Author: joly

NY INET announced for June 14 2011 – Vint Cerf and Tim Berners Lee to speak

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New York INET - Jun 14 2010The Internet Society (ISOC) will present an INET Regional Conference on June 14 2011 at the Sentry Center in NYC. The theme is “It’s your call. What kind Of Internet do you want? “. The distinguished line up of speakers will include ‘Father of the Internet’ Vint Cerf, World Wide Web inventor Sir Tim Berners Lee, and Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information at the U.S. Department of Commerce Lawrence Strickling.

What: INET New York
When: Tuesday June 14, 2011: 9am-5.30pm EDT
Where: Sentry Center, 730 Third Avenue, NY NY 10017
Who: ISOC Members $25, Others $50
Register: http://isoc.org/nyinet
Agenda: http://bit.ly/inetnyagenda
Hashtag: #inetny
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=145503388852445
Linked In http://events.linkedin.com/INET-New-York/pub/649653
Shorturl: http://bit.ly/inetny

With almost two billion people online, the Internet is a catalyst for boundless creativity and growth. But the decisions we make in the coming months and years will determine whether it remains a global platform for innovation and expression for people everywhere. Join us on June 14 as we set the agenda for the future of an open Internet. We’ll identify and examine the critical decisions that will shape the future of the Internet:

  • Who will help define the Internet’s evolution?
  • What role should government and private industry play?
  • How do we provide greater bandwidth and access?
  • What does online privacy mean in the age of Facebook and Wikileaks?

This is a unique opportunity to network with the thought leaders and policy makers who are designing the global networks of tomorrow and help develop the policies that will drive future Internet innovation. Space is limited so it is advisable to register a.s.a.p.

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ISOC-NY Event: Cyrus Farivar – The Internet of Elsewhere 5/4

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Cyrus FarivarOn May 4 2011 the Internet Society’s New York Chapter (ISOC-NY) will present broadcaster, author & journalist Cyrus Farivar reading and discussing his imminent (May 8 ) book ‘The Internet of Elsewhere‘ (Rutgers University Press). All welcome. There will be a live webcast.

In the book Farivar explores the Internet’s history and effects in four distinct and, to some, surprising societies — Iran, Estonia, South Korea, and Senegal. He profiles Web pioneers in these countries and, at the same time, surveys the environments in which they each work. After all, contends Farivar, despite California’s great success in creating the Internet and spawning companies like Apple and Google, in some areas the United States is still years behind other nations.

What: Cyrus Farivar – The Internet of Elsewhere
When: Wednesday 4 May 2011 7pm-9pm EDT (1100-0100 UTC)
Where: Warren Weaver Hall, rm 201, 251 Mercer Street, NY NY 10012
Webcast: http://livestream.com/internetsocietychapters
Who: Free. All welcome. Capacity limited. No RSVP reqd.
Hashtags: #isocny; #farivar
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David Solomonoff on the perils and pitfalls of Internet Freedom

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David SolomonoffISOC-NY President David Solomonoff writes about the pitfalls of prescriptions for Internet freedom: Hackers Fight For Freedom With Net Tech; Ignore Politics, Psychology At Their Peril

Internet freedom initiatives must be independent of political connotations, run on a decentralized infrastructure, and use technology that is subject to public review by security experts. Most importantly, users must have complete trust in the skills and integrity of the people providing those tools and services.

If they don’t the cure could prove worse than the disease.

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Don’t take the Internet for granted, Internet Society warns at INET conference

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ISOC logo23 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.
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Internet Society statement on Egypt

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The Internet Society has issued a statement on the current situation in Egypt.

“We are following the current events in Egypt with concern as it appears that all incoming and outgoing Internet traffic has been disrupted. The Internet Society believes that the Internet is a global medium that fundamentally supports opportunity, empowerment, knowledge, growth, and freedom and that these values should never be taken away from individuals.

The Internet Society considers this recent action by the Egyptian government to block Internet traffic to be an inappropriate response to a political crisis. It is a very serious decision for a government to block all Internet access in its country, and a serious intrusion into its citizens’ basic rights to communicate. If the blockage continues, it will have a very detrimental impact on Egypt’s economy and society. Ultimately, the Egyptian people and nation are the ones that will suffer, while the rest of the world will be worse off with the loss of Egyptian voices on the net.

However we are most concerned about the safety and security of the Egyptian people. Alongside the rest of the world, we share the hope for a positive and lasting solution to the problems that have risen to the surface there.

In the longer term, we are sure that the world will learn a lesson from this very unfortunate example, and come to understand that cutting off a nation’s access to the Internet only serves to fuel dissent and does not address the underlying causes of dissatisfaction.”
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ISOC Community Grants Programme – apply by March 18 2011

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The ISOC Community Grants Programme will start accepting applications for it’s next round of awards on Monday, 21 February 2011.  The application round will close Friday, 18 March with award notifications made in mid-May 2011.

ISOC’s Community Grants Programme is open to the creativity and imagination of the ISOC Community. The only parameters of the Program are the Criteria. The selection Committee favors Projects that strengthen and support the health of the Internet as well as Projects that further support ISOC’s mission, goals, and Strategic Initiatives. Grants are awarded twice a year.

ISOC-NY members considering making applications are invited to attend  WebEx conference calls scheduled for 1 February 2011 at UTC 10:30 and 20:00 (5.30am and 3pm EST)
to discuss the application forms & criteria.

In the meeting, Programme Manager Connie Kendig will go over the guidelines on how to apply for funding and hold a Q&A session.  There is also additional information posted on the website regarding telecentres/Internet cafe projects and will be discussed during the call as well.

