[Chapter-delegates] Content filtering and jurisdiction of cyberspace

Thu May 30 22:10:22 PDT 2013

Sympathize with the situation and act of what has happened, Internet is
open to all sort of content which to some extent has its pros and cons. In
one hand its openness is its key advantage and on the other at times it can
be a threat. I believe censoring or filtering content on regional basis by
National authorities certainly can result in  solving the problem instantly
but in long run it may result in tragic consequence, so it is not a
solution. Regional tolerance in respect to value and social norms needs to
be recognized and accepted.

I do understand the importance of censoring the web Dr. Faisal, but once
the filtering/censoring  software is enabled it will be a
direct approach from the authorities to regulate in the potent scenario of
what content is appropriate or not. Regarding the banning,  will that solve
the problem, I believe no it can always be overlooked by one or other
means. The global community should look into this matter in consideration
with the conflict and chaos that has been created with just one video.
Moreover, a constructive solution can evolve with a better mechanism to
deal with issue of social interest. Its high time we all think about such
issues as if 40 people have died in Bangladesh then that kind of act can
happen anywhere due to lack of absence of consideration and monitoring.

I think its a more dynamic scenario which can be  contemplated with a
broad ideology in safe guarding the social values and norms.

Cheers to Life
Shreedeep Rayamajhi
00977-9841374547(Nepal)
00977-9851049683(Nepal)
00977-9813900099

+1(301)485-9395(US)
<http://www.rayznews.com/>

*DISCLAIMER:* This message is intended only for the recipient. If you are
not the intended recipient you are notified that disclosing, copying,
distributing or taking any action in reliance on the contents of this
information is strictly prohibited.

On Fri, May 31, 2013 at 10:19 AM, Winthrop Yu <w.yu at gmx.net> wrote:

