-Caveat Lector-
((___)) cDc communications
[ x x ] & HACKTIVISMO
\ / "A Special Message of Hope"
(' ') July 4th, 2001
(U)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
INTERNATIONAL BOOKBURNING IN PROGRESS
[July 4, 2001 - LUBBOCK, TX.] Free speech is under siege at
the margins of the Internet. Quite a few countries are
censoring access to the Web through DNS [Domain Name
Service] filtering. This is a process whereby politically
incorrect information is blocked by domain address -- the
name that appears before the dot com suffix. Others employ
filtering which denies politically or socially challenging
subject matter based on its content.
Hacktivismo and the CULT OF THE DEAD COW have decided that
enough is too much. We are hackers and free speech
advocates, and we are developing technologies to challenge
state-sponsored censorship of the Internet.
Most countries use intimidation and filtering of one kind or
another including the Peoples Republic of China, Cuba, and
many Islamic countries. Most claim to be blocking
pornographic content. But the real reason is to prevent
challenging content from spreading through repressive
regimes. This includes information ranging from political
opinion, "foreign" news, women's issues, academic and
scholarly works, religious information, information
regarding ethnic groups in disfavor, news of human rights
abuses, documents which present drugs in a positive light,
and gay and lesbian content, among others.
The capriciousness of state-sanctioned censorship is
wide-ranging. [1]
* In Zambia, the government has attempted to censor
information revealing their plans for constitutional
referendums.
* In Mauritania -- as in most countries --, owners of
cybercafes are required to supply government intelligence
agents with copies of e-mail sent or received at their
establishments.
* Even less draconian governments, like Malaysia, have
threatened web-publishers for violating their publishing
licenses by publishing frequent updates: _timely, relevant_
information is seen as a threat.
* South Korean's national security law forbids South Koreans
from having any contact -- including contact over the
Internet -- with their North Korean neighbors.
* Sri Lanka threatened news sites with possible revocation
of their licenses if coverage of a presidential election
campaign was not partial to the party of the outgoing
president.
The risks of accessing or disseminating information are
often great.
* In Ukraine, a decapitated body found near the village of
Tarachtcha is believed to be that of Georgiy Gongadze,
founder and editor of an on-line newspaper critical of the
authorities.
* In August, 1998, eighteen year old Turk Emre Ersoz was
found guilty of "insulting the national police" in an
Internet forum after participating in a demonstration that
was violently suppressed by the police. His ISP provided the
authorities with his address.
* Journalist Miroslav Filipovic has the dubious distinction
of having been the first Journalist accused of spying
because of articles published on the Internet -- in this
case detailing the abuses of certain Yugoslav army units in
Kosovo.
We are sickened by these egregious violations of information
and human rights. The liberal democracies have talked a far
better game than they've played on access to information.
But hackers are not willing to watch the custodians of the
International Convention on Civil and Political Rights and
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights turn them into a
mockery. We are willing to put our money where our mouth is.
Hacktivismo and the CULT OF THE DEAD COW are issuing the
HACKTIVISMO DECLARATION as a declaration of outrage and a
statement of intent. It is our Magna Carta for information
rights. People have a right to reasonable access of
otherwise lawfully published information. If our leaders
aren't prepared to defend the Internet, we are.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] some information cited in this press release was either
paraphrased, or quoted directly, from the "Enemies of the
Internet" report published by Reporters Without Frontiers,
and may be found at http://www.rsf.fr
/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>
THE HACKTIVISMO DECLARATION
assertions of liberty in support of an uncensored internet
DEEPLY ALARMED that state-sponsored censorship of the
Internet is rapidly spreading with the assistance of
transnational corporations,
TAKING AS A BASIS the principles and purposes enshrined in
Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(UDHR) that states, Everyone has the right to freedom of
opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold
opinions without interference and to seek, receive and
impart information and ideas through any media and
regardless of frontiers, and Article 19 of the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) that says,
1. Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without
interference.
2. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression;
this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart
information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers,
either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art,
or through any other media of his choice.
