[Chapter-delegates] ISOC's position on US control of the Internet

[Kathy Brown]

Evan and all,

Allow me to take this opportunity to introduce myself to all of you. I have been following with great interest the discussion on pervasive surveillance over the past few days and, in particular, comments regarding Markus' proposed blog this week concerning the U.S. based initiative "The Day We Fight Back". More on that in a moment.

In the month since I joined the Internet Society, I have had the great privilege of meeting and getting to know our international staff, both those at headquarters as well as our leaders in the regions and around the world.  I have also spent concentrated time with our passionate Board. Now it is past time to meet you--virtually and in person. I see the ISOC network of Chapters as its' greatest asset. You are ever so right that ISOC can only be effective in its' mission if it is understood and accepted as a GLOBAL leader. As the champion for a global, open, trusted Internet, ISOC must give voice to all our people. ISOC's structure, organization, messaging and engagement strategy must reflect this imperative.

I hope to have opportunities to meet Chapter members in my upcoming travels in the coming months to London, Brazil, Singapore, Hong Kong--and beyond! I am anxious that we get to know each other.

With respect to the current discussion around the proposed blog, a couple of thoughts. First, ISOC is committed to restoring the chain of trust that has been damaged by revelations of pervasive surveillance by governments across the world.  We have made it one of our top priorities this year to support technological developments that can help restore confidence in users' ability to control their own data. We are also, with your input, committed to advancing public policies on a global and regional level that strengthen user privacy and trust. I would be particularly interested in your input on specific initiatives that are scaleable across our many regions.

Second, I agree that we, together, need to continue to educate and advocate for the end to end principle of an open, border-less, permission-less Internet even in the face of sovereign governments' concerns--many legitimate and many not--around security and user protection. ISOC's experience and clear-eyed understanding of the benefits of deployment and unencumbered access to the Internet must be part of the current debate.

With respect to the U.S. based initiative under discussion, we saw this as an opportunity to support this and other efforts in which users/citizens make their voices heard. And, we sought to highlight the international standards that should apply.  Thus, we point out that:

Last year, the Internet Society Board of Trustees endorsed the International Principles on the Application of Human Rights to Communications Surveillance from the civil society-led “Necessary and Proportionate” initiative, https://en.necessaryandproportionate.org/, as they were closely aligned with the Internet Society’s own principles. The Internet Society is also part of the OpenStand movement, http://www.open-stand.org, which is dedicated to promoting a proven set of principles for open and transparent standards development processes for end-to-end global Internet interoperability. These same principles are an important element in restoring confidence in cryptographic standards, and the protocols, applications, and services that depend on them.

You are correct, however, that a look at our website suggests that our public communications have a U.S. ring. We must and we will do better. I will continue to follow the conversation here to listen to your thoughts as we move forward.

I look forward to an ongoing dialogue and to meeting you in person over the next months.

Kathy Brown


On Feb 8, 2014, at 10:55 PM, "Evan Leibovitch" <evan at telly.org<mailto:evan at telly.org>> wrote:

I found this article intriguing:
http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/197786-tech-fears-shadow-campaign-for-global-control-of-internet

It indicates a backlash in US political circles against the globalisation of Internet Governance, pointing to the participation of ICANN in the Montivideo Declaration calling for a more global approach to Internet oversight as a Bad Thing:

Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), who represents Silicon Valley, declined to comment specifically on Chehade’s plans, but said the U.S. should retain leadership over how the Internet is managed.
The U.S. “gave birth” to the Internet, Eshoo said, and countries “with a different view” should not be allowed to regulate it.

I think this is a good opportunity for ISOC to show leadership on behalf of end-users everywhere, to indicate that the article's headline of "tech fears" are incorrect and misleading, and that even US tech leaders (hopefully including our friends in the IETF) see value in global inclusion.

I am sorry if it appears that I over-reacted to the "Day We Fight Back" campaign as indicating too much of a focus on US affairs. I am minded of conversations I recently had with various people within ICANN upon ISOC's appointment of Kathy. Without knowing a thing about her, these people were dismissive on ISOC hiring "a US telecom industry insider" for its leadership.

While the comments were shallow, incorrect and non-productive, they did touch a raw nerve. I think ISOC, more than ever, must consciously act more globally than it has done before. As the article above indicates, challenge to the MSM is coming even from within the US, the model's "champion" at the WCIT.

The chapter infrastructure of ISOC makes us uniquely positioned to provide the necessary advocacy and defence of multi-stakeholderism in the public interest. And I hope that both HQ and other chapters are as eager as I am to take advantage of this infrastructure to prove the strength and value of global inclusiveness at the local level, while ISOC HQ does it globally. I look forward to the changes ahead as our new CEO makes her mark on the organization.

--
Evan Leibovitch
Toronto Canada
Em: evan at telly dot org
Sk: evanleibovitch
Tw: el56
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