[governance] Statement by IGC supporting rights and principles

Sun Aug 23 19:38:47 EDT 2009

Holas!

I like how Bruce Schneier frame this discussion on Internet Censorship.
China's actions as well as those similar actions held by Democratic
governments around the world. The full article is here.

 See http://www.schneier.com/crypto-gram-0908.html

Here I highlight a few paragraphs:

"China is the world's most successful Internet censor. While the Great
Firewall of China isn't perfect, it effectively limits information flowing
in and out of the country. But now the Chinese government is taking things
one step further."
(...)
"Green Dam has many uses. It can police a list of forbidden Web sites. It
can monitor a user's reading habits. It can even enlist the computer in
some massive botnet attack, as part of a hypothetical future cyberwar."
(...)
China's actions may be extreme, but they're not unique. Democratic
governments around the world -- Sweden, Canada and the United Kingdom, for
example -- are rushing to pass laws giving their police new powers of
Internet surveillance, in many cases requiring communications system
providers to redesign products and services they sell.
(...)
Many are passing data retention laws, forcing companies to keep
information on their customers. Just recently, the German government
proposed giving itself the power to censor the Internet.
(...)
"The United States is no exception. The 1994 CALEA law required phone
companies to facilitate FBI eavesdropping, and since 2001, the NSA has
built substantial eavesdropping systems in the United States. The
government has repeatedly proposed Internet data retention laws, allowing
surveillance into past activities as well as present."
(...)

"Surveillance infrastructure can be exported, which also aids
totalitarianism around the world. Western companies like Siemens, Nokia,
and Secure Computing built Iran's surveillance infrastructure. U.S.
companies helped build China's electronic police state. Twitter's
anonymity saved the lives of Iranian dissidents -- anonymity that many
governments want to eliminate.

Every year brings more Internet censorship and control -- not just in
countries like China and Iran, but in the United States, the United
Kingdom, Canada and other free countries."

The full article is here
http://www.schneier.com/crypto-gram-0908.html

> I agree with you both, Ginger and Katitza!
> I've been collaborating -and still do :)- with the Freedom on the Net
> Project at Freedom House, and this is my persective, too. Freedom of
> expression and privacy all togheter.
> Regards,
> Roxana
>
>
>
> 2009/8/23 <katitza at datos-personales.org>
>
>> I agree, Ginger. We should remember that some stakeholders would prefer
>> to
>> highlight only freedom of expression and dismiss privacy. We should
>> always
>> add privacy in this kind of discussion, including the tensions between
>> privacy and freedom of expression that many international human rights
>> groups has work on it.
>>
>> I do not think that this discussion is too late!
>>
>> Katitza
>>
>>
>>
>> > <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
>> > <html>
>> > <head>
>> > </head>
>> > <body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000">
>> > <font face="Arial">This article from "New Scientist" gives a good
>> > overview of the importance of the Internet for Communication, and the
>> > need to keep it as a "free space". While we may disagree on any
>> > specific topic, I think we all agree on the general idea that freedom
>> > of expression and communication must be protected. Internet Governance
>> > is an important tool for that protection, as it can strategize across
>> > borders. It reminds me that I think that the the IGC should take a
>> > strong stance on the issue of Internet rights. There will be Open
>> > Consultations for the IGF in Geneva in September. I think we should
>> > have a short, concise statement of support for rights and principles
>> to
>> > be emphasized in the agenda at Sharm El Sheikh. It is probably too
>> late
>> > to make any significant changes to the agenda, but I think it is
>> > important to keep our point in the discussion, even if it is just in
>> > laying the groundwork for next year.<br>
>> > <br>
>> > Any thoughts, suggestions, comments? Can someone propose a working
>> > draft?<br>
>> > <br>
>> > Best, Ginger<br>
>> > <br>
>> > <br>
>> > <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
>> > href="
>> http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327224.100-worldwide-battle-rages-for-control-of-the-internet.html?full=true&print=true
>> ">
>> http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327224.100-worldwide-battle-rages-for-control-of-the-internet.html?full=true&print=true
>> </a><br>
>> > <br>
>> > </font>
>> > <p class="infuse">WHEN thousands of protestors took to the streets in
>> > Iran following this year's disputed presidential election, Twitter
>> > messages sent by activists let the world know about the brutal
>> policing
>> > that followed. A few months earlier, campaigners in Moldova used
>> > Facebook to organise protests against the country's communist
>> > government, and elsewhere too the internet is playing an increasing
>> > role in political dissent.</p>
>> > <p class="infuse">**Now
>> > governments are trying to regain control. By reinforcing their efforts
>> > to monitor activity online, they hope to deprive dissenters of
>> > information and the ability to communicate.**</p>
>> > <br>
>> > </body>
>> > </html>
>> >
>>
>>
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