>   +1 Imran.
>
>   I sympathize with the problems that Dr. Faisal and many others around
> the world face.  One thing is clear, telling governments that -- "no, you
> cannot control" is not very productive.  Instead there has to be a way to
> work around this and appeal to national and development interests.
>
>   As an example, in mid-September last year, our President signed an
> Anti-Cybercrime bill into law.  Earlier, ISOC-PH had written to our Lower
> House, after our Senate had passed their version of the bill.  (Ref.
> https://www.facebook.com/**notes/internet-society-**
> philippines-chapter-isocph/**isoc-ph-position-paper-on-**
> anti-cybercrime-final-a4/**297700783631704<https://www.facebook.com/notes/internet-society-philippines-chapter-isocph/isoc-ph-position-paper-on-anti-cybercrime-final-a4/297700783631704>)
>
>   We were the only org (ICT, CS or otherwise) to attempt any intervention
> prior to enactment.  Happily, the Lower House did listen and their version
> did not contain the contentious blocking or take-down provision.
>  Unfortunately, this provision along with many others were inserted at the
> last minute during the BiCameral conference.  As a result there was
> signficant push-back (including street action) from a wide spectrum of
> Philippine netizens.  That last is an important point.
>
>   Formal petitions were then filed with our Supreme Court to have the law
> and/or several of its specific provisions struck down.  The SC issued a
> restraining order (TRO) which has suspended implementation of the law until
> today.  During pleadings, the government's Solicitor General himself
> delcined to argue in defense of the blocking/take-down provision stating
> that his office found it possibly unconstitutional.  That was a major
> victory, and that provision will almost certainly be struck-down by the
> Supreme Court.
>
>   While the Supreme Court has not yet isssued any rulings on what we now
> call Anti-CybCrime v1, ISOC-PH is engaging with government (law enforcement
> agencies, Justice Dept.,etc.) and other orgs (IT Association of the
> Philippines, PH-CERT, etc.) to craft a v2 version of Anti-CybCrime which
> focuses exclusively on CyberCrime issues and excludes contentious
> content-related provisions, such as libel, cybersex, and perhaps even spam.
>
>   At the same time, ISOC-PH also has to work closely and coordinate with
> other stakeholders who would prefer that there be no Anti-CybCrime law.  I
> personally find this goal impracticable and would prefer to have an
> Anti-CybCrime law, *provided that*, its scope is carefully delimited and
> sufficient rights protections are in place.  Else, there is the risk that
> other laws (perhaps not directly related to CyberCrime) will be passed
> without the needed civil liberties and rights protections.
>
> Hope this helps,
>
> WYn
>
>
>
>
> On 5/31/2013 4:56 AM, Imran Anwar wrote:
>
>> Being a Pakistani born American, and having pioneered Internet services
>> and
>> co-founded .PK ccTLD for Pakistan, I can understand, appreciate and
>> relate to
>> Faisal's concerns about offensive content on the Internet.
>>
>> That being said, I am both confused, and concerned, about his blanket
>> statement
>> "filtering is not a solution, instead efforts must be taken to remove
>> content
>> from the source." That to me is quite opposite to the whole idea of a
>> free and
>> open platform like the Internet.
>>
>> Granted some things, like child pornography, can be targeted for "remove
>> content
>> from the source" type efforts, but almost anything else on the Internet is
>> something that someone, somewhere, sometime or another, can find
>> "objectionable"
>> and come up with "valid" sounding excuses demanding it be taken off.
>>
>> So, much that I do not like the idea of governments, especially in
>> developing
>> nations, spending millions on trying to play the role of censor, or
>> content
>> monitor, trying to filter what may be unsuitable for them, it is, at
>> least in my
>> humble opinion, slightly more palatable than the idea of insisting that
>> any and
>> all content anyone finds objectionable be removed from all sources.
>>
>> To me it sounds like developing nations with highly illiterate
>> populations (and
>> even the now political correctness fever ridden modern societies) need to
>> learn
>> to ignore things rather than trying to control or erase what they find
>> objectionable. Quite frankly, and sadly, I find it laughable how our
>> fellow
>> Muslims will use objectionable content (say a video or cartoon) to do
>> things far
>> more objectionable to God, and to Prophet Muhammad, like killing innocent
>> people
>> in "protests". Even the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) did not punish those
>> who
>> directly insulted him or even physically dumped things on him (some on a
>> regular
>> basis when he used to say his prayers). It seems like current Muslims
>> like to
>> think they are representing Islam and the Prophet's way of life by doing
>> the
>> exact opposite of what he did or would like to see.
>>
>> The answer to hate, or abuse, is not to go killing the messenger or
>> destroying
>> the medium, it is to engage the abuser magnanimously, or, at worse,
>> ignoring them.
>>
>> And an essential ingredient to going down that path is to promote
>> education...
>>
>> As I often say in my speeches to different audiences on similar topics,
>> the
>> first word of Wahi that God sent Prophet Muhammad was not "Jihad" or
>> "Kill X, Y,
>> Z" or "Block YouTube"...
>>
>> The word was... "Iqra".... READ....
>>
>> How ironic that it is the same Muslim countries populations that sadly
>> have the
>> highest percentages of illiteracy, from Afghanistan to Pakistan, from
>> Bangla
>> Desh to places in Africa.
>>
>> Let's teach people everywhere to engage, not offend, and to ignore if
>> offended,
>> than to go try to kill people or a platform.
>>
>> These are my personal opinions, not representing any organization,
>> government,
>> business, or other individuals.
>>
>>
>> Imran Anwar
>> http://imran.com
>> http://facebook.com/IMRAN.TV
>>
>>
>>
>> On May 30, 2013, at 4:27 PM, Faisal Hasan <hasansf at gmail.com
>> <mailto:hasansf at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>
>>  Dear Friends,
>>>
>>> Bangladesh Govt. plans to filter internet contents. We know that this
>>> option
>>> of filtering is not a solution, instead efforts must be taken to remove
>>> content from the source. The move actually stemmed from Google’s refusal
>>> to
>>> take down the trailer of a religiously sensitive film from its website
>>> Youtube.com <http://Youtube.com>. Bangladesh even asked Google to
>>> install a
>>>
>>> mirror server for Bangladesh nine months ago so that such videos could be
>>> filtered out. Youtube is still blocked in Bangladesh since last
>>> September.
>>> Recently, in Bangladesh the Internet has become a double edged sword
>>> which is
>>> used not only by activists to raise voice for legitimate reasons but
>>> also by
>>> some bad politicians to provoke innocent people to create deadly
>>> violence. We
>>> have already have had 'our spring' last February. Clearly, the
>>> government is
>>> in a dire situation.
>>>
>>> From our chapter we are initiating a dialogue with the government in two
>>> weeks
>>> time. We would like to get your inputs about this issue. I know many
>>> govts
>>> have implemented filtering like this and all most all the report I have
>>> seen
>>> suggest that this does more harm than good for the people. The situation
>>> in a
>>> country like Bangladesh deserves special care as there are millions of
>>> people
>>> here who donot have basic education and are easily agitated by
>>> inappropriate/fake content. To give you an idea about the seriousness of
>>> the
>>> issue, I would say that in a single day in February 40 people were dead!
>>>
>>> Please let us know what you think can be done? What is the alternative?
>>> Does
>>> global companies have more responsibility in making their policies such
>>> that
>>> it takes care about issues in developing countries?
>>>
>>> Thanks
>>> Faisal Hasan, PhD
>>> Internet Society Bangladesh Dhaka Chapter
>>> ______________________________**_________________
>>>
>>
> ______________________________**_________________
> As an Internet Society Chapter Officer you are automatically subscribed
> to this list, which is regularly synchronized with the Internet Society
> Chapter Portal (AMS): https://portal.isoc.org
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://elists.isoc.org/mailman/private/chapter-delegates/attachments/20130531/87cf3ec7/attachment.htm>