=?windows-1252?Q?=91Father_of_the_Internet=92_?=warns Web freedom is under attack

[Marc Perkel]

My perspective as the founder of the Church of Reality is that the 
Internet is the next stage of human evolution. We look at ourselves as 
separate beings but the reality is that humans are far more 
interconnected than a hive of bees. The Internet is our collective 
minds. We are externalizing our collective intelligence. It allows us to 
collectively comprehend the universe. And since we are the universe - we 
are the universe contemplating it's own existence. And it is the 
Internet that creates the physical structure to allow humanity to this 
as one and we can contemplate what no single person could ever do.

My 2 cents ....

On 5/23/2012 11:43 PM, rusdiah wrote:
> dear all:
> some government control... for political issue... some for industry 
> issue.... some for security/defence issue.. but in Indonesia somehow 
> on ethical and pornography issues :-)
>
> sometimes we forget because of the scale and power of Internet that 
> actually internet supposed to be the tools... to deliver th 
> contents... or is it the ends.. ?
> regards, rudi rusdiah - apwkomitel - indonesia
> On 05/24/2012 09:03 AM, Kadian Davis wrote:
>> Increasingly Governments are moving towards control of Internet 
>> Freedom. Freedom of expression, although debatable, is a fundamental 
>> right and is often the center piece of a democracy. However, 
>> Governments are sometimes preoccupied with finding ways to protect 
>> national security and human rights pertaining to Internet usage. I 
>> believe that the mechanisms for enforcement of copyright laws  or 
>> illegal content laws through DNS filtering is disproportionate and  
>> is too restrictive. In total, DNS filtering undermines security on 
>> the Internet and may block legitimate content from the Internet. 
>> Therefore, this negatively impacts freedom of expression.
>>
>> It is important to note that the blocking of domain names does not 
>> actually remove illegal content off the Internet.  As a result, there 
>> is need for various human right agencies within the government, 
>> private sector, academia and civil society to negotiate the terms and 
>> conditions for Internet Regulation.  However, I believe that these 
>> agencies should have a basic understanding of the Internet before 
>> negotiating Internet regulation. Moreover, Governments need to 
>> realize that harsh regulations of the Internet may impede innovation 
>> through various ICT tools.
>>
>> Recently we have seen a few examples pertaining to Internet Freedom 
>> see below:
>>
>>   "Iran's telecommunications ministry has barred local banks, insurance
>>    firms and telephone operators from using foreign-sourced emails to
>>    communicate with clients, a specialist weekly said on Saturday.  "The
>>    telecommunications minister has ordered the use of domain names ending
>>    with .ir" belonging to Iran, Asr Ertebatat reported." See 
>> http://j.mp/KDVUWK
>>
>> In addition, we see that India is pushing for the creation of a forum 
>> called ‘Committee for Internet Related Policies' (CIRP) to develop 
>> internet policies, oversee all internet standards bodies and policy 
>> organizations, negotiate internet-related treaties and sit in 
>> judgment when internet-related disputes come up. The catch is that 
>> India's formal proposal is for CIRP to be funded by the U.N., run by 
>> staff from the U.N.'s Conference on Trade and Development arm and 
>> report directly to the U.N. General Assembly, which means it will be 
>> entirely controlled by the U.N.'s member states. See 
>> http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3423018.ece
>>
>> We can effect change let us bring these issues to the fore at the 
>> various (ICANN, IGF, WSIS, IETF etc) Internet Governance meetings.
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Kadian Davis.
>>
>> On Wed, May 23, 2012 at 8:10 PM, rusdiah <rusdiah at rad.net.id 
>> <mailto:rusdiah at rad.net.id>> wrote:
>>
>>     it is not easy talk about freedom, safety, neutrality,
>>     cybercrime, IP pirate, CISPA...with different interest...
>>     personal interest, national interest... business interest of the
>>     stakeholders ...
>>
>>     anything that are not following somebody interest will be bad and
>>     sometimes considered as a crime ... cybercrime...
>>
>>     "either you with me or against me....."
>>
>>     this is the challenge for the future global dialog, not as easy
>>     during the period of cerf when he started the Internet everybody
>>     has one goal... ... regards, rudi rusdiah - apwkomitel
>>     (association of internet community - indonesia)
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>     http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/228561-father-of-the-internet-warns-web-freedom-is-under-attack
>>
>>
>>       ‘Father of the Internet’ warns Web freedom is under attack
>>
>>     By Andrew Feinberg - 05/21/12 11:07 AM ET
>>
>>     “Father of the Internet” Vint Cerf on Monday warned that Internet
>>     freedom is under threat from governments around the world,
>>     including the United States.
>>
>>     Cerf, a computer scientist who was instrumental in the Internet’s
>>     creation and is now employed by Google as its "Internet
>>     evangelist," said officials in the United States, United Kingdom
>>     and Europe are using intellectual property and cybersecurity
>>     issues "as an excuse for constraining what we can and can't do on
>>     the 'net.”
>>
>>
>>     "Political structures … are often scared by the possibility that
>>     the general public might figure out that they don't want them in
>>     power," he said.
>>
>>     He sounded the alarm about the International Telecommunications
>>     Union (ITU), arguing the group is poised to assume the role of
>>     global Internet cop.
>>
>>     “There is strong indication that the Internet will enter the
>>     picture [for the ITU]," Cerf said at the Freedom to Connect
>>     conference.
>>
>>     Cerf said the ITU is likely to try and lock in mandatory
>>     intellectual property protections as a backdoor for easy Web
>>     surveillance.
>>
>>     Even good-faith efforts at Internet policymaking should be viewed
>>     with skepticism, Cerf said, because balancing freedom and
>>     security "isn't something that government alone is going to
>>     figure out."
>>
>>     He criticized the Cybersecurity and Intelligence Protection Act
>>     (CISPA), legislation passed by the House to encourage companies
>>     to share information about cyber threats with the government,
>>     because it lacks "adequate constraints" on how the information is
>>     used.
>>
>>     But Cerf said he has the "optimistic belief" that attempts by
>>     hostile governments to restrict access will be circumvented by
>>     resourceful engineers around the world.
>>
>>     "If someone stops me from communicating, I'll find a way around
>>     it," he said.
>>
>>     Cerf also urged vigilante groups such as Anonymous to stop using
>>     cyberattacks as a means of activism, saying the hackings are
>>     counterproductive.
>>
>>     "I don't think lawlessness is our friend," he said.
>>
>>     Ultimately, there is a legitimate role for law enforcement on the
>>     Web, he said, adding that "it would be bad for us as a community
>>     to say … that all the good things outweigh the bad."
>>
>>     "That's not a credible position to take," he said.
>>
>>     Cerf said activists and regulators alike harm themselves by using
>>     terms like "cybercrime" because they suggest that "every bad
>>     thing that happens on the Internet is a crime."
>>
>>     "Some are just bugs," Cerf said, while suggesting a better goal
>>     for policymakers should be "cybersafety."
>>
>> -- 
>> Kadian Davis
>>
>> "Mark the blameless man, and observe the upright; For the future of 
>> that man is peace" Psalm 37:37.
>>
>
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