CYIL 2013

THE CZECH REPUBLIC IN THE WCITǧ12

Stakeholders to be bound by the Treaty Another seemingly not so serious issue was the determination of parties bounded by the ITRs. Member States, as the signatories, are formally bound and responsible for respecting its provisions. Nevertheless, in many countries, including the Czech Republic, the private sector, represented by operating agencies, implements them. An appropriate definition of operating agencies is therefore crucial. The original ITRs text refers to “recognized operating agency” – which is obsolete, since such entities were meant to be state-owned. Now a days, this arrangement is completely different as various subjects deal with telecommunications. There were attempts to make the definition so broad and vague that even internet providers might fall within it. A solution was found only after lengthy debates at the end of the conference. All delegates then approved a proposal submitted by Panama: These Regulations also contain provisions applicable to those operating agencies, authorized or recognized by a Member State, to establish, operate and engage in international telecommunications services to the public, hereinafter referred as “authorized operating agencies”. Internet Governance Many services are on-line today, and the Internet seems to be a means of transport. Some speak about telecommunications services being transmitted via Internet, such as Voice over IP (VoIP). This is technically incorrect, as the Internet and telecommunications represent different layers of next-generation-networks. Naming, numbering and addressing, as connected to telecommunications and Internet, are therefore completely different issues. The ITU’s terms naming and addressing mean mainly, but not only, country phone codes,while the Internet naming, numbering and addressing system means different layer and is followed by ICANN. 8 In spite of the official declarations at the Opening Ceremony, the role of the ICANN had been indirectly criticised. There was also an attempt to include the Domain Name System under the ITU umbrella, or to switch it to the national territory level in the spirit of the provision 3.8 proposal: Member States shall, if they so elect, be able to manage the naming, numbering, addressing and identification resources used within their territories for international telecommunications. 9 The Czech Republic’s position was clear – neither mix these two systems together, nor support the idea of such a national solution. Joint opposition of many delegations led eventually to deletion. Routing Some countries proposed details about routing of telecommunications, i.e. the exact way used for the traffic, which was based on an old setting. The proposed 8 See www.icann.org – Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) coordinates the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions, which are key technical services critical to the continued operations of the Internet’s underlying address book, the Domain Name System (DNS). 9 See Document No. DT-51 Revision 1 dated 11 December 2012 at http://www.itu.int/md/S12 WCIT12-121203-TD/en.