Politics Talks

Thu, Nov 8th 2012 8:40am

ITU Boss Explains Why He Wants The UN To Start Regulating The Internet

"We've written a few times about why we should be worried about the ITU (a part of the UN) and its attempts to regulate the internet, to which some have responded by arguing that the ITU/UN doesn't really want to regulate the internet. However, the Secretary-General of the ITU, Hamadoun Toure has now taken to the pages of Wired, to explicitly state why he believes the UN needs to regulate the internet. And it appears that many of the initial fears are 100% accurate. We've already covered how the ITU seems to be hiding all sorts of awful scary things by claiming they all fall under the "cybersecurity" banner, and we've noted that the ITU's mandate over cybersecurity is imaginary and its history with the subject is sketchy, at best. However, in the op-ed, Toure doubles down on why the UN should be there helping countries censor things like "porn and propaganda" on the internet as a part of its "cybersecurity" efforts."

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20121107/21233320970/itu-boss-explains-why-he-wants-un-to-start-regulating-internet.shtml

 7 November 2012

EDRi letter on website blocking & EU Charter of Fundamental Rights

"Home » EDRi-gram newsletter - Number 10.21, 

Internet Blocking

EDRi sent on 2 November 2012 a letter to Commissioner Malmström on a legal contradiction in relation to website blocking that needs to be resolved in order to bring Member States into line with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union:

Dear Commissioner Malmström,

As you know, Member States may decide to "block" access to illegal child abuse websites according to the Directive on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography.

While we obviously support the fight against these crimes, the European Union's legal system is clear that criminal activity must be addressed in a framework that respects the rule of law and fundamental rights. This principle is reflected clearly in Article 52 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, which states in this regard:

"1. Any limitation on the exercise of the rights and freedoms recognised by this Charter must be provided for by law and respect the essence of those rights and freedoms. (...)"

This principle is also clear in the European Convention on Human Rights, to which the Union is currently negotiating accession. Article 10(2), for example, requires restrictions to be "prescribed by law"."

http://www.edri.org/edrigram/number10.21/edri-letter-internet-blocking