Hoping to get your sign on- Civil Society Unity Statement on WCIT

[Deborah Brown]

Hi all,

We're really thrilled to have been part of the Best Bits statement and that
it has been submitted with such broad sign on.

As many of you know, there's been a really concise, less technical
statement, that a number of groups have been involved in drafting and
reviewing, a process that started a many weeks ago.

More so than critiquing specific proposals, the goal of this statement is
to mobilize grassroots groups and actors, and to get out a very simple
message about the potential implications of the ITR revisions for human
rights. The rationale for this statement is to create a concise rallying
cry that diverse international civil society groups and individuals can
sign - once they sign, the groups will be asked to activate their networks
to be involved in other activism efforts and individuals will be contacted
about future activism efforts as well.

Unlike the Best Bits submission, it is intentionally brief - this was
created for organizations and people who aren't deeply engaged on this
issue. That said, we think it's very important to get broad sign on from
groups on this list because of your expertise and influence.

We're also planning to submit the statement to the ITU comments page. The
following groups have signed on to the statement of unity: Access, Center
for Democracy and Technology, Consumers International, Electronic Frontier
Foundation (EFF), Fight For The Future, Free Press,Human Rights Watch, ICT
Watch Indonesia, Mamfakinch, May First/People Link,, OpenMedia
(Canada), OpenMedia
(International), Open Technology Institute, Reporters Without Borders,
Samuelson
Glushko Canadian Internet Policy & Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC), and Thai
Netizen Network.

The text of the of the unity statement is below. *Please email Steve
Anderson at OpenMedia (steve at openmedia.ca) or reply to this email if your
organization would like to sign on*. We are also accepting sign on from
individuals. You can also view the statement at
http://protectinternetfreedom.net/ (just note that there will be some small
tweaks to the website).

*On December 3rd, the world’s governments will meet to update a key treaty
of a UN agency called the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Some
governments are proposing to extend ITU authority to Internet governance in
ways that could threaten Internet openness and innovation, increase access
costs, and erode human rights online.*
*
*
*We call on civil society organizations and citizens of all nations to sign
the following Statement to Protect Global Internet Freedom:*
*
*
*Internet governance decisions should be made in a transparent manner with
genuine multistakeholder participation from civil society, governments, and
the private sector. We call on the ITU and its member states to embrace
transparency and reject any proposals that might expand ITU authority to
areas of Internet governance that threaten the exercise of human rights
online.*

Deborah Brown
Policy Analyst
Access | AccessNow.org
E. deborah at accessnow.org
S. deborah.l.brown
T. deblebrown
PGP 0x5EB4727D
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