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<p dir="auto">As a member of this community and a Spanish citizen, let me share some brief comments…</p>
<p dir="auto">Instead of going down the path that allows for dialogue, debate and allowing for a vote to take place (was was the case with the Quebec referendums in 1980 & 1995, The Scottish referendum in 2014) the Spanish central government has instead chosen to use the force of law to repress a the democratic and UN enshrined right of self-determination. </p>
<p dir="auto">Ballots have been seized, domains have been seized, separatist leaders have been criminally sanctioned, authority has been taken away from the Cataluña government, and a raid took place earlier today at offices of the .cat registry!</p>
<p dir="auto">It’s a complex political issue with a lot of history, that’s for sure.. It’s now time for those (like this list and others) who are supportive of digital… human rights … to speak out and comment on this repressive and fascist reaction by the Spanish government. </p>
<p dir="auto">regards,</p>
<p dir="auto">Robert</p>
<p dir="auto">—<br>
The offices of the .cat registry were raided by Spanish police this morning.</p>
<h2 style="font-size:1.2em"><a href="https://www.internetnews.me/2017/09/20/dotcat-registry-offices-raided-spanish-police/" style="color:#3983C4">https://www.internetnews.me/2017/09/20/dotcat-registry-offices-raided-spanish-police/</a></h2>
<p dir="auto">Robert Guerra<br>
Twitter: twitter.com/netfreedom<br>
Email: <a href="mailto:rguerra@privaterra.org" style="color:#3983C4">rguerra@privaterra.org</a><br>
PGP Keys : <a href="https://keybase.io/rguerra" style="color:#3983C4">https://keybase.io/rguerra</a></p>
<p dir="auto">On 20 Sep 2017, at 14:26, James Gannon wrote:</p>
<p dir="auto"></p></div>
<div style="white-space:normal"><blockquote style="border-left:2px solid #777; color:#777; margin:0 0 5px; padding-left:5px"><p dir="auto">Im going to go out on a limb here and split my response,<br>
<br>
First - this is a terrible terrible action, the right of people to self organise and decide their future should be sacrosanct and these heavy handed tactics should be denounced far and wide. We fight against this kind of action in far flung corners of the world, in Europe we lose a lot of our creditability when we allow things like this to happen on our own doorstep.<br>
<br>
Secondly - I don’t think ICANN should have a response, at the end of the day this is a content issue and that is something ICANN has no role in. If the whole of .cat had been taken down yes that would be a different conversation but again, my understanding is that its official LEO and government actions here with the takedowns.<br>
<br>
-James<br>
<br>
<br>
On 20 Sep 2017, at 20:22, Gus Rossi <gus@publicknowledge.org<<a href="mailto:gus@publicknowledge.org" style="color:#777">mailto:gus@publicknowledge.org</a>>> wrote:<br>
<br>
I'm writing a blogpost from PK's side.<br>
<br>
Looking forward seeing/hearing more voices :)<br>
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Gus Rossi<br>
Global Policy Director (202) 861-0020<tel:(202)%20861-0020> (x123) | (202) 651 1337<tel:(202)%651-1337> (mobile) | @agustinrs<<a href="https://twitter.com/agustinrs" style="color:#777">https://twitter.com/agustinrs</a>><br>
Public Knowledge | @publicknowledge<<a href="https://twitter.com/publicknowledge" style="color:#777">https://twitter.com/publicknowledge</a>> | www.publicknowledge.org<<a href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/" style="color:#777">http://www.publicknowledge.org/</a>><br>
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<br>
<br>
On Wed, Sep 20, 2017 at 2:21 PM, Renata Avila <renata.avila@webfoundation.org<<a href="mailto:renata.avila@webfoundation.org" style="color:#777">mailto:renata.avila@webfoundation.org</a>>> wrote:<br>
Totally and it is not isolated from increasingly restrictive - repressive laws and practices the Spanish government has approved and practiced the last 5 years. And it sets a precedent of what is acceptable if people from the international community remain silent.<br>
<br>
Yes, politics are complicated. Everywhere.<br>
<br>
But the defence of human rights is non partisan and a collective responsibility.<br>
<br>
I am curious to read ICANN response and diff positions from our organisations and spaces.<br>
