The Final version of Draft speech 091231/11/01
Security
and Stability of the Internet: an International PerspectiveNo
Time to Wait !
Kenji
Kosaka
Senior
Vice Minister for Public Management, Home Affairs,
Posts
and Telecommunications
And
Member of the House of
RepresentativesGovernment of Japan
Mister.
Ppresident,
Distinguished
board members,
Ladies
and gentlemen,
I
feel am very honored
to be have
been
inviteda chance to speak to all of you today to
such a distinguished audience
at
thisparticipants
in the special
meeting ICANN special Conferenceon the Security and Stability of the Internet Naming and Address Allocation Systems.
First of all, I
would like to begin by expressing
my sympathy and
admiration for tsolidarity to the
American people in the aftermath of the barbaric
terrorist crime
the whole world witnessed two months ago
on September 11. I also heard the unfortunate air disaster yesterday. My
thoughts are always always with
the victims and their families, who suffered from the abominable
acts of barbaric crime that
the whole world witnessed two months ago.
At the same time, I have been impressed encouraged
by
the efforts of the rescue workers.
that came together to
help those who suffered to
pick up the pieces of their lives and
of
those We have to who
are
work togethering to ensure that such a tragedy canshould
never happen again.
Furthermore, I would like to say
In
particular, I
am Secondly, I am deeply
moved by the efforts of all the
people involved in this organizing
this important meeting under suchthese
trying difficult circumstances since September 11.
1. Introduction
- At first glance Well, you
may think of me meresimply
as a as a prim man representative
ofing
the Japanese government. However, I am also In reality I am a
fellow member of the Internet Family like all
of you., for
I became am connected
to each and every one of you
through a
wireless internet LAN
card the moment I entered this hall. I
can connect via the wireless
Internet even though I arrived from Japan
with Japanese equipment
because two years ago iIn
Japan we adjusted the frequency band for wireless LANs
in the country two years ago to
ensure that the same wireless internet
make same cards
can be used
usable anywhere
in the world. So I can be connected via wireless Internet
even though I arrived from Japan.
That
i’s
truly an
example of the
“power
of the internet.”
Therefore, I
would like to address you today
as a fellow member
of the Internet Family.
- Why
I am here? There are two reasons:
- The
first one is, of course,
because after
watching the tragic terrorist acts I
became was
concerned about ensuring the security of the Internet,
t, which is the
nervous system of the contemporary world. after watching the tragic
terrorist acts.
- The
sSecond
reasonone
is, however, that I
was astounded unpleasantly surprised to
learn that ICANN decided to hold a meeting focused on this
subjecthe security of the internet
only after that the
tragic events
of September 11. As anone
Internet user, I had assumed was thinking that
this theme
and should
related issues hadve
been fully resolved exhausted ages
ago. I think this theme was, is, and will always be, very important.
- “What is Man?” is one of the eternal questions of the
human race, yet there are few who would disagree that people are intellectual animals.
(I mean human beings are
intellectual in general, which does not necessarily mean it is also the case
with me.)[i] The Internet is a tool of communication that has the
potential to increase human intellect and knowledge without limit,
because it connects all the people of the world, transcending all time and space. It is the
a revolutionary tool of thefor humankind that will bring change of the, on par with the agricultural revolution and the
industrial revolution.
- The Internet has gone from a network serving
researchers to a network for use by everyday people. TNowadays the
Internet is has
become part of the very
foundation of human
society
and people. From kindergarten students
pupils to
the elderly, people now
use the Internet as they
would a TV remote control or water faucet. The use of the Internet has risen
skyward, partly due to popularity of the
www (world wide web). However, iIt
used to be like a simple spider's web: easily broken by the wind or the rain or
a small falling leaf. Now it
is like a strong hammock, made of netted
cords, rigged between trees with thick
ropes. People rely on it and repose themselves there.
You can enhance its reliability by firmly tying each
knot. By weaving minutely, you can make
it robust enough to support
you even if a part of it is damaged.
- As the role and importance of the
Internet has changed, it is becoming more and more
important to secure
the safety security
and stability of the Internet as an
integral part of the social infrastructure.
2. Praise and support for the
creation of the current ICANN system
-
Looking back at the history of the establishment of ICANN
in 1998, I cannot help but respect and admire the U.S. government's support for
the autonomous
operation of the Internet by
the world Internet community and the fundamental policy of a
community consensus for ICANN
decision making.
