Category: civil ulydighed

Limitations of both access and bandwidth today constitute punishment. “Three strikes and you’re out” and the Syrian national internet turned off are nasty examples of this kind of control. But exclusion tactics, isolation and repression of possible-media-shared are just the beginning of what Internet control is about.

Basically putting surveillance on everyone means mistrusting human communication – a belief that human communication is detrimental to human survival. Is that plain stupid, an expression of power hunger, or just a very, very fearful way of looking at the world?

Imagine the worst kind of surveillance you can, and you will have people out there negotiating to make it happen. The strive to control the Internet and your doings on the net is very real.

IF we want a world, where understanding of human differences and similarities is passed on to our children, we need a globally connected world, where openness and responsibility is the first order – and not fear of isolation, censorship or incarceration for speaking our mind.

Global communication DOES come with a price – the demand that each and every one of us stay critical of our joint communication. But if I or you do nothing about the plans to control global communication, in effect we prevent everyone prsent and future from learning about everyone. Learning how to become a global person will stop being an exploration and a thing of freedom and joy. And become a thing of fear.

Please sign this avaaz petition and pass on the email below or all of it. Doing so is part of assuming the responsibility of global communication that these power-brokers say we cannot handle ourselves.

kærlig hilsen,

kenneth

Start på videresendt besked:

Dato: 10. dec 2012 17.55.10 CET

Til: “krabat” <krabat>

Emne: They want to ██████ the Internet

Dear Avaazers,    Authoritarian regimes are pushing for governmental control over the internet in a binding global treaty. If they succeed, the internet could become less open, more costly and much slower. We’ve stopped threats like this before, and we can again — but only with a massive global outcry. Sign the petition and share with everyone you know:

Right now at a UN meeting in Dubai, authoritarian regimes are pushing for full governmental control of the Internet in a binding global treaty — if they succeed, the internet could become less open, more costly and much slower. We have only 2 days to stop them. The Internet has been an amazing example of people power — allowing us to connect, speak out and pressure leaders like never before. That’s largely because it’s been governed to date by users and non-profits and not governments. But now countries like Russia, China and United Arab Emirates are trying to rewrite a major telecom treaty called the ITR to bring the Internet under its control — the web would then be shaped by government interests and not by us, the users. Tim Berners Lee, one of the “fathers of the Internet,” has warned that this could increase censorship online and invade our privacy. But if we object with a massive people-powered petition, we can strengthen the hand of countries fighting this power grab. We have stopped attacks like this before and can do it again before the treaty text is locked this week. A wave of opposition to a new ITR is already building — sign the petition to tell governments hands off our Internet! and then forward this email to everyone you know — when we hit 1 million signers, it’ll be delivered straight to the delegates at this cozy meeting: http://www.avaaz.org/en/hands_off_our_internet_i/?bdOyaab&v=20018  The meeting to update the ITR (International Telecommunication Regulations) is being convened by a UN body called the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). Normally, it wouldn’t merit much attention, but Russia, China, Saudi Arabia and others are trying to use the meeting to increase government control of the Internet through proposals that would allow for access to be cut off more easily, threaten privacy, legitimize monitoring and traffic-blocking, and introduce new fees to access content online. At the moment, our Internet has no central regulatory body, but various non-profit organisations work together to manage different technological, commercial and political interests to allow the Internet to run. The current model is certainly not without its flaws. US dominance and corporate influence highlight the need for reform, but changes should not be dictated from an opaque governments-only treaty body. They should emerge from an open and transparent, people-powered process — putting the interests of us users in the center. The ITU does extremely important work — expanding affordable access for poor countries and securing networks — but it’s not the right place to make changes to how the Internet operates. Let’s ensure that our Internet stays free and governed by the public and show the ITU and the world that we won’t stay silent in the face of this Internet attack. Click below to sign and then share this email widely: http://www.avaaz.org/en/hands_off_our_internet_i/?bdOyaab&v=20018  Avaaz members have come together before to save the free web — and won. More than 3 million of us demanded the US kill a bill that would have given the government the right to shut down any website, helping push the White House to drop its support. In the EU, the European Parliament responded after 2.8 million of us called on them to drop ACTA, another threat to the free net. Together, now we can do it again.  With hope,  Pascal, Ian, Paul, Luca, Caroline, Ricken, Kya and the rest of the Avaaz team  SOURCES Cerf and Berners Lee Criticize ITU Conference (IT Pro Portal): http://www.itproportal.com/2012/12/05/sir-tim-berners-lee-joins-criticism-of-un-internet-regulation-talks/#ixzz2EDlH06f5 ITU and Google face off at Dubai conference over future of the internet (Guardian): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/dec/03/telecoms-unitednations Keep the Internet Open (New York Times): http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/25/opinion/keep-the-internet-open.html?_r=1& Proposal for global regulation of web (Financial Times): http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/1b114d8c-422e-11e2-bb3a-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2EdnmBAXI Who controls the Internet? (Guardian): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/oct/17/who-rules-internet Support the Avaaz Community!We’re entirely funded by donations and receive no money from governments or corporations. Our dedicated team ensures even the smallest contributions go a long way.

Avaaz.org is a 17-million-person global campaign network that works to ensure that the views and values of the world’s people shape global decision-making. (“Avaaz” means “voice” or “song” in many languages.) Avaaz members live in every nation of the world; our team is spread across 19 countries on 6 continents and operates in 14 languages. Learn about some of Avaaz’s biggest campaigns here, or follow us on Facebook or Twitter. To contact Avaaz, please do not reply to this email. Instead, write to us at www.avaaz.org/en/contact or call us at +1-888-922-8229 (US)