[Chapter-delegates] FYI - ISOC statement about on Internet blocking measures in Catalonia, Spain

Fri Sep 29 03:39:05 PDT 2017

+1

Consultation with only the Catalan chapter, and no other chapter in Spain is clearly inadequate, and possibly even rude to the Spanish chapter.  There is an obvious difference of opinion over the referendum in Spain, and I assume there are ISOC members who hold sincere beliefs on both sides.  To speak to only one party and not others is, at best, politically naïve.

As a resident of Ireland, I have been personally caught up in 5 IRA bomb attacks.  Everyone in Ireland is personally worried about the possibility of a renewal of IRA terrorism.  We all work hard to avoid a return to “the troubles,” as we call those times.  We understand that these could be triggered by many things which an outsider would consider perfectly innocent.  You have to live in Ireland to appreciate the intense sensitivity and how close we all are to a return to violence.  I am not exaggerating when I say the formation of an Irish-language ISOC chapter in Northern Ireland could lead to people being murdered.  The situation really is that sensitive.  I am sure there are many ISOC members whose countries are in a similarly sensitive position.

As I see it, at minimum, ISOC needs to permit anyone who is interested to participate in authorisation of any chapter anywhere, and we need consistent, documented, processes for this.  Alternatively, we need to base regional chapter formations on boundaries created outside ISOC so that such decisions are out of our control.  For example, limiting chapters to nation states recognised by the UN.

There are many places in the world subject to forces seeking to break existing states; many regions seeking independence, many cultural and language groups seeking better representation.  In some countries, merely identifying a sub-group as existing is controversial or illegal.  As the internet becomes more central to global society, it becomes a place for political contention.  The formation of an ISOC chapter can be used as part of a political campaign by such groups.  I think it extremely dangerous if ISOC becomes another tool in such campaigns.  Clearly ISOC cannot take sides in such campaigns, no matter how justified some members may feel about any given group’s claims.  I am open to alternative suggestions, and only seek to start a conversation, but I think it clear the whole ISOC chapter formation process needs to be reworked.

Regards,

Brandt Dainow

brandt.dainow at gmail.com

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Brandt_Dainow

http://www.imediaconnection.com/profiles/brandt.dainow

From: Chapter-delegates [mailto:chapter-delegates-bounces at elists.isoc.org] On Behalf Of Thomas Lowenhaupt
Sent: 29 September 2017 03:35
To: chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org
Subject: Re: [Chapter-delegates] FYI - ISOC statement about on Internet blocking measures in Catalonia, Spain

The .cat evolution is something I’ve followed for over a decade. As a proponent of city TLDs and an advocate for the .nyc TLD, the process that enabled .cat’s issuance intrigued me.

The ICANN perspective on .cat’s issuance was cogently expressed by Vint, “ICANN asked the governments of spain and andorra whether they had any objections and both responded that they did not object.” Today, as the Iberian Peninsular smoulders, I’ll comment only on the .cat issuance process, noting that ‘non-objection’ is too weak a form of approval.

Having witnessed how ill-prepared New York City was for the development of the .nyc TLD, I’ve urged over the past few years at several ICANN fora that ‘informed consent’ be adopted as the standard for approval of  geographic and cultural TLDs. Seemingly to little avail. 

The .cat situation makes it apparent that ICANN is playing with fire when they issue geographic and cultural TLDs. Had they not been distracted fighting various wars, I suspect .Kurds would have been issued and now be playing a central role in a new regional realignment, with its impact measured by battlefield statistics. 

If ICANN can't institute responsible issuance standards for geographic and cultural TLDs, perhaps its time to remove these life and death digital resources from its purview. 

Tom Lowenhaupt 

  _____  

On 9/22/2017 11:43 AM, Dan York wrote:

Chapter delegates,

FYI, yesterday we published a statement expressing our concern about measures taken in Spain to block access to certain websites and, perhaps more concerning, to require a top-level domain (TLD) operator to engage in content monitoring and blocking. 

This is a tense time politically in Spain with an independence referendum having been called for October 1 in the Catalonia region which the central Spanish government views as illegal. We do not want to get involved in the politics of the situation, but are concerned by the manner in which the Internet is being restricted. As we have repeatedly stated, we do not see Internet blocking / shutdowns as effective measures and believe they cause far more collateral damage to the economy and society.  

Please do note that in developing this statement Frédéric Donck and his European Bureau team did interact directly with ISOC Catalonia Chapter leaders to understand the situation there.

Please do read and share our statement:

https://www.internetsociety.org/news/statements/2017/internet-society-statement-internet-blocking-measures-catalonia-spain/

https://www.internetsociety.org/es/news/declarationes/2017/declaracion-de-internet-society-sobre-medidas-de-bloqueo-de-internet-en-cataluna-espana/ 

Shared on social at:

https://twitter.com/internetsociety/status/910995196405518336

https://www.facebook.com/InternetSociety/posts/10154627959548239

Regards,

Dan

--
Dan York
Senior Manager, Content & Web Strategy, Internet Society
york at isoc.org   +1-802-735-1624 
Jabber: york at jabber.isoc.org  Skype: danyork   http://twitter.com/danyork

http://www.internetsociety.org/

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