[Rigf_program] Fwd: [kictanet] WCITleaks just launched

[Adam Peake]

Relevant to one of our proposed sessions.

Adam


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Grace Githaiga <ggithaiga at hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, Jun 7, 2012 at 6:48 AM
Subject: [kictanet] WCITleaks just launched
To: ajp at glocom.ac.jp
Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>


http://wcitleaks.org/

Wednesday, June 6, 2012 <http://jerrybrito.org/day/2012/06/06/>
 Today we’re launching
WCITLeaks.org<http://jerrybrito.org/post/24541436396/today-were-launching-wcitleaks-org>As
you may have heard, the UN is trying to take over the
internet<http://techdailydose.nationaljournal.com/2012/06/officials-say-threats-from-net.php>.
Well, that’s not really true, but member states of the UN’s International
Telecommunications Union (ITU) are definitely going to negotiate an
agreement related to the Internet at the World Conference on International
Communications (WCIT - pronounced ‘wicket’) this December in Dubai. U.S.
officials have warned<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204792404577229074023195322.html>that
some member states, including Russia and China, have put forth
proposals to regulate the Internet. Vint Cerf has
warned<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/25/opinion/keep-the-internet-open.html>that
“Such proposals raise the prospect of policies that enable government
controls but greatly diminish the ‘permissionless innovation’ that
underlies extraordinary Internet-based economic growth to say nothing of
trampling human rights.”
So what are these proposals? Well, we don’t know exactly. To see them, you
have to have access to the ITU’s password protected website. This lack of
transparency brings to mind secret negotiations like the one that gave us
ACTA, and several civil society groups have written
<http://wcitleaks.org/>to the ITU demanding access to the documents.
The proposals are not classified and it’s not illegal to share them. In
fact, they often are shared. At a recent panel
discussion<http://www.c-span.org/Events/Dubai-Conference-Could-Change-How-Internet-Operates/10737431086/>that
I attended, the State Department’s Richard Beaird said, “Access to the
proposals, of course, as I have done and others have done, is if you ask
me, I will give you those proposals. I don’t want to have a flood of
requests coming in from the room or those int he television audience.”
At the time, I tweeted<https://twitter.com/jerrybrito/status/207889003171684352>:
“If someone will pass them to me, I volunteer to host a site with gov WCIT
proposals.” It seemed weird to me that someone wasn’t collecting and
publishing the documents, like how opencrs.com does with Congressional
Research Service reports. I promptly forgot about the idea, but was
reminded yesterday when Milton Mueller wrote this
post<http://www.internetgovernance.org/2012/06/05/we-want-td64-itu-transparency-begins-at-home/>urging
the U.S. to make documents available. He wrote:

Today, IGP has learned that the U.S. government is in possession of a
document that brings together descriptions of all the WCIT proposals
emerging from the ITU’s Council Working Group. The document, known as TD
64, compiles all the proposals on the table into a single document without
attributing them to any specific government. No law or treaty stops the US
government from making this document available to the public. We urge the
U.S. government to release TD 64 of the ITU Council Working Group
immediately.

Of course, while it’s not illegal, publishing these documents is probably
not considered polite in the rarefied diplomatic circles of the ITU. So, I
thought we’d give folks with access to the documents a helping hand.
Yesterday Eli Dourado and I spent a couple of hours putting together a
website at WCITLeaks.org <http://wcitleaks.org>. The idea is simple: If you
have a WCIT or ITU related document you’d like to share, submit it
anonymously and we will publish it. That’s it. We hope you find it useful
and that you’ll spread the word.


//
Cynthia M. Wong
Director, Global Internet Freedom Project
Center for Democracy & Technology

*CDT*  •  1634 I Street NW  •  Suite 1100  •  Washington, DC 20006
*E* cynthia at cdt.org *P* +1-202-407-8835 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting
FREE +1-202-407-8835end_of_the_skype_highlighting *F* +1-202-637-0968

Keeping the Internet Open, Innovative & Free!

Follow our work on Twitter @CenDemTech @cynthiamw








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