDE. Günther Oettinger is amember German Christian DemocraticUnion (CDU), thesame party asChancellorAngela Merkel;it is affiliated withthe centre-rightEPP.Other appointments of potential interest to the Internet industry include theappointment of the Polish Deputy-Prime Minister Elźbieta Bieńkowska to areformed DG-MARKT, which has been stripped of responsibility for the financialservices sector but has been combined with DG-Enterprise. DG-JUSTICE goesto Vĕra Jourová, a Czech Social Democrat.ICANN NewsICANN proposesgreater influencefor GovernmentalAdvisory CommitteesICANN, the body that decideswhich new gTLDs should be addedto the root of the DNS (amongstother important functions) has itspolicy driven by a multistakeholderprocess, and governments have anadvisory relationship to the ICANNBoard. A Governmental AdvisoryCommittee (GAC), made up ofgovernments, has been continuallypushing for greater influence, andICANN now seems ready tocomply.In August ICANN published aproposal to change its Board bylawsto add:A final decision by the ICANNBoard to not follow theadvice of the GovernmentalAdvisory Committee mustbe supported by a two-thirdsvote of all members of theBoard that are eligible to voteon the matter.Currently such decisions are madeby a simple majority.For more information on ICANNactivities please visit their website:www.icann.orgPublic Affairs BlogFor the latest industry news andcomment on regulatory issuesplease visit the Public Affairs blogon the LINX website.https://publicaffairs.linx.net/news08 HotLINX Issue <strong>39</strong> | LINX Public Affairs
ISOC Update: New ExchangeLaunch, AfPIF 2014 and IXPTraining Programme NewsIXP Launch | GambiaA new IXP was launched officially on 7July in Banjul, Gambia. The ISOC AXISproject and various World Bank expertshave been working on Best Practicesand Technical Assistance training sinceOctober 2012, and Nick Hilliard (INEX)assisted in the final run-up to and launchof the IXP. This was a true partnershipamong many organizations and experts.AfPIF 2014The fifth African Peering and Interconnection Forum (AfPIF) was held in Dakar,Senegal from 26-28 August. This AfPIF marks five years of AfPIF. The meeting thisyear included a greater focus on content development and how to “level-up” an IXP.Over 150 experts participated in the three-day meeting, including new IXP managersfrom Gambia and Burundi. AfPIF was preceded by a full 1-day African IX Association(Af-IX) meeting. Af-IX will be a two-day event next year due to increased interest inmore hands-on technical training.Issues to noteThe upcoming ITU Plenipotentiary may see proposals coming in from countries to“standardize” IXP configuration and deployment. ISOC is working with partners towork on a strategy for the ITU Plenipot. Contact Jane Coffin (coffin@isoc.org) if youhave questions.IXP Training ReviewMontenegro WorkshopISOC partnered with the ITU-D,RIPE-NCC, NIX-CZ, INEX, andSOX at a workshop on October 1in Budva, Montenegro. This was thefirst time that the teams had workedwith the ITU-D on a training eventand we see it as the beginningof a productive relationship. Thefocus of the day-long training wason IXP Management Tools, IPv4 toIPv6 network transition, and otherBest Practices for IXP and networkdevelopment.2 Day Event in GeorgiaISOC, Euro-IX, and RIPE-NCC held atwo-day “pre Best-Practices” trainingevnt in Tbilisi, Georgia in August.The teams presented informationabout IXPs, IXP Development andBest Practices. We expect that a2-3 day full Best Practices trainingsession with a concentration onBGP best practices will follow. TheGeorgian community contains strongtechnical experts, but a complicatedregulatory environment.Culture Secretarythreatens new legislationon search engines andcopyright infringementThe Culture Secretary Sajid Javidhas warned that the government isprepared to legislate if search enginesdo not stop “sending people to illegalsites” which infringe copyright.Speaking at the British PhonographicIndustry AGM, Javid said:“Vince Cable and I have written toGoogle, Microsoft and Yahoo, askingthem to work with you to stop searchresults sending people to illegal sites.And let me be perfectly clear: if wedon’t see real progress, we will belooking at a legislative approach.”Ofcom: New broadbandusers shun porn filtersThe vast majority of new broadbandusers are choosing to reject networklevel content filtering, according to areport by industry regulator Ofcom.Following government pressure tointroduce child protection filtering, sincelast winter, the UK’s largest ISPs havebeen subjecting all new customers toan “unavoidable choice” as to whetherthey want such filtering. In accordancewith government demands, the optionto filter comes “pre-selected”, meaningcustomers must untick a box in order toLINX Public AffairsIn Briefwith Sam FrancesLINX Public Affairs Executiveavoid network filtering. However, Ofcomfound that only TalkTalk had a takeup rateof more than 10%.MPs approve DRIP lawMPs approved the Data Retention andInvestigatory Powers (DRIP) bill. The Billwas approved by a commons vote of449 to 33, despite public controversyover the fast-tracking of the bill, and overclauses which extend both the scope ofservices covered and the territorial reachof the UK’s surveillance regime.HotLINX Issue <strong>39</strong> | Internet Governance 09
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