<br>
R<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Renata Avila<br>
<br>
Senior Digital Rights Advisor<br>
<br>
renata.avila@webfoundation.org<<a href="mailto:renata.avila@webfoundation.org" style="color:#777">mailto:renata.avila@webfoundation.org</a>><br>
<br>
1110 Vermont Ave NW, Suite 500, Washington DC 20005, USA<<a href="https://maps.google.com/?q=1110+Vermont+Ave+NW,+Suite+500,+Washington+DC+20005,+USA&entry=gmail&source=g" style="color:#777">https://maps.google.com/?q=1110+Vermont+Ave+NW,+Suite+500,+Washington+DC+20005,+USA&entry=gmail&source=g</a>> | www.webfoundation.org<<a href="http://www.webfoundation.org/" style="color:#777">http://www.webfoundation.org/</a>> | Twitter: @webfoundation<br>
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On Wed, Sep 20, 2017 at 8:12 PM, Gus Rossi <gus@publicknowledge.org<<a href="mailto:gus@publicknowledge.org" style="color:#777">mailto:gus@publicknowledge.org</a>>> wrote:<br>
Hi everyone,<br>
<br>
Context: Catalunya is holding an independence referendum next month. The Spanish Constitution does not recognize any kind of questioning of the territorial integrity of Spain. But the Catalan parliament approved having a referendum anyway. Today, Spanish police carried out morning raids at regional government offices in Barcelona, arresting several Catalan officials involved in preparations for the referendum. In addition, websites have been shutdown or blocked, and .CAT domain technical staff have been detained. Also, the magazines of an important independentist association (Omnium Cultural) have been denied delivery by the Spanish postal service.<br>
<br>
Regardless of what you might think of the Catalan political process, independentist movements in Europe, or else, there are some things I wanted to bring to your attention.<br>
<br>
The Internet: Right now, this conflict has definitively spilled over Internet Freedom of Expression, human rights, and the right to an open Internet:<br>
<br>
.CAT domain has been intervened by the Spanish Police (Guardia Civil: <a href="https://twitter.com/puntcat/status/910446518494269440" style="color:#777">https://twitter.com/puntcat/status/910446518494269440</a>) All web pages under that domain that have information about the referendum have been suspended.<br>
<br>
The technical staff of .CAT has been detained by the police (including one ISOC-CAT member).<br>
<br>
This was the webpage calling for the catalan referendum: <a href="http://ref1oct.cat/" style="color:#777">http://ref1oct.cat/</a>. nic.EU is now hosting the webpage, but there are reports that Spanish authorities have ordered ISPs to block the DNSs: ref1oct.eu<<a href="http://ref1oct.eu/" style="color:#777">http://ref1oct.eu/</a>><br>
<br>
There are large DDoS attacks on some websites (apparently Cloudflare is under attack, as per some reports), and there is traffic manipulation by the ISPs (DNS blocking on certain domains).<br>
<br>
In addition, there has been confiscation of personal goods of the Catalan politicians, police searches in newspapers and printing plants, some email.<br>
<br>
This is Western Europe in 2017 that we are talking about. We should be worried.<br>
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Gus Rossi<br>
Global Policy Director (202) 861-0020<tel:(202)%20861-0020> (x123) | (202) 651 1337<tel:(202)%651-1337> (mobile) | @agustinrs<<a href="https://twitter.com/agustinrs" style="color:#777">https://twitter.com/agustinrs</a>><br>
Public Knowledge | @publicknowledge<<a href="https://twitter.com/publicknowledge" style="color:#777">https://twitter.com/publicknowledge</a>> | www.publicknowledge.org<<a href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/" style="color:#777">http://www.publicknowledge.org/</a>><br>
1818 N St. NW, Suite 410 | Washington, DC 20036<<a href="https://maps.google.com/?q=1818+N+St.+NW,+Suite+410+%7C%C2%A0Washington,+DC+20036&entry=gmail&source=g" style="color:#777">https://maps.google.com/?q=1818+N+St.+NW,+Suite+410+%7C%C2%A0Washington,+DC+20036&entry=gmail&source=g</a>> | CFC 12259<br>
<br>
The IP3 Awards are September 28th! RSVP at publicknowledge.org/IP32017<<a href="http://publicknowledge.org/IP32017" style="color:#777">http://publicknowledge.org/IP32017</a>>.<br>
<br>
<br>
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