Get ready for international Internet regulation; top leaders from the US, UK, and France are making increasingly public statements about their plans to draft new rules that will make the 'Net more secure and will crack down on copyright infringers.

In a speech back on February 4, UK Foreign Secretary William Hague sounded a dire warning about the state of the 'Net.

The intelligence reports I see as Foreign Secretary show that just one criminal computer programme can harvest over thirty gigabytes of stolen passwords and credit card details from over a hundred countries in a matter of days, causing millions of pounds worth of fraud Last year the national security interests of the UK were targeted in a deliberate attack on our defence industry. A malicious file posing as a report on a nuclear Trident missile was sent to a defence contractor by someone masquerading as an employee of another defence contractor. Good protective security meant that the email was detected and blocked, but its purpose was undoubtedly to steal information relating to our most sensitive defence projects. And last month three of my staff were sent an e-mail, apparently from a British colleague outside the FCO, working on their region. The e-mail claimed to be about a forthcoming visit to the region and looked quite innocent. In fact it was from a hostile state intelligence agency and contained computer code embedded in the attached document that would have attacked their machine. Luckily, our systems identified it and stopped it from ever reaching my staff.

The Wild West might make a romanticized setting for films, but when you're on the receiving end of chaotic violence, you start longing for some law and order pretty quick. In his speech, Hague pledged that law and order was coming in the form of an "international agreement about norms in cyberspace."

Such discussions have been ongoing for years, but in dilatory and fragmented fashion. Hague now wants to formalize and accelerate the discussions—"we need to get the ball rolling faster!"

To do that, the UK government launched a major international conference, unfortunately dubbed the "London International Cyber Conference," to gather this November.

The goal is nothing less than "to discuss norms of acceptable behaviour in cyber-space" and "bringing countries together to explore mechanisms for giving such standards real political and diplomatic weight."

The UK wants to begin the discussion with seven principles that will serve as the basis for these new international rules:

The need for governments to act proportionately in cyberspace and in accordance with national and international law

The need for everyone to have the ability—in terms of skills, technology, confidence and opportunity—to access cyberspace

The need for users of cyberspace to show tolerance and respect for diversity of language, culture and ideas

Ensuring that cyberspace remains open to innovation and the free flow of ideas, information, and expression

The need to respect individual rights of privacy and to provide proper protection to intellectual property

The need for us all to work collectively to tackle the threat from criminals acting online

The promotion of a competitive environment which ensures a fair return on investment in network, services, and content

And they have already found willing partners in both France and the United States.

Let's get civilized



On May 25, as President Obama wrapped up a UK visit with Prime Minister David Cameron, the two issued a joint statement on the Internet calling for "rules of the road" in cyberspace. Both singled out the London International Cyber Conference as a key event at which "consensus" would be sought on such rules.

Both sides are deadly serious about policing the Internet. In October 2010, the UK issued the most recent draft of its National Security Strategy (PDF)—and "cyber attack" was the second most pressing security risk faced by the country after terrorism.

In May 2011, the US issued a cybersecurity policy document of its own which threatened even military retaliation. "When warranted, the United States will respond to hostile acts in cyberspace as we would any other threat to our country," said the document.

This is music to the ears of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who for years has called for a "civilized Internet." Sarkozy had a world platform for his ideas when he pushed the creation of the e-G8 conference last month in Paris, which took place just before a major G8 summit in the French resort of Deauville.

In his e-G8 keynote, Sarkozy made clear that law and order and control would be coming to the Internet. "The universe that you represent is not a parallel universe which is free of rules of law or ethics or of any of the fundamental principles that must govern and do govern the social lives of our democratic states," he told the techies in the audience. "[I am] calling for collective responsibility What I am calling for is for everyone to be reasonable."

("Reasonable" in this case apparently means accepting the controversial French principle that people should have their Internet connection disrupted after three copyright violations using their account. This is not, it must be said, a universally shared view; a UN report just blasted the French approach.)

By the end of the week, the G8 countries had wrapped up their own separate event and issued a final statement concerning, in large part, the Internet.

The Internet is not some distinct sphere of action, said the statement, but just another part of the normal world of laws and regulations which demands that you wear a helmet when on a motorcycle. As such, the 'Net must be "included in a broader framework: that of respect for the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms, the protection of intellectual property rights, which inspire life in every democratic society for the benefit of all citizens Both the framework and principles must receive the same protection, with the same guarantees, on the Internet as everywhere else."

To make this happen, "action from all governments is needed through national policies, but also through the promotion of international cooperation," especially when it comes to intellectual property.

That government action, the statement concluded, would begin at events over the next six months—including at the London International Cyber Conference.