Policy Impact Assessments: Considering the Public Interest in Internet Standards Development

John Morris, Center for Democracy and Technology, and Alan Davidson, Center for Democracy and Technology

1/01/2005
(Original Publish Date: 2003)

It is now widely understood that technical design decisions about the Internet can have lasting impacts on public policy and individual rights. This raises a critical question: How can policy considerations, and the public interest generally, be best accounted for in the development of the Internet's "code?"To answer this question, this paper first looks at the value of participation in standards bodies by policy experts and public interest advocates, and concludes that such involvement is a necessary but not sufficient response. A more systematic approach is needed to ensure that the public policy impacts are more widely considered. This paper proposes one tool to address this need - the use of ritualized "public policy impact assessments" in the Internet standards development process. The paper details the authors' proposal toward for public policy assessments within the context of one standards body - the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). It then examines their more general applicability, benefits, and limitations for a broader range of Internet standards efforts.