The United States House of Representatives passed a Concurrent Resolution aimed at preserving and advancing “the multistakeholder governance model under which the Internet has thrived.”

The resolution recognizes the importance of the Internet to the global economy, and access to knowledge, services, commerce and communication, as well as the “accompanying benefits to economic development, education, and health care, and the informed discussion that is the bedrock of democratic self-government that the Internet provides.”

It also aims to protect freedom of expression and innovation. Read the document here (pdf).

Google, for one, is happy with the bipartisan resolution, which opposes increased international regulation of the Internet.

Vint Cerf, Google’s Chief Internet Evangelist, who is widely recognized as one of the “fathers of the Internet,” had the following to say on Google’s Public Policy blog:

As I have recently testified and written, a battle in the war for the Internet is opening at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a United Nations organization. This December, the ITU is conducting a review of the international agreements governing telecommunications, and some member countries see the ITU conference as an opportunity to expand the ITU’s regulatory authority to reach the Internet.

Traditionally, international discussions of Internet policy have flourished in a “multistakeholder” system that involves the input of lawmakers, academics, civil society, and users. If certain member states are successful in Dubai, they could change the Internet governance process as we know it, increasing state control over networks and substantially limiting the role of users and other vital, nongovernmental actors in important Internet policy debates.

By passing this resolution, the U.S. Government has recognized the Internet’s critical role in growing the global economy, its unique status as a platform for innovation, and the success of multistakeholder model that lies at the heart of its governance. In the lead-up to the December conference, the future of the Internet is at stake, and I hope that other countries will adopt publicly similar positions.

Meanwhile, in other Internet law news, on Thursday, the Senate voted to kill the Cybersecurity Act of 2012. More on that here.