14. To maximize the social, economic and environmental benefits of the Information Society, governments need to create a trustworthy, transparent and non-discriminatory legal, regulatory and policy environment. Actions include:
a) Governments should foster a supportive, transparent, pro-competitive and predictable policy, legal and regulatory framework, which provides the appropriate incentives to investment and community development in the Information Society.
[b) Explore ways to strengthen protection against misappropriation of traditional knowledge, in accordance with work considered in multilateral organizations. ]
[c) Ensure that existing Intellectual Property Regimes and international agreements that provide and promote intellectual property protection are adequately and effectively enforced.]
[d) In the Information Society, Intellectual Property Protection should be construed in a way not to deepen the Digital Divide, taking into account the need to universalise access for all. Intellectual Property Protection can and should be interpreted in a manner supportive to State’s rights to protect public policies, in particular, to promote access to the Information Society.
[e) In co-operation with the relevant stakeholders, and respecting the sovereignty of States, governments should work to internationalize the management of Internet resources in order to achieve a universally representative solution.]
[f) Those responsibilities arising from public policy which are not administered at the national level (the sharing of Internet resources such as IP addresses, the assignment of country code top level domain names and the setting of the general framework of generic domain names and root servers and of their security) are to be managed through an appropriate [international body / intergovernmental organization]].
[g) Continue international dialogue among all interested parties (governments, private sector, civil society and relevant organizations) in order to ensure the most appropriate management structure. The second phase of WSIS in Tunis should review the outcome of this dialogue.]
[h) Call on the Secretary General of ITU, in his capacity as chairman of HLSOC, in collaboration with relevant international organizations, to establish and coordinate a task force to investigate and make proposals on the governance of Internet by 2005, addressing the following:
i) A universally representative solution on the international management of Internet resources, including but not limited to root servers, domain names, and Internet Protocol address assignment.
ii) Preliminary work towards the establishment of regional root-servers.
iii) Development and deployment of a broad-based internationalised domain and host name solution that is compatible with the current DNS architecture.
iv) Coordination and implementation of internationalised domain name strategy among country code registries interested in implementing internationalised domain name capabilities in their top level domain names.]
[Alt. h) A private sector led body should undertake the international management of the Internet with governments serving in an advisory capacity with respect to limited public policy issues.
The policy making processes for both the technical and public policy aspects of Internet governance should be open and transparent, developed through a bottom up policy making process which takes full account of the needs and views of the global Internet community.
Government cooperation and coordination with respect to international Internet related public policy issues should be done on an ad hoc basis and not through the current intergovernmental structure of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).]
[i) Governments are encouraged to:
i) Establish national and regional Internet Exchange Centres,
ii) Manage their respective country code top level domain name (ccTLD),
iii) Promote awareness on the use of the Internet.]
j) Governments should continue to update their domestic consumer protection laws to respond to the new requirements of the Information Society.
k) Promote effective participation by developing countries and countries with economies in transition in international ICT forums and create opportunities for exchange of experience.
l) Governments need to formulate national strategies, which include e-government strategies, to make public administration more transparent efficient and democratic.
m) Develop a framework for the secure storage and archival of documents and other electronic records of information.
n) Governments, and stakeholders, should actively promote user education and awareness about online privacy and the means of protecting privacy.
o) Invite stakeholders to ensure that practices designed to facilitate electronic commerce also permit consumers to have a choice over whether or not to use electronic communication.
p) Encourage the ongoing work in the area of effective dispute settlement systems, notably alternative dispute resolution (ADR), which can promote settlement of disputes.
q) Governments in collaboration with stakeholders are encouraged to formulate conducive ICT policies that foster entrepreneurship, innovation and investment, and with particular reference to the promotion of participation by women.
r) Recognising the economic potential of ICTs for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs), they should be assisted in increasing their competitiveness by streamlining administrative procedures, facilitating their access to capital and enhancing their capacity to participate in ICT-related projects.
[s) Governments should act as model users and early adopters of e-commerce.]
t) Governments, in cooperation with other stakeholders, should raise awareness of the importance of international interoperability standards for global e-commerce.
u) Governments, in cooperation with other stakeholders, should promote the development and use of open, interoperable, non-discriminatory and market-driven standards.
[v) Take measures in order to ensure a global harmonisation of frequency bands, under the coordination of ITU, which would facilitate ubiquitous and affordable access.]
w) Additional steps should be taken to ensure rational, efficient and economical use of, and equitable access to, the radio frequency spectrum by all, based on relevant international agreements.