Category: policy

On Thursday November 15 2012 the Internet Society’s North American Bureau in collaboration with its New York Chapter (ISOC-NY) will present INET New York: An Open Forum on The Copyright Alert System – a half-day conference at New York Law School. Public advocacy organizations and Internet users will have the opportunity to participate in a multistakeholder dialogue on key issues relating to the Copyright Alert System (CAS) – sometimes called the 6 strikes program, and due to kick off on November 28 2012 – with representatives and members of the Center for Copyright Information (CCI) which is administering the system.

Registration is now open (free), and you can also ask questions in advance, via the links below. It is not necessary to register for the webcast, but you can via our meetup group.

What: INET New York: An Open Forum on The Copyright Alert System
When: November 15 2012 – 3-7pm
Program: http://www.internetsociety.org/events/inet-new-york/inet-new-york-agenda
Webcast: http://www.livestream.com/internetsocietychapters
Twitter: #inetny | #copyright | #6strikes
Registration: http://www.internetsociety.org/events/inet-new-york/ (free)
Questions: http://inetny2012.backchan.nl/

The Internet Society has noted with concern a number of U.S. legislative proposals that would mandate DNS blocking and filtering by ISPs in order to protect the interests of copyright holders. We agree with proponents of the Protect-IP Act (PIPA) and Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) that combating illegal online activities is a very important public policy objective. However, policies that are enacted to achieve this goal must not undermine the viability of the Internet as a globally reachable platform. After close examination and consultation with the Internet community, we do not believe that the current U.S. legislative proposals are consistent with these basic principles.

In particular, we are concerned with provisions in both laws regarding DNS filtering. DNS filtering is often proposed as a way to block illegal content consumption by end users. Yet policies to mandate DNS filtering have not proven to be effective – these approaches interfere with cross-border data flows and services undermining innovation and social development across the globe. In addition, DNS blocking raises significant concerns with respect to human rights and freedom of expression and may curtail fundamental international principles of rule of law and due process.

The United States has an important leadership role when it comes to online Internet freedoms and should show the way when it comes to balancing local responsibilities and global impact, especially with respect to Internet policy.

In short, the negative impact of DNS filtering far outweighs any short-term, narrow, legal, and commercial benefits. The Internet Society believes that sustained, global collaboration amongst all parties is needed to find ways that protect the global architecture of the Internet while combating illegal online activities. We must all work to support the principles of innovation and freedom of expression upon which the Internet was founded.

The Internet Society, as a member of  the Internet Technical Advisory Committee (ITAC), participated in the OECD High Level Meeting on “The Internet Economy: Generating Innovation and Growth” held on 28-29 June 2011 in Paris.

* ITAC Press release (also below)

* Agenda

* Background documents

* Final Communique

23 Frankfurt 2011, FRANKFURT – The Internet Society warned today that taking the Internet for granted would be one of the surest ways to ruin it.

At its INET conference in Frankfurt on the threats, challenges and opportunities facing the Internet, the Internet Society cautioned users that they would take it for granted at their peril.

“The future success of the Internet is heavily dependent on its openness, access and transparency,” said Frederic Donck, director of the Internet Society’s European Regional Bureau. “Remove any of these core attributes, and the Internet will be become virtually useless as a platform for communication and innovation.”

The Internet Society called on all users to take urgent steps to ensure that the future development of the Internet takes a course that is in the best interests of everyone.

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND and RESTON, VIRGINIA, USA – 19 January 2011 – An internationally recognized leader in a broad range of Internet policy issues will join the Internet Society as head of its public policy department. As the Internet Society’s Vice President of Public Policy, Markus Kummer will advance key Internet Society policy positions on issues such as privacy, cybersecurity, and network neutrality. Most recently the Executive Coordinator of the Secretariat supporting the United Nations’ Internet Governance Forum, Kummer has extensive experience with Internet policy at the global, regional, and national levels

The Internet Society’s North American Bureau, to which ISOC-NY is affiliated, is lending initial support to a U.S. industry effort to form a Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group (BITAG) to develop consensus on broadband network management practices or other related technical issues that can affect users’ Internet experience. This is a collaborative industry effort to identify and address operational issues that have been at the heart of some of the recent issues attracting governmental attention. Constructively, this activity could result in organized, forward-looking discussion driven by key stakeholders and also provide opportunities to educate and inform policy makers by shedding light on underlying technical issues from the perspectives of diverse stakeholders.

The European Commission held an Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) Stakeholders’ Consultation meeting on Mar 22 2010. Representatives of ISOC’s European Regional Bureau attended and have now issued their comments.

Text below:

A joint effort by the both the Art Law and the IP Law Societies at Cardozo School of Law, this Feb. 24 2010 panel set out to consider the implications/possibilities of the Google Books Settlement model as applied to the music industry.

GENEVA–26 February 2010–The Internet Society this week submitted a paper on “Open Inter-networking” to a Net Neutrality expert group convened by French Minister of Internet Economy, Nathalie Kosciusko MorizetI. The paper proposes a set of policy considerations derived from the need to preserve access, choice, and transparency as key to ensuring the Internet remains a platform for innovation and economic development.

ISOC-NY would like to congratulate both Kathy Kleiman and the Public Interest Registry on her appointment as their Director of Policy. As noted on the PIR blog, Kathy has long stood up for the interests and rights of the the Internet using public, not only as a co-founder of the Noncommercial Users Constituency of ICANN (of which ISOC-NY is a member), but in countless other ways. That she will now have the opportunity to pursue such interests full-time on behalf of the .org community is great news!

See below for a classic example of Kathy in action in a recent ISOC-NY webcast:

On Jan 20 2010 the DC area members of the Internet Society held a discussion: “Choices for the Smart Grid“. The electric power grid–and the appliances in your home–are being networked, enabling electric utilities to better control electric power generation, consumption, and distribution–and give consumers ways to save energy and money. But it is not clear how the Smart Grid will develop. Will the Smart Grid be fully integrated with the Internet or will proprietary technologies and security concerns make that difficult? What steps will be needed to ensure the security of the Smart Grid? How will the Smart Grid interoperate with home networks and other systems? Will each utility and each country adopt different approaches or will there be global standards–and who will set those standards?

Details, slides and video below:

On Jan 20 2010 U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made a major policy speech at the Newseum in Washington D.C. on the subject of Internet Freedom:

Video and links to comments are below:

The comment period on the FCC’s proposed rules on Open Internet Standards (NPRM) closed yesterday Jan 14 2010. The Internet Society (ISOC) took the opportunity to file comments . They are transcribed below:

The fourth annual UN-sponsored Internet Governance Forum (IGF) Meeting is currently underway in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

Webcast | Schedule

On Nov. 17 2009, in advance of the NYC  Council hearing on the same topic, and in conjunction with Web 2.0 Expo, an ‘Oxford Style’ debate was held on advisability of Network Neutrality regulation.

More info: http://tech-debate.com.

Video is below.