------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _____ _____ _______ / ____| __ \__ __| ____ ___ ____ __ | | | | | | | | / __ \____ / (_)______ __ / __ \____ _____/ /_ | | | | | | | | / /_/ / __ \/ / / ___/ / / / / /_/ / __ \/ ___/ __/ | |____| |__| | | | / ____/ /_/ / / / /__/ /_/ / / ____/ /_/ (__ ) /_ \_____|_____/ |_| /_/ \____/_/_/\___/\__, / /_/ \____/____/\__/ The Center for Democracy and Technology /____/ Volume 5, Number 1 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- A briefing on public policy issues affecting civil liberties online ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- CDT POLICY POST Volume 5, Number 1 January 6, 1999 CONTENTS: (1) Advocates Speak Out Against Serbian Internet Censorship (2) Global Support Urged for Online Freedom of Expression (3) Subscription Information (4) About CDT ** This document may be redistributed freely with this banner intact ** Excerpts may be re-posted with permission of <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> _____________________________________________________________________________ (1) ADVOCATES SPEAK OUT AGAINST SERBIAN INTERNET CENSORSHIP The United States Institute of Peace today hosted a forum to discuss the recent attempts of the Milosevic government to restrict the free flow of information in Serbia. CDT senior staff counsel Jim Dempsey joined OpenNet director Drazen Pantic of Belgrade in describing the potential of the Internet to evade government censorship. Over the past several years, the Serbian government has sought to repress sources of objective reporting and voices for ethic tolerance and peace. This effort has included attempts to shut down Belgrade's Radio B92 and its Internet ISP, OpenNet, http://www.opennet.org. Two years ago, when the government tried to shut down the station, B92 responded by sending its audio feed out of the country via the Internet, where it was successfully transferred to Radio Free Europe and other stations and rebroadcast back into the country to a larger audience than ever before. In recent weeks, the Milosevic regime has targeted B92 and OpenNet again. In December 1998, the Serbian university network was ordered to filter out Radio B92's OpenNet website. This action had a wide impact, since many non-academic organizations such as independent media and nongovernmental organizations get their Internet access through the university. To keep OpenNet's information accessible, Internet sites around the world set up mirror sites, which hosted OpenNet press releases, reports, and audio broadcasts. Realizing how ineffective the mirroring made the filters, the Serbian Academic Network stopped filtering most OpenNet sites. The government now is filtering only the news in Serbian, which is still available via email to tens of thousands of subscribers and on the mirror sites. In addition to Pantic and Dempsey, today's program included John Fox, Director of the Open Society Institute's Washington office; Rob Timm, 99.1 FM WHFS radio, Washington D.C. and Director, War Child USA/ Balkans Independent Radio Project; and Gene Mater, Freedom Forum, http://www.freedomforum.org. Bob Schmitt of the Institute of Peace, http://www.usip.org, organized the program. _____________________________________________________________________________ (2) GLOBAL SUPPORT URGED FOR ONLINE FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION Last year, CDT issued for the Global Internet Liberty Campaign a report entitled "Regardless of Frontiers: Protecting the Human Right to Freedom of Expression on the Global Internet." The report examines the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights agreements, which proclaim that everyone has the right to "seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." Given the Internet's uniquely open, global, decentralized and user-controlled nature, the report argues that human rights principles should be read as offering especially strong protection to freedom of expression online. The "Regardless of Frontiers" report is available at http://www.gilc.org/speech/report/ At today's forum, Dempsey noted that Radio B92's experience fighting censorship in Serbia exemplifies struggles going on around the globe. In Germany, China, Saudia Arabia, Russia and the United States, governments are trying to censor and monitor the Internet. The result is a sort of "electronic cat and mouse game," with the highest of stakes, as governments seek to exercise control and democracy activists seek the legal and technical means to defeat censorship. In addition to pointing to infrastructure support efforts like those of the Open Society Institute http://www.soros.org/internet/index.html, and the potential of international human rights principles, Dempsey called on the US government and international bodies to support freedom of expression and affordable access to an open Internet. He noted that the US government instead is leading a world-wide campaign to limit access to the strong encryption necessary for security and privacy on the Internet. ______________________________________________________________________________ _ (3) SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION Be sure you are up to date on the latest public policy issues affecting civil liberties online and how they will affect you! Subscribe to the CDT Policy Post news distribution list. CDT Policy Posts, the regular news publication of the Center For Democracy and Technology, are received by Internet users, industry leaders, policymakers and activists, and have become the leading source for information about critical free speech and privacy issues affecting the Internet and other interactive communications media. To subscribe to CDT's Policy Post list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the BODY of the message (leave the SUBJECT LINE BLANK), type subscribe policy-posts If you ever wish to remove yourself from the list, send mail to the above address with NOTHING IN THE SUBJECT LINE AND a BODY TEXT of: unsubscribe policy-posts ______________________________________________________________________________ __ (4) ABOUT THE CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY/CONTACTING US The Center for Democracy and Technology is a non-profit public interest organization based in Washington, DC. The Center's mission is to develop and advocate public policies that advance democratic values and constitutional civil liberties in new computer and communications technologies. Contacting us: General information: [EMAIL PROTECTED] World Wide Web: http://www.cdt.org/ Snail Mail: The Center for Democracy and Technology 1634 Eye Street NW * Suite 1100 * Washington, DC 20006 (v) +1.202.637.9800 * (f) +1.202.637.0968 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- End Policy Post 5.1 1/6/99 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
