Hyderabad: Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Saturday that there is a “compelling case” for voluntary organisations to regulate the Internet
The minister stressed that as the stewardship of Internet Assigned Number Authority has been transferred from being under the control of the United States to a multi-stakeholder model, India has a major role to play in internet governance.
The minister said that India’s internet user base is at present around 400 million which is expected to increase by 100 million next year. The number of smartphone users in India is close to 270 million.
With rapidly growing internet user base and with internet having an important role in bringing about equality, ensuring efficient delivery of essential services and making Digital India a success, India will play a key role in the multi-stakeholder model, the minister said.
Mr Prasad also hinted at the possibility of government tweaking regulations of Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR) saying that the present rules laid a lot of stress on land bank requirement, making investments difficult.
The ICANN meeting which will be held till November 9 is to discuss and develop policies related to DNS in which 3,000 delegates are participating of which around 1,300 are from India and the rest from around the world.
CEO of ICANN Goran Marby and Board Chair Dr Stephen Crocker also spoke at the meeting. The inaugural event of the meeting was attended by TS IT minister K.T. Rama Rao.