3. The exercise of the rights provided for in paragraph 2 of
this article carries with it special duties and
responsibilities. It may therefore be subject to certain
restrictions, but these shall only be such as are provided
by law and are necessary:
(a) For respect of the rights or reputations of others;
(b) For the protection of national security or of public
order, or of public health or morals.
RECALLING that some member states of the United Nations have
signed the ICCPR, or have ratified it in such a way as to
prevent their citizens from using it in courts of law,
CONSIDERING that, such member states continue to willfully
suppress wide-ranging access to lawfully published
information on the Internet, despite the clear language of
the ICCPR that freedom of expression exists in all media,
TAKING NOTE that transnational corporations continue to sell
information technologies to the world's most repressive
regimes knowing full well that they will be used to track
and control an already harried citizenry,
TAKING INTO ACCOUNT that the Internet is fast becoming a
method of repression rather than an instrument of
liberation,
BEARING IN MIND that in some countries it is a crime to
demand the right to access lawfully published information,
and of other basic human rights,
RECALLING that member states of the United Nations have
failed to press the world's most egregious information
rights violators to a higher standard,
MINDFUL that denying access to information could lead to
spiritual, intellectual, and economic decline, the promotion
of xenophobia and destabilization of international order,
CONCERNED that governments and transnationals are colluding
to maintain the status quo,
DEEPLY ALARMED that world leaders have failed to address
information rights issues directly and without equivocation,
RECOGNIZING the importance to fight against human rights
abuses with respect to reasonable access to information on
the Internet,
THEREFORE WE ARE CONVINCED that the international hacking
community has a moral imperative to act, and we
DECLARE:
* THAT FULL RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL
FREEDOMS INCLUDES THE LIBERTY OF FAIR AND REASONABLE ACCESS
TO INFORMATION, WHETHER BY SHORTWAVE RADIO, AIR MAIL, SIMPLE
TELEPHONY, THE GLOBAL INTERNET, OR OTHER MEDIA.
* THAT WE RECOGNIZE THE RIGHT OF GOVERNMENTS TO FORBID THE
PUBLICATION OF PROPERLY CATEGORIZED STATE SECRETS, CHILD
PORNOGRAPHY, AND MATTERS RELATED TO PERSONAL PRIVACY AND
PRIVILEDGE, AMONG OTHER ACCEPTED RESTRICTIONS. BUT WE OPPOSE
THE USE OF STATE POWER TO CONTROL ACCESS TO THE WORKS OF
CRITICS, INTELLECTUALS, ARTISTS, OR RELIGIOUS FIGURES.
* THAT STATE SPONSORED CENSORSHIP OF THE INTERNET ERODES
PEACEFUL AND CIVILIZED COEXISTENCE, AFFECTS THE EXERCISE OF
DEMOCRACY, AND ENDANGERS THE SOCIOECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF
NATIONS.
* THAT STATE-SPONSORED CENSORSHIP OF THE INTERNET IS A
SERIOUS FORM OF ORGANIZED AND SYSTEMATIC VIOLENCE AGAINST
CITIZENS, IS INTENDED TO GENERATE CONFUSION AND XENOPHOPIA,
AND IS A REPREHENSIBLE VIOLATION OF TRUST.
* THAT WE WILL STUDY WAYS AND MEANS OF CIRCUMVENTING STATE
SPONSORED CENSORSHIP OF THE INTERNET AND WILL IMPLEMENT
TECHNOLOGIES TO CHALLENGE INFORMATION RIGHTS VIOLATIONS.
Issued July 4, 2001 by Hacktivismo and the CULT OF THE DEAD
COW.
Relevant Web Links:
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/a_ccpr.htm
Reporters Without Frontiers
http://www.rsf.fr
CULT OF THE DEAD COW
http://www.cultdeadcow.com
==
Media Contact:
Oxblood Ruffin
Foreign Minister
CULT OF THE DEAD COW
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://cultdeadcow.com
"cDc. we put the hack into hacktivism."
frqbgfhp fbfcvgrvqbgfhp fhvd?
<A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A>
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html
<A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A>
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
<A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