- The reason is that iIf
the U.S. government had not worked to implement private management for the
Internet as a basic rule, support
from around the world participation in ICANN by organizations from
each country and the support that they provide would
not have been possible. When ICANN was establishedlaunched,
it was a big issuethe
question of how to build a global system
acceptable to the whole
world, transcending the differences of nations, languages and cultures,
was a major
issue. It is worthy of praise that the this
issue was resolved through an
open debate discussions
among the members of the Internet
community in a series
of Green Papers and White
Papers,
with everyone showing mutual respect for each other.exhausted this subject, fully respecting each other, through the series of procedures including Green Papers and White Papers. The
The US
government which produced’s
producing that
process such procedures is
also highly to beworthy
of praised.
Current ICANN activities are the advanceda
first step towardof
a democratic form of global
governance in the future. They not only showed
valuable lessons to the world, but also gave hope and courage to people who dare new
challenges.
- If
ICANN were not founded on a basis of a community
consensus, I would probably not
have had thise
chance to meet with the many wonderful freedom-loving
and wonderful people
that I see here today who have open
hearts and are
willingness
to listen to others.
- I
strongly support current ICANN policy. In
particular, II
believe that the community
decision-making method, which ICANN uses,
is the best onemost
appropriate for the internet community.
By theThe
reliance
on the consensus
of all
the members,
rather than top-down by the orders
frofrom
onem the top, it
ensures the strong
ties and support
throughoutamong
the Internet community, namely among parties such asincluding
among Internet policy makers,
operators, users and
governments.
-
- In
Japan, we made last
year we passed a new the
"Basic Law on the Formation of an Advanced Information and
Telecommunications Network Society". The
lawIt
is based on thea
notion premise
that the
much in the same way
the Internet is
governed today, should be as it is today, in other words, tthe
basis of the society
in the 21st century should also be community
consensus style.
The underlying spirit is that the
internet will be used in
all areas
of society, including as environment, agriculture,
medicine, education and economics, and
that the free and secure exchange of digital information will help lead to a
more energized
society in the 21st
century.
-
the society in the 21st century
will be more energetic through free and safe sharing and use of digital information via
Internet in all areas, such as environment,
agriculture, medicine, education and economics.
-
3. Significance of this
Meeting
-
- The
topic of this meeting is "Security and Stability in the Internet Naming
and Address Allocation
System." The brutal and
tragic terrorist acts of September 11 remind us of the pressing need for this
meeting. The
occasion is a most
unfortunate one, but I believe our effort will
contribute to promoting world peace and preventing further terrorist attacks, if we
can help remove
prejudice and discrimination from the world through the construction of a safe
and strong global communications infrastructure.
If these efforts can help prevent future terrorist attacks, then we may be
able to help answer
the wishes of many of the victims of the September 11 attack. (By
so doing we can fulfill the hopes of many victims.)[ii]
- More and more, basic services such
as energy, transportation, government depend
on the Internet that heavily influence people's
lives, the economy, and the society,
and such as energy, transportation,
governmental administration, national
security and other services related to
national security. increasingly rely on the internet.
Thus, as
the Internet spreads at an increasing pace,
dealing with the threat of cyber-terrorism is
becoming an increasingly important
issue that humankind must overcome.
as the spread of the Internet is expected to accelerate.
- As Internet technology evolves at
a dizzying pace, the borderless nature of cyberspace and the parallel evolution of cyber attack methods increase
the possibility of instantaneous and secret attacks from anywhere in the world.
To deal with this problem in such circumstances,
we must share our knowledgework
together based on a common understanding
of the challenge to , establish
ever more
robust security measures ,and
ceaselessly review them.
- In
the world of today where the internet serves as a basis for the
communications that
link the world togetherIn the Internet world that supports worldwide communications,
it will be easier to we can prevent
Internet terrorism even easierif
we increase the through
heightened security for existing systems.
This will requires
the relentlesssedulous
efforts of each individual, including
by everyone, including the ICANN
board members, DNS operators, ccTLD registries, gTLD registries, domain
registrars, telecom carriers, manufacturers, and ultimately
individual Internet users.
