[governance] Re: [ciresearchers] Guardian Online: Live with the WikiLeakable world or shut down the net. It's your choice

[McTim]

On Thu, Dec 9, 2010 at 10:52 AM, parminder <parminder at itforchange.net> wrote:
>
> The WikiLeak case in indeed a watershed IG event,

agreed.

 in the manner the US gov
> has exercised extra-legal authority, using its political and economic might
> in a rather comprehensive manner,  to control global traffic flows on the
> Internet.

I would say "re-routed", not controlled.  You can still resolve
wikileaks.org.  What used to be one webserver is now nearly 1000.  So
what the USG has done ( inadvertently ) is actually enabled the spread
and distribution of the material.....Ironic innit?

Of course, the DDOS attacks that have made them switch to mirrors is
not done by the USG, but by script-kiddies.


>
> Will IGC want to issue a statement on this?


Who will we issue such a statement to?


>
> This goes to the heart of matter of why a due global process of law,
> informed by sound political frameworks, including those of human rights, is
> urgently required. The same process would be the place for redress in case
> of arbitrary controls, as exercised in the present case.

I just don't have the same faith that you seem to have that
governments will sign on to give up sovereignty on these issues.
We all saw the fights at WSIS, and that wasn't even binding!
Will the Pakistanis agree that they can't censor youtube? Will the
Chinese agree to dismantle the Great Firewall?  Will the USA stop
taking seizing domains due to alleged IP violations?  I think not on
all of the above.

>
> If this case does not prove the importance and urgency of this issue,
> perhaps nothing ever will. Also a good opportunity for IGC to go beyond just
> making process related statements, which often attract the cynical judgment


Cynical or realistic?

> that these views/ statements are rather self serving with unclear
> connections to real substantive global IG issues.
>

I've never said self-serving.

I think the headline is misleading, and follows the same logic those
in IGC use when they want to give too much power to governments.  Why
suggest to them that they can "shut down the net", we should know by
now that they cannot (well, except for North Korea).


-- 
Cheers,

McTim
"A name indicates what we seek. An address indicates where it is. A
route indicates how we get there."  Jon Postel
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