Those participating in a conference call are urged to read over the programme webpages in advance of the meeting. Connecting to the meeting will be by WebEx:  http://isoc.org/wp/chapter-meetings/?p=986 Any questions regarding the Community Grants Programme, please send them to projects@isoc.org.
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Markus Kummer appointed ISOC VP of Public Policy

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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
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The Future of the Internet Governance Forum

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ISOC logoIn an extraordinary meeting on 6 December the United Nation’s Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD) decided to create a Working Group on Improvements to the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) (http://www.intgovforum.org/) with a membership made up only of governments.

The Internet Society believes this decision sets back the model of multistakeholder cooperation under which the IGF was established, and contradicts the instructions given to the CSTD for the establishment of the Working Group.

The Internet Society has joined the International Chamber of Commerce – Business Action to Support the Information Society, the Internet Governance Caucus, and many other Internet, business, and civil society organizations in sending a letter to the CSTD, asking them to retract their previous decision and to establish an appropriately constituted Working Group that ensures the full and active participation of governments, the private sector and civil society from both developing and developed countries, involving relevant intergovernmental and international organizations and forums.

Like the Internet, a multistakeholder approach has been at the core of the Internet Governance Forum’s formation and success. We hope that Internet Society Chapters and Members, as well as other organizations, will join us in signing the letter.

You may read the full letter, and see the growing list of signatories, and indicate your own support here:

http://isoc.org/wp/newsletter/?p=2710

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Milton Mueller: Networks and States: The Global Politics of Internet Governance – NYU 12/14 #icann #igf

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Milton MuellerISOC-NY is delighted to present Milton Mueller’s first full exposition of his new  book  Networks and States: The Global Politics of Internet Governance at NYU on Tuesday December 14 2010.  Prof. Mueller is a co-founder of ICANN’s NonCommercial User’s Constituency and a renowned cyberlibertarian.  His 2002 book Ruling the Root has long been the definitive work on governance.  We are excited to hear details of what, in his mind,  has changed in the last 8 years.  This event is open to the public and will be webcast live.

What: Networks and States: The Global Politics of Internet Governance
When: Tuesday December 14 2010 : 7-9pm
Where: Rm 317, Warren Weaver Hall NYU, 251 Mercer St NYC (& W. 4 St)
Who: Public welcome.  No RSVP needed.  Photo ID required.
Webcast: http://www.livestream.com/isocny
Hashtag: #isocny
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=175907139093951
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Internet Society issues statement on Wikileaks

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ISOC logoThe Internet Society has issued a statement criticizing recent technical efforts to suppress the Wikileaks website.

It reads as follows:

Recently, we have witnessed the effective disappearance from the Internet of a website made infamous through international press coverage and political intrigue.

The Internet Society is founded upon key principles of free expression and non discrimination that are essential to preserve the openness and utility of the Internet. We believe that this incident dramatically illustrates that those principles are currently at risk.

Recognizing the content of the wikileaks.org website is the subject of concern to a variety of individuals and nations, we nevertheless believe it must be subject to the same laws and policies of availability as all Internet sites.  Free expression should not be restricted by governmental or private controls over computer hardware or software, telecommunications infrastructure, or other essential components of the Internet.

Resilience and cooperation are built into the Internet as a design principle. The cooperation among several  organizations has ensured that the impact on the Wikileaks organizational website has not prevented all access to Wikileaks material.  This further underscores that removal of a domain is an ineffective tool to suppress communication, merely serving to undermine the integrity of the global Internet and its operation.

Unless and until appropriate laws are brought to bear to take the wikileaks.org domain down legally, technical solutions should be sought to reestablish its proper presence, and appropriate actions taken to pursue and prosecute entities (if any) that acted maliciously to take it off the air.

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ISOC-NY EVENT: Building tomorrow’s broadband – Nov 17 2010

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isoc-nyDiscussion of Net Neutrality has often involved policy discussions about regulating or rationing bandwidth as a scarce resource.

On Wednesday, November 17th, ISOC-NY will host a panel with people who are building tomorrow’s broadband infrastructure to create an abundance of bandwidth that could one day make these issues moot.

Date: Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Time: 7-9 pm
Place: Room 201 Warren Weaver Hall 251 Mercer St NYC (just southeast of Washington Square)
Webcast: http://livestream.com/isocny
Hashtag #isoc-ny
The event is free and open to the public. Photo ID must be presented to gain access to the building.
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Computers & Society speakers announced

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In 2010 ISOC-NY is once again sponsoring a speaker series as part of Evan Korth’s Computers and Society course at the Courant Institute at NYU. ISOC-NY members and friends are welcome to attend.  All sessions are held from 3.30-5pm in Room 109 of the Courant Institute, Warren Weaver Hall, NYU at 251 Mercer St NYC. Please RSVP to admin@isoc-ny.org.

Speakers:

Oct 18: moot  (4Chan)
Oct 20: Evan Hill-Ries
Oct 25: Fred Benenson  (KickStarter)
Nov 1: Hilary Mason  (bit.ly)
Nov 3: Douglas Rushkoff
Nov 29: Susan Crawford  (Cardozo / Princeton CITP)

The Computers & Society Series receives financial support from the Internet
Society Community Grant Programme.
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Internet Society Granted WIPO Permanent Observer Status

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ISOC logoWIPOThe World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has granted the Internet Society with Permanent Observer status.

Being granted status at WIPO will allow the Internet Society to be recognized as a participant by the organization’s member states and to interact with WIPO staff on important intellectual property issues in cyberspace (e.g. copyright in the online environment, intellectual property and development, etc.). Read more about WIPO.

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