Cybersecurity Must Respect Internet Freedom and Innovation

The President and Congress have highlighted the importance of cybersecurity. In the coming weeks and months, we expect to see legislative and regulatory activity in this area, including President Obama’s executive order and the reintroduction of CISPA.

While the i2Coalition shares this concern for security of America’s vital infrastructure, there’s a right way and a wrong way to go about achieving it. We strongly believe in a multi-stakeholder approach to all Internet governance issues that embraces differing views in an effort to achieve a reasonable consensus.

Any discussion of Internet security must take into account the innovative businesses that continue to provide a safe, secure and reliable place to do business.

Regulations and other government policies need, at their base, to preserve the ability of companies to innovate and compete. We must operate on a level playing field with the rest of the global economic players while continuing to foster freedom, innovation, opportunity, and the rights to free expression that have enabled the Internet to flourish.

Companies like those that make up the i2Coalition – the providers of the nuts and bolts of the Internet – must have a seat at the table in any discussion about the future of cybersecurity. We must work to achieve voluntary best practices that promote the growth of an open Internet. To be successful, the efforts must be truly voluntary and not a result of heavy-handed “incentives” that effectively compel compliance.

The i2Coalition will advocate forcefully for these principles as the cybersecurity dialogue continues.

If you share our concerns and believe that Internet infrastructure companies must be an active participant in this debate, please sign our petition to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.