Background
The Rejuvenation Team of the National IGF in Japan, organized the Japan Internet Governance Forum 2022 from 26 to 28 October https://japanigf.jp/about/igf-2023igf , under the overarching theme: “Rethinking Freedom in the Internet”.
The Rejuvenation team, a group of multi-stakeholder participants representing the Japanese government, business, civil society, and the technical community, has been active since May 2021 in order to reactivate discussions on Internet governance at domestic level and targeting IGF 2023 which will be held in Japan.
Program
The IGF Japan was held on 2 days, with 3 sessions on each day from 15:00 to 18:30 JST and a pre-event on day 0. It was held as an hybrid event with attendance joining remotely and on-site, allowing remote panelists and questions/comments from remote participants. Attendance reached the number of 252 between remote and onsite participants.
|
Day 0 (Wednesday, Oct. 26) |
|
|
Day 1 (Thursday, Oct. 27) |
|
|
Day 2 (Friday, Oct. 28) |
|
Sessions summary
Day 0
15:00-16:30 Talk Event "Internet Governance in the Metaverse Era"
Speakers:
- Virtual Character: Virtual Beautiful Girl Nemu
- Keisuke Kaneyasu (NEC Corporation)
The session helped to understand the new trend of Metaverse and introduced it through a virtual character. The Virtual Reality (VR) equipment required for Metaverse and diverse cultures within it were introduced too.
There was also a case study in which users' opinions were incorporated and highlighting what can be a possible solution to the problems faced by the platforms.
There were opinions that the current Metaverse is still lagging as it requires VR equipment and needs to improve overall level in order to become more popular.
Day 1
Opening session 15:00-15:10
First, there was Introduction from Mr.Masanobu Katoh as chair of the rejuvenation team and Mr. Keisuke Kamimura as program committee chair to explain about the team and members involved, and outline the agenda for the next 2 days.
Speakers:
- Chengetai Masango (Executive Director, United Nations IGF Secretariat) (recorded intervention)
- Osamu Onodera (Deputy Director General, International Strategy Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications)
- Jun Murai (Professor, Keio University) (remote presentation)
At the opening, a video message from Mr. Chengetai Masango was shared where hethanked the team for organizing IGFJapan. He also shared about the meeting with members of the committee in September regarding Japan hosting Global IGF in 2023. He mentioned the fact that Japan is taking the presidency of G7 and hoped for synergy between both processes. Finally, he indicated that input from the meeting can feed the coming IGF in addis ababa
Next, Mr. Onodera welcomed all participants and the effort by the rejuvenation team. Then he mentioned several topics of interest to be discussed during the IGF Japan such as splinternet.
Finally, Professor Murai Juncommented on the theme of this year's edition. He stressed that the impact of the Internet has become too important and we are at the stage where some intervention might be required.
Thematic Session (1) "Revision of the Telecommunications Business Law and Internet Governance" 16:20-17:30
Speakers:
- Atsushi Inoue (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications)
- Shino Uenuma (Toranomon South Law Office)
- Toshiko Sawada (General Incorporated Association EC Network)
- Ryoji Mori (Eichi Law Office)
- Moderator: Toshiaki Tateishi (Japan Internet Providers Association)
The revised Telecommunications Business Law which was enacted earlier in 2022 was the main topic of this session.
Mr Inoue introduced the key points regarding the revision. Then Mr. Mori, Mr. Sawada, Mrs. Uenama as panelists shared their thoughts on this law from different perspectives. In the second part of the session, the discussion was focused on to which degree personal data should be regulated, asking the question point if regulation such as GDPR is too strict.
Thematic session (2) "Current status of online piracy and current countermeasures" 17:30-18:30
Speakers:
- Tsunehisa Shishido (University of Tokyo)
- Kuniko Ogawa (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications)
- Kenichi Yamashita (Sakura Internet Co., Ltd.)
- Atsushi Ito (Shueisha Inc. / General Incorporated Association ABJ)
- Norikazu Maruta (Rights Law and Patent Office)
- Moderator: Akinori Maemura (Japan Network Information Center)
Collaborative efforts between publishers , telecoms companies, the IT industry and the Ministry of Internal Affairs regarding fighting piracy for Manga content and related measures were introduced.
Each panelist reported on the current situation from their perspective and the challenges faced by the countermeasures put on place. As the issue of piracy transcends national borders, languages, and cultural spheres, the related parties are confronted with differences in judgments and perceptions of rights infringement. There was consensus regarding the need for more in-depth discussions in order to work together toward a solution.
Day 2
Theme session (3) “Splinternet?” 15:10-16:10
Speakers:
- Toshiya Jitsuzumi (Chuo University)
- Koichiro Komiyama (JPCERT Coordination Center)
- Ichiro Mizukoshi (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone East Corporation)
- Moderator: Akinori Maemura (Japan Network Information Center)
It was stressed that the Internet is technically "integrated", but split/fragment is already observed. It was also observed that the defensive split (prevention of intrusion) before the Ukrainian War is changing to a more aggressive split (blocking the opponent from the Internet).
The speakers also mentioned the different responses to this situation, for example ICANN/RIPE's response to the Ukrainian government's request to block Russia, emphasizing the technical community position regarding One World, One Internet, which "excludes no one."
There was also consensus that the reality of split/fragmentation can differ depending on different dimensions; layers, freedom/security, national governance/global control, decentralization/concentration.
Theme session (4) "Is the Internet in Japan safe?" 16:20-17:20
Speakers:
- Noboru Matsumoto (CS Farm Co., Ltd.)
- Yuki Ikuno (BBIX Inc.)
- Moderator: Toshiaki Tateishi (Japan Internet Providers Association)
Networks are becoming more and more complex. Even though the required specifications are best-effort, they must actually be of high quality. Telecommunications carriers are also making efforts, but there are issues such as unintended delays in communication. In this session, Mr. Ikuno from BBIX explained what is happening at ISP networks level and the relationship between peering and CDN, like regarding transit, traffic. In addition, Mr. Matsumoto of CS Farm explained the causes of translation problems with IPv6 in residential networks after the exhaustion of IPv4 addresses, taking the example of impact on online gaming.
Special session “Toward IGF2023 in Japan” 17:30-18:30
Speakers:
- Akinori Maemura (Japan Network Information Center)
- Rafik Dammak (Non-Commercial Stakeholder Group)
- Junko Kawauchi (Center For International Economic Collaboration)
- Yoichi Iida (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications)
- Moderator Keisuke Kamimura (Daito Bunka University)
A video on a pessimistic scenario for 2030 from IGF 2021 was introduced to the audience which listed several issues that might happen in future then comments were asked to the panelists
During the subsequent exchange of views, the panel stated that it is the responsibility of the Japanese Internet community to make efforts to ensure that local actions by country and region do not adopt the "bad practices" coming from other countries. In addition to the opinion that the 2023 IGF should be held in Japan and being an opportunity, it was emphasized to not only to consider pessimistic scenarios, but also to present a more positive vision of the future of the Internet.