[governance] cross-border IG issues

[Fouad Bajwa]

I guess what Parminder meant is that the power play on the Internet is
at the end of the day usually with the powerful countries :o) and yes,
that does affect the architecture of the Internet. Its just a matter
of perspective and that does vary according to geographical and
economical dissimilarities.

-- Cheeers


Fouad

On Sat, Jan 22, 2011 at 1:35 PM, Adam Peake <ajp at glocom.ac.jp> wrote:
> This has nothing to do with Internet architecture. The US's demands are
> based on Twitter being a US registered company, nothing to do with the
> Internet per se.
>
> FWIW (not worth much :-)) most of Twitter's Internet architecture is run by
> a Japanese company, NTT.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Adam
>
>
>
>> Read below to see another instance of how some countries are more equal
>> than others owing to the manner in which the global Internet architecture
>> and its power nodes are structured today..... It should hardly be surprising
>> that most 'other' countries are rather concerned about this asymmetry  and
>> concentration of global IG power.
>>
>>
>> <http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/01/10/3110066.htm?section=justin>http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/01/10/3110066.htm?section=justin
>>
>> US pursuit of WikiLeaks triggers diplomatic spat
>> By Jennifer Macey
>>
>> Updated Mon Jan 10, 2011 10:43pm AEDT
>>
>>  The US has subpoenaed Twitter to release information from five accounts
>> in its investigation of WikiLeaks (AFP: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
>>
>> AUDIO: Iceland furious over US subpoena of Twitter accounts (PM)
>> RELATED STORY: US orders Twitter to disclose WikiLeaks records
>> The Icelandic government has summoned the US ambassador to explain why the
>> US is seeking personal information from the Twitter account of an Icelandic
>> MP.
>>
>> The US has subpoenaed Twitter to release information from five accounts -
>> including those of the MP and a Dutch computer programmer - in its
>> investigation of whistleblowing website WikiLeaks.
>>
>> Legal experts say because Twitter is registered in the US, the company may
>> be obliged to hand over the information.
>>
>> The American ambassador to Reykjavik, Luis Arreaga, has been summoned for
>> a meeting at Iceland's foreign ministry.
>>
>> He has been asked to explain why US officials want the Twitter account
>> details of an Icelandic MP.
>>
>> Iceland's interior minister, Ogmundur Jonasson, says the request is not
>> being taken lightly.
>>
>> "It is very serious that a foreign state, the United States, demands such
>> personal information of an Icelandic person, an elected official," he said.
>>
>> "This is even more serious when put into perspective and concerns freedom
>> of speech and people's freedom in general."
>>
>> Icelandic MP Birgitta Jonsdottir is one of five Twitter accounts that have
>> been subpoenaed by the US Justice Department.
>>
>> Although she is a former WikiLeaks collaborator, she denies she has
>> anything to hide.
>>
>> "Not at all, that's not what this is all about. This is about a certain
>> principle," she said.
>>
>> "Here we have a government that is demanding a privately-owned company to
>> give up personal data.
>>
>> "I have not done anything that can be considered criminal. It's not
>> against the law to leak information, it's not against the law to be a
>> source, it's not against the law to publish this information.
>>
>> "The information in question is about crimes committed by the United
>> States government."
>>
>> Along with Ms Jonsdottir, the US Justice Department sought information
>> from four other Twitter accounts.
>>
>> The WikiLeaks account, Dutch computer programmer Rop Gonggrijp, American
>> programmer Jacob Appelbaum, and the account of Private First Class Bradley
>> Manning, the US army intelligence analyst accused of leaking the classified
>> cables,
>>
>> Dr Ben Saul, the director of the Sydney Centre for International Law at
>> Sydney University, says US officials can issue a subpoena against non-US
>> citizens if the company holding that information is registered in the US.
>>
>> "It certainly does seem that the US is exploring all avenues available to
>> it through its domestic law," he said.
>>
>> "Obviously the US itself has no law enforcement power in Europe or in
>> Australia, so what they're obviously trying to do is to obtain the
>> information by going after records held by companies which operate in the
>> US, which are subject to US law.
>>
>> "Citizenship doesn't really matter here. The relevant question is, is
>> there illegal conduct happening?
>>
>> "The real question is how will other countries react, you know, will other
>> governments try to do things to shut down this kind of investigation?"
>>
>> The order issued by the US District Court of Virginia on December 14 gave
>> Twitter three days to release the information, including user names,
>> addresses, connection records, telephone numbers and bank details.
>>
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