National governments, with input from nongovernmental organizations, are laying the groundwork for a new internet governance structure. Hosted by the Geneva-based International Telecommunication Union, a United Nations agency, the World Summit on the Information Society, to conclude next year, is an effort to find a common vision for the information society. . . .
National governments, with input from nongovernmental organizations, are laying the groundwork for a new internet governance structure.

Hosted by the Geneva-based International Telecommunication Union, a United Nations agency, the World Summit on the Information Society, to conclude next year, is an effort to find a common vision for the information society.

Naturally, all countries do not share the same ideas about how the internet should develop. But all are coping with the common problems of spam, cybersecurity and the digital divide.

Governments are also wrestling with the impact of new technologies like VOIP, or voice-over-IP telephony services, and concerned about setting up a framework for broadband deployment. VOIP in particular threatens to disrupt massive established revenue structures.

While world summits do not produce laws or regulations, they generally have a huge influence on global awareness of the issues they cover and how those are handled at the national level.

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