[Chapter-delegates] McCaul Langevin resolution on Open Internet

Mon Apr 2 11:12:37 PDT 2012

It seems Commissioner McDowell and the FCC are not the only people in DC
concerned about the "engineering morass" etc..

http://congressionalcybersecuritycaucus.langevin.house.gov/news/press-releases/2012/03/mccaul-langevin-lead-bipartisan-effort-to-prevent-international-internet-regulations.shtml

Congressmen Michael McCaul (R-TX) and Jim Langevin (D-RI), Co-Chairs of the
House Cybersecurity Caucus, introduced legislation today urging the United
States Permanent Representative to the United Nations to oppose any
resolution that would allow regulation of the Internet.

China and Russia are leading efforts before the UN to seek such a
resolution, under which the UN would give license to authoritarian
governments to continue censoring the Internet and perpetuate their assault
on individual liberties.  H. Con. Res. 114 is consistent with the White
House’s May 2011 International Strategy for Cyberspace, which calls on the
United States to preserve, enhance and increase access to an open, global
Internet.

“Any action taken by the United Nations to attempt to limit Americans’
right to free and open Internet content is unacceptable," said Congressman
McCaul, who served as an advisor on cybersecurity on Speaker Boehner's High
Tech Task Force.  "The Internet’s current multi-stakeholder model has
provided an unburdened environment for ideas and inventions to thrive. No
single state should have control over content and information must be
freely disseminated."

“The proposals by some nations to gain international approval of policies
that could result in Internet censorship would be a significant setback for
anyone who believes free expression is a universal right,” said Congressman
Langevin, who co-founded the Cybersecurity Caucus with McCaul in 2008. “It
must be made clear that efforts to secure the Internet against malicious
hacking do not need to interfere with this freedom and the United States
will oppose any attempt to blur the line between the two.”

Last week, Reporters Without Borders, in its annual report on Internet
freedom and worldwide freedom of
expression<http://en.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/rapport-internet2012_ang.pdf>,
listed 12 nations as “enemies of the Internet” including Iran, Syria,
China, North Korea, Cuba and Uzbekistan.

In a September letter to the Secretary-General of the United
Nations<http://blog.internetgovernance.org/pdf/UN-infosec-code.pdf>,
the Permanent Representatives to the United Nations from China, Russian,
Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, stated their intention to offer a UN resolution
calling for an international code of conduct for information technology
security, and stated that it is their belief that the governments of these
countries should be able to control and influence public internet-related
issues.

“Every member of Congress and the president can be in agreement that there
is no area where the need for vigilance is more necessary than in
preserving our First Amendment right to free speech and open access to
information,” Rep. McCaul said.

Reps. McCaul and Langevin served as co-chairs of the Center for Strategic
and International Studies' (CSIS) Commission on Cybersecurity for the 44th
Presidency, which presented cybersecurity
recommendations<http://blog.internetgovernance.org/pdf/UN-infosec-code.pdf>
to
President Obama just before he took office.
 Legislation

   - Full text of the House Concurrent Resolution submitted today by Reps.
   McCaul and Langevin.<http://langevin.house.gov/resources/UN%20Internet%20Bill.pdf>

which reads:

Expressing the sense of Congress that the United States
should preserve, enhance, and increase access to an open,
global Internet.

Whereas in a September 12, 2011, letter to the
SecretaryGeneral of the United Nations, the Permanent
Representatives of China, the Russian Federation,

Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan to the United Nations wrote of
their intention to offer a General Assembly resolution
calling for an international code of conduct for information
security;

Whereas this proposed code seeks to establish international
legal justification for exclusive government control over

Internet resources and rejects the current multi-stakeholder
model that has enabled the Internet to flourish, where the
private sector, civil society, academia, and individual
users played an important role in charting its direction;

Whereas countries have obligations to protect human rights,
which apply to activity online as well as offline;

Whereas the ability to innovate, develop technical capacity,
grasp economic opportunities, and promote freedom of
expression online is best realized in cooperation with all
stakeholders;

Whereas the proposed code represents a threat to the free
flow of information on the Internet and would diminish the
universal right to freedom of expression in favor of
government control over content in order to preserve
political stability, contrary to international law; Whereas
the position of the United States Government is and

has been to advocate for the free flow of information,
Internet freedom, and multi-stakeholder governance
internationally; and

Whereas the White House’s May 2011 International Strategy
for Cyberspace makes an open, global internet a clear policy
priority of the United States: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring),

That it is the sense of Congress that if a reso- lution
calling for endorsement of the proposed inter- national code
of conduct for information security or a res- olution
inconsistent with the principles above comes up for a vote
in the United Nations General Assembly or other
international organization, the Permanent Representative of
the United States to the United Nations or the United States
representative to such other international organization
should oppose such a resolution.

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-- 
---------------------------------------------------------------
Joly MacFie  218 565 9365 Skype:punkcast
WWWhatsup NYC - http://wwwhatsup.com
 http://pinstand.com - http://punkcast.com
 VP (Admin) - ISOC-NY - http://isoc-ny.org
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