[governance] CS Speakers for Baku

Milton L Mueller mueller at syr.edu
Tue Oct 9 17:07:00 EDT 2012


From: gpaque at gmail.com [mailto:gpaque at gmail.com] On Behalf Of Ginger Paque

I think that both points are important... I would say 'in addition to' not 'rather than'. Whom we choose sends a signal as sometimes as significant as their words, and we tend to know their general positions as well as speaking abilities when we nominate them.

Ginger and colleagues:
Yes, of course it is "in addition to" not "rather than" - but has there been any substantive discussion yet? Frankly I think what they say is more important than who we choose, but agree that in some cases "the medium is the message."  At any rate we are long on "who" and rather short on "what" at the moment, so...

let me throw out three short statements on issues that I passionately believe should be addressed. In doing so, I will make an attempt to address them in a way that takes into account the differences among us and hope others do so in the same spirit. Other candidate topics would include IPR, development...I defer to others there.

Human rights
CS believes that the absence of gatekeepers and the open, global communication enabled by the Internet realizes the promise of Article 19 of the UN UDHR. To erect (national) legal barriers to the free flow of information is a bad idea and contrary to the individual human right to freedom of expression. We therefore oppose efforts to create "national Internets," or to block and filter internet access in ways that deny individuals access to applications, content and services of their choice. All attempts to deem certain forms of communication and information illegal and remove them must follow established, transparent processes of law and should not involve prior restraint.

Security and Securitization
CS opposes efforts to militarize the Internet, or any actions that would foster a destructive and wasteful cyber arms race among governments and/or private actors. We consider the surreptitious use of exploits and malware for surveillance or attacks to be criminal regardless of whether they are deployed by governments, private corporations or organized criminals. We are skeptical of efforts to subordinate the design and use of information and communication technology to "national security" agendas. We believe that Internet security will be achieved primarily at the operational level and that national security and military agendas often work against rather than for users' security needs.

Multistakeholderism
Global governance institutions should not be restricted to states, so CS welcomes the additional participation in global policy making that multi-stakeholder processes provide. But CS cautions that multi-stakeholder participation is not an end in itself.  Opening up global governance institutions to additional voices from civil society and business does not by itself ensure that individual rights are adequately protected or that the best substantive policies are developed and enforced. In the informal spaces created by MS institutions, it is possible that powerful governmental and corporate actors can make deals contrary to the interests of Internet users. MS processes must incorporate and institutionalize concepts of due process, separation of powers and user's inalienable civil and political rights.

Milton L. Mueller
Professor, Syracuse University School of Information Studies
Internet Governance Project
http://blog.internetgovernance.org


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