proposal that NCUC sign petition to keep the core neutral

[Robin Gross]

NCUC:

Please check out the civil society petition to "keep the core neutral" 
below. The global petition is directed to the ICANN Board of Directors, 
and both organizations or individuals will be welcome to sign the petition.

The Keep the Core Neutral Campaign and petition will launch next week at 
the San Juan Board meeting, so we are looking for initial signatures to 
the petition, particularly from organizations. I'd like to propose that 
NCUC sign the petition and be an initial coalition member upon the 
campaign's launch next week. What do others think?

The campaign website is being built by Dan at:
www.keep-the-core-neutral.org

Any volunteers for translations of the petition into non-English languages?

Thank you!
Robin

================

Global Petition to ICANN Board of Directors: “Keep the Core Neutral”

Everyone has the right to seek, receive and impart information and ideas 
without interference through any media, including cyberspace.

As the new generic top-level domain name space emerges and policy 
choices are made about how ideas may be expressed at the Internet’s 
top-level, we ask ICANN to keep the core neutral of non-technical 
disputes and choose policies that respect freedom of expression and 
permit innovation in the new domain name space.

Encouraging the free flow of information is a foundational principle of 
public policy decisions related to information and communication 
technology. Freedom of expression rights, which are fundamental in an 
Information Society, foster democratic participation, individual 
empowerment, and economic development.

Cyberspace remains a unique and special place that bridges ancient 
divisions, where diverse communities interact readily, and all views are 
welcome. But only if these attributes are valued by policymakers who set 
Internet governance rules and incorporated into policies about how ideas 
may be expressed in domain names.

We ask that ICANN stay within its technical mandate and refrain from 
embedding particular national, regional, moral, or religious policy 
objectives into global rules over the use of language in domain names. 
It would be dangerous “mission-creep” for ICANN to adjudicate between 
conflicting policy objectives and set global standards for expression 
that are enforced through ICANN’s technical function. Please do not 
allow ICANN to become a convenient lever of global control by those 
seeking to censor unpopular or controversial expression on the Internet.

We urge ICANN to resist any attempt to limit what ideas may be expressed 
at any level of the Internet hierarchy. Please keep the Internet’s 
technical core neutral from national or other ideological conflicts, 
allowing freedom and innovation to flourish in cyberspace.

Signed,

[Individuals or groups may sign.]