[P2P-F] Fwd: [fcforum] Fwd: Re: [EDRi-members] Revised G8 letter on internet governance

[Michel Bauwens]

-------- Mensaje original --------  Asunto: Re: [EDRi-members] Revised G8
letter  Fecha: Wed, 18 May 2011 16:16:28 +0200  De: Joe McNamee
<joe at mcnamee.eu> <joe at mcnamee.eu>  Responder a:
edri-members at mailman.edri.org  Para:
<edri-members at mailman.edri.org><edri-members at mailman.edri.org>

LETTER TO THE G8 (DRAFT)

Civil Society Statement to the eG8 and G8

INTRODUCTION

The signatories of this statement are representatives of civil society from
around the world working towards the promotion of internet freedom, digital
rights, and open communication.

We understand that the French Presidency of the G8 proposes to hold a G8
Internet meeting -- the "eG8 Forum" - immediately before the G8 Summit in
Deauville, with a view to preparing for and shape the agenda of the G8
Summit regarding key global Internet policy issues. This meeting is
significant in that this is the first year that the Internet’s role in and
society and the economy is explicitly on the G8 agenda.

We join our voices to the Internet Governance Caucus - their letter is
available at:http://www.igcaucus.org/open-letter-president-sarkozy-eg8-meeting-plan
-
which expresses our collective concern about the lack of representation of
civil society at the eG8 and G8 meetings this year.

LEADERSHIP/NORM SETTING

As key world leaders, your policies have a major influence on internet
policy globally. Regrettably, policies being implemented in the most
developed economies are undermining the open and neutral internet - the very
qualities that represent the essence of its democratic and economic
potential. The policies are implemented through surveillance regimes,
censorship and removal of ISP liability provisions.

Internet blocking and filtering, disconnections of users on the basis of
accusations of intellectual property infringements and the implementation of
“kill switch” technologies in developed economies all serve to legitimise
repression and to threaten the core of the Internet economy.

The issues raised in this letter are some of the key Internet governance
issues which we feel merit and indeed require the attention of the G8. We
also draw your attention to two comprehensive declarations of the principles
that we believe should guide nation states in Internet governance.

The first document (see attached), was developed under the aegis of the
Internet Rights and Principles Coalition, and sets out the 10 Internet
Rights and Principles which we believe should inform the development of all
policies governing the Internet. The second (attached) document is a
declaration of the right of communication specifically to ensure social
transformation, written at the recent World Social Forum, which was attended
by 70,000 people from around the world in West Africa.

We believe that G8 Member States should use the eG8 meeting as an
opportunity to publicly commit to defending digital rights, in particular:
internet access for all, freedom from censorship and online surveillance,
and net neutrality.

DEMOCRATIZATION/RECENT EVENTS

Recent events in the Middle East and North Africa have highlighted the
substantial threats to the Internet, and communication tools more generally
including censorship, online surveillance, and efforts to cut off internet
access and mobile phone networks to large segments of a nation’s population.
Despite the fragile state of the net and the ability of the world’s citizens
to make use of it, addressing these threats does not appear to be a high
priority at this year’s G8 meetings.

We are particularly concerned about nations that would cut off citizens’
access to the Internet in times of crisis, as Egypt, Libya, Iran, China,
Nepal, and Burma have all now done. In many if not all of these countries,
we see how important access to the Internet is as a gateway to a plethora of
others civil, political, and fundamental human rights. Free communications
may well be the weak spot of repressive regimes, given their efforts to
censor, filter, and monitor communication and information, which is why it
is so critical that the leaders of the world, the G8, defend Internet access
as a legal right both at home and abroad.(can this be cut out?)

As much as the Internet has driven the revolutions sweeping the Middle East
and North Africa, repressive regimes in this region and elsewhere are
similarly harnessing the internet’s power for their own purposes; around the
world we are seeing dramatic increases in government censorship and
surveillance. China is amidst its worse online crackdown in recent years,
the US is unlawfully (?) seizing domain names and proposing a bill to give
the President the power to shut off critical parts of the internet, and many
countries have sought to suppress access to social media websites and
Wikileaks.

LACK OF MULTISTAKEHOLDERISM

We also would like to highlight our concerns regarding the planning of the
e-G8. In particular we note that the organizers have abandoned the principle
of multistakeholderism that has sucessfully driven Internet governance to
date, and is recognised as practice in this policy area.  Instead, the
invite list has been limited primarily to representatives of government and
corporate leaders, who already enjoy disproportionately large influence over
Internet regulation. Indeed, the voices of civil society, of the global
south, of the many sections of society, interests, and concerns, are
critically missing at this important policy-making juncture.

Specifically, we are deeply concerned that corporate interests will dominate
your discussions at the e-G8 and G8 summits; issues like strict intellectual
property enforcement and increasing online intermediary liability seem
likely to take primacy over citizen-centered policies like net neutrality
and combating online censorship. As corporations pay $100,000 for seats at
the eG8 table, few representatives of civil society are present to advocate
for the priorities of citizen-users of the world.

CONCLUSION

We are at a critical tipping point in the history of the Internet and the
struggle for human rights and as the leaders of some of the most powerful
nations in the world, we urge you to act now to defend the rights and
freedoms of not just your citizens, but people all over the world.

Signed
mayfirst.orgaccessnow.orgattac.orgvecam.orglaquadrature.net
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