technology and internet freedom - wsis 2012

www.internetsociety.org

WSIS Forum 2012: Action Line C10 Technology and Internet Freedom

Nicolas Seidler, Policy Advisor, Internet Society

16 May 2012, Geneva


Internet Freedom from a technical community perspective

Reflection based on the principles and processes of the open technical development and architecture of the Internet

The Internet Society

Notion of Internet Freedom

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Complex and multidimensional notion.

Rhetorically everyone supports Internet freedom, but the notion of freedom means quite different things for different people and cultures.

Possible understanding from the Internet technical community:

Notion of users rights on the Internet (e.g. freedom of expression, freedom of association).

Notion of the Open Internet as a fundamental ground upon which freedoms are exercised.


