[governance] Comments and Draft of HR caucus proposal to IGF

[Milton Mueller]

Dr. Milton Mueller
Syracuse University School of Information Studies
http://www.digital-convergence.org
http://www.internetgovernance.org

>>> Meryem Marzouki <marzouki at ras.eu.org> 03/31/06 4:05 AM >>>
>I'm sorry to jump in the discussion so late 

Yes, this is sad, because your comments are worth paying attention to and I had hoped to stimulate just such a discussion on the issue you raise below when proposing the FoE theme. Nothing happened. Indeed, discussion of the themes has been cursory in general. 

>However, proposing this in the IGF framework will certainly open 
>the way to a definition of "ethical content", "acceptable by all in the  
>whole world" allowed on the Internet. 

I agree with you that that would be an undesirable outcome. But the Forum would allow those of us who oppose that, including several governments, to voice their views. Why not deal with this issue? It is much safer in the Forum context than in others. And could it not also put pressure on govts using censorship for purely political purposes? 

the more basic issue is: who is on the defensive and who is on the offensive? It seems that international processes seem to be driven entirely by people who have some kind of agenda for controlling or restricting the internet in some way, for various reasons. Why can there not be pressure in the other direction, a more positive assertion of liberty of expression? Do you think real FoE can be preserved and protected by simply keeping it off the agenda and refusing to talk about it? Won't it be chipped away bit by bit using that tactic? 

_______________________________________________
governance mailing list
governance at lists.cpsr.org
https://ssl.cpsr.org/mailman/listinfo/governance