[Chapter-delegates] A request for advice from the Board of Trustees

[christian de larrinaga]

inline 
Ted Hardie via Chapter-delegates <chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org> writes:

> Dear colleagues,
>
> At the annual general meeting, the Board of Trustees discussed the rise in
> attacks on the Internet way of networking and the broader set of attacks on
> the Internet's value to humanity.  The Board asked, as a result of these
> discussions, that the staff build action plans for the upcoming year that
> reinforced the "Defend" aspect of the society's efforts to build, promote,
> and defend the Internet.
>
> As we look beyond the staff actions to how to mobilize the society as a
> whole, the Board is seeking your advice.  We believe that many who are now
> disparaging the value of the Internet are doing so to audiences of
> regulators, lawmakers, and civil society that cannot effectively imagine a
> network that works differently.  As a result, they cannot imagine the
> damage or impairment that changing the fundamental nature of the Internet
> would bring.
>
> To issue an effective call to action, the listeners must understand what
> changes if they do not act.
>
> We would like to know your thoughts on how to provide that contrast--how to
> show what the world would look like with an Internet that has succumbed to
> these threats.   One in which encryption provides no confidentiality; one
> in which access to the network is determined by state approval rather than
> voluntary association; one in which every piece of content or commentary
> must be submitted to algorithmic acceptance prior to being made visible.
>
> As we come up to the meeting of the board on November 12th and 13th, we
> would like you to consider what advice you can give us on this point, and
> we ask you to provide it either with your usual report or instead of it, as
> you prefer.
>

The challenge (for ISOC) is that the arguments are highly political.
We have a genuine challenge on how application services can with
accountability protect vulnerable users being used to legislate
the sort of draconian and dangerous approaches you mention.  UK Online
"Safety" is a  for instance.

Those from this community in Britain are answering as we can on technical grounds those aspects of the
Bills which are dangerous to everybody such as weakening encryption. But
most of the counter argument is also highly "political" from civil rights and privacy
lobby.  No harm in that of course but the Internet model itself isn't getting airtime.

I wonder if when in London it might be advisable for ISOC to ask some of
the key Public Relations  organisations with political experience to
brief the Board  on what it would take to get traction?

For this the Board should prepare a short advance briefing that outlines the
issues the Society is concerned about and what we would like to achieve
in protecting the Internet model.

For instance in seeking support for a law/regulation that requires regulations
to protect and assess impacts on open Internet principles? 

> Thanks, as always, for your efforts on behalf of our mission,
>
> Ted Hardie
> For the Board of Trustees

thank you! - and also for posting this to chapters to think about

best Christian


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-- 
christian de larrinaga 
https://firsthand.net