-
- About
1,200 years ago, thea
great Japanese Buddhist priest (Saicho)
said, “He who sheds his
light over
over his
domain a corner of the country is
a the national’s
treasure.” I
interpret this proverb to mean it like this: what iit
is most important for each
person to
fulfill his or her respective role in the best way
they cans the most important is that everyone does his (her) job diligently
in respective position. In
the world of the Internet, I believe the efforts of each and
every one of you are a
world treasure.the treasure of the world.
- A
recurring theme I've heard in this meeting
is the issue of the security of root
name server security. This means that root name server
operators, who are given operational responsibility by ICANN, are responsible
for the safety and stability of their operation.
There are 13 DNS root name servers
in the world. Of the servers outside the U.S., one of them resides in Japan.
While the distributed management of root name servers may be reconsidered
in the future, Japan's responsibility for currently
existing one is maintaining
the security its root name
server is extremely importantgreat.
The Japanese government also has to fulfill its
responsibilityis responsible
for helping to
improveing
the security of
of the Internet as part of the
national and global internet infrastructure.
The operators of the root
name server in Japan are enhancing the security
through
backups and other measures by such measures as building a
backup. And I
will intend
to maintain
close ties
with them, to,
extend all necessary support give
them the utmost cooperation to
ensure the security and
stability of their system, and continue to work closely with them
based onto cooperate to implement
the results of this meeting in future..
- However,
I don't believe this mindset thinking
applies only to is just for the countries
where the root
name servers reside. The Internet
does not run on root name servers alone. As I said before, ensuring the safety
and stability of the Internet depends on every member is the responsibility of
the Internet community, businesses, each individuals,
and governments,
all . They should fulfilling
their respective duties on
the the global,
regional, and national levels.
4.
Other Issues
- There
are many other issues
in the internet world besides the
issue of security that still that must
still be
resolved ras
quickly as possibleegarding Internet security.
-
- From
the point of view of a government representative who views Viewing the
Internet as part of the social fabric
of society in the
twenty-first century, the I
am government
is strongly interested in seeing that the Internet functions
in an unobstructed manner,
is useful to people, and serves to remove
the and serves people well, and thus
removes various barriers that currently
exist in the world.
- Last
year, ICANN decided to add 7 global Top
Level DomainLDs
and is currently implementing them. It is
hoped that these new gTLDs will be implemented without much
confusion and will help to supply meet
the new
growing demand
for Internet services from new businessses
and others.
- The
introduction of Internet Protocol Version Pv6
is also a large issue in the realm of IP addresses. And while
there may be differences on the level of urgency people feel for this subject everyone may have a slightly different
level of urgency on the subject, the
number of Internet users in
Asia has experienced skyrocketing
growth in recent years, and the number of people accessing the Internet through
DSL, cable, satellite, cellular phones, and other channels is expected to grow
further. In addition,
in Japan IP addresses
are expected
to be used in a
wide variety
of areas in daily
life scenes such
as with electric
home electric appliances.
I think all these
developments will
make the transition from IPv4 to IPv6 an urgent issue
and that t. This
is something that everyone
should be aware of.
5.
Closing
remarks
- I would like to help establish the safea
secure Internet through participating in
the ICANN process as an Internet
user. Just like all other
governments, the Japanese government also respect and expecthas
full confidence in and high expectations for
ICANN’s efforts efforts to
operate a stable
Internet.
- The Internet must assume the
responsibility as of
serving as the basis of sharing information
and iknowledge
ntellect among
all the people
on the earth. The I
believe that efforts
to build the new Internet through things likelike
IPv6 will eventually
enable realize access
to all the
information on all
existing objects. The safety of the basis of the Internet
infrastructure as a basis for the as a 21st century social
infrastructure
in the 21st century
must be supported by users, operators, IANA and registries. That
is where expectations for ICANN’s
contribution is most expectedare
highest.
- To put it differently,I
would like to close
by emphasizeing that
the Internet is already
functioning as thea
basis of the global economy and that the global economy could
no longer develop without the internet. All of
the
people and all the governments
in the world should must
recognize this
fact.
-
- I
would like to conclude by wishing all of you success and by saying
that not only do I have the highest
expectations for the success of this meeting, but I also believe that this
meeting will become an important milestone
in the history of the internet.
-I am certain that this meeting will be
meaningful for all of you. I am also certain it will be a milestone in the
history of the Internet when you look back some day on your successful career.
Long
live the Internet, long live ICANN!
Thank
you for your attention.