Tag: Regulation

Access welcomes the news that Facebook will join the Global Network Initiative (GNI), bolstering the group’s roster of some of the biggest firms in communications technology.

The UN World Telecommunication Policy Forum (WTPF) concluded yesterday in Geneva, with the adoption of six opinions to guide international policy on broadband and internet exchange point (IXP) deployment, as well as internet governance. That was exactly the plan–but what happened over the course of the three day meeting is revealing for the future of internet governance reform.

Yesterday, the US House of Representatives voted unanimously to pass a bill on internet governance that was superfluous, misguided, and potentially harmful to ongoing international negotiations on internet governance.

The US Senate finally voted to confirm David Medine as the first Chair of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB), a government oversight body charged with protecting privacy and civil liberties in the United States.

Tomorrow the World Telecommunication Policy Forum (WTPF), a meeting hosted by the UN’s International Telecommunication Union (ITU), will kick off in Geneva. The meeting, meant to provide a venue for governments and industry to discuss key policy issues in today’s telecommunications and information and communication technology (ICT) environment, has declared its theme for 2013 to be internet-related public policy. For the next three days, the Member States of the ITU, i.e. governments, are expected to discuss and adopt opinions that will guide international internet policy making. But if recent history is a guide, chances are it won’t be so simple.

A month after the publication of its first Transparency Report mentioning National Security Letters (NSLs), Google filed a motion before the Northern District of California to “set aside”–or in plain language, defer–this controversial form of request. Google’s action follows in the courageous legal footsteps of a handful of service providers–including the ACLU’s defense of the Calyx Institute and EFF’s successful petition on behalf of an unnamed client–raising hopes that Google’s suit may finally expose the worldwide reach of NSLs.

Last week, we documented network interference in Malaysia: local internet service providers (ISPs) were obstructing the free flow of traffic from selected sites hosting opposition political content, right ahead of a critical election. We asked the Access community to demand accountability from the Malaysian government, and ensure the Malaysian internet stayed free and open. Thousands of members from more than 60 countries signed a petition telling the MCMC to keep Malaysia online–and we delivered that petition. On Sunday, May 5th, in the midst of the elections, we wrote to Sharil Tarmizi, head of the MCMC, to remind them that the world was watching: network interference is an unacceptable violation of Malaysians’ rights.

May 3 is World Press Freedom Day, a day to celebrate the fundamental principles of independent media. But WPFD is also an opportunity to pay attention to where press freedom is under attack around the world–and the increasing tendency of those attacks to occur online. Bloggers and citizen journalists are arrested, jailed, and murdered for the words they write and the images they share; citizens are cut off from each other and from the information they seek because of what governments or companies deem appropriate for society.

On Sunday, May 5th, Malaysia will go to the polls for a highly contested general election, potentially ending 56 years of single-party rule. But ever since the elections were announced in April, the internet has become become a target: opposition websites and independent media have experienced significant network interference–and with the election days away, pressure is intensifying.

The proposed Myanmar partnership with China Mobile is a chance for Vodafone to test and improve its policies, and train its partner in human rights best practices.