8.5 Global public good The Internet provides many valuable services to the global public. It is considered to be a global resource that should be governed in the global public interest. The Council of Europe’s report on ICANN’s procedures and policies in the light of human rights, fundamental freedoms, and democratic values suggests the following public interest objectives: respect for human rights; fundamental freedoms and democratic values; linguistic and cultural diversity; and care for vulnerable persons and groups. Many aspects of the Internet are related to the idea of the Internet as a global public good, including: access to the Internet infrastructure, protection of knowledge developed through Internet interaction, protection of public technical standards, and access to online education. Status of governance mechanisms for global public good There are no major international initiatives focusing on the Internet as a global public good. One of the non-profit initiatives is Creative Commons, aimed at promoting Internet content as a global public good. The Internet as a global public good is most directly related to the following Internet policy issues: web standards, net neutrality, cybersecurity, freedom of expression, disability rights, copyright, labour law, capacity development, access, cloud computing, education, cultural diversity, and multilingualism. Possible gaps in dealing with global public good The mechanisms analysed appear to indicate the existence of a knowledge gap in research and data on the global public good aspects of the Internet developments, including sharing experience from other policy fields such as environmental protection. 45