Outline for a Special Interest Group on the “Open Internet”

About the “Open Internet” Special Interest Group (SIG)

The SIG will provide a forum for like-minded stakeholders to articulate and defend a shared vision of the future of the internet as an open and accessible eco-system to the benefit of users, citizens and businesses. The SIG will make specific recommendations to the OFE Executive Council and as appropriate initiate and lead wider discussions and activities.

Introduction

The internet is a tremendous achievement: an open, collaborative model and adherence to open standards has brought the world into our homes and offices. We enjoy powerful new tools to support the way we work and live. Amazing new business and social opportunities have been created at a fast pace, including Web 2.0 and a web-based computing environment. Web services are achieving an unprecedented rate of innovation through a process of openness and collaboration in both software engineering and standard setting. Computer users, including small and medium-sized businesses, will increasingly go to the Web for what were once offline tasks, and will thereby increase productivity.

While the internet’s achievements for innovation and economic efficiency, growth, consumer welfare and user experience are clear, as it evolves and grows in popularity, it is susceptible to strong business pressures. OFE and the “Open Internet” SIG aim to preserve the best of the internet:  ensuring that the internet can keep innovating and drive the economy, thus giving consumers greater choice at the lowest possible cost.

The SIG seeks to foster understanding for the development and improvement of the internet in an open environment. Ensuring interoperability and the widespread use of open standards are key elements to achieve this.

Founding principles

Our vision of the future of the internet relies on two fundamental principles:

• To maintain the internet’s role as a key driver for tremendous innovation and growth, the internet should be kept an open and accessible platform, avoiding proprietary standards that give undue technical or commercial influence to any company or group of companies.

• Competition between services on the internet should be a function of user choice, unhindered by technical issues arising from a lack of interoperability of products. Users and customers should be able to exercise individual choice about every service and infrastructure they use.

Membership

Membership of the SIG is open to any OFE member or partner, and by invitation, other organisations that share these principles, and can demonstrate by their actions a commitment to this same vision.