Reporters Without Borders (RSF): Press Predators Censor Internet

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Seth Finkelstein <sethf () sethf com>
Date: May 5, 2006 1:01:43 AM EDT
To: David Farber <dave () farber net>, ip () v2 listbox com
Subject: Reporters Without Borders (RSF): Press Predators Censor  
Internet

Freedom Of The Press Worldwide In 2006
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=17084

http://www.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/report.pdf

[page 107]

THE INTERNET'S JAILERS

Traditional "predators of press freedom" Belarus, Burma, Cuba, Iran,
Libya, the Maldives, Nepal, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia,
Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam all censor the Internet now.  In
2003, only China, Vietnam and the Maldives had imprisoned
cyber-dissidents. Now more countries do. ...

COMPLICITY OF WESTERN FIRMS

How did all these countries become so expert at doing this? Did Burma
and Tunisia develop their own software? No. They bought the technology
from foreign, mostly American firms. Secure Computing, for example,
sold Tunisia a programme to censor the Internet, including the
Reporters Without Borders website.

Another US firm, Cisco Systems, created China's Internet
infrastructure and sold the country special equipment for the police
to use. The ethical lapses of Internet companies were exposed when the
US firm Yahoo! was accused in September 2005 of supplying the Chinese
police with information used to sentence cyber-dissident Shi Tao to 10
years in prison.

China is now passing on its cyber-spying skills to other enemies of
the Internet, including Zimbabwe, Cuba, and most recently
Belarus. These countries will probably no longer need Western help for
such spying in a few years time.

Democratic governments, not just the private sector, share
responsibility for the future of the Internet.  But far from showing
the way, many countries that usually respect online freedom, now seem
to want to unduly control it. They often have laudable reasons, such
as fighting terrorism, child sex and cybercrime, but this control also
threatens freedom of expression.

Without making any comparison with the harsh restrictions in China,
the Internet rules recently adopted by the European Union are very
disturbing. One of them, requiring Internet service providers (ISPs)
to retain records of customers' online activity, is presently being
considered in Brussels and seriously undermines Internet users' right
to online privacy.

The United States is also far from being a model in regulation of the
Internet. The authorities are sending an ambiguous message to the
international community by making it easier to legally intercept
online traffic and by filtering the Internet in public libraries.

Julien Pain
Head of Internet freedom desk


--
Seth Finkelstein  Consulting Programmer  http://sethf.com
Infothought blog - http://sethf.com/infothought/blog/
Interview: http://sethf.com/essays/major/greplaw-interview.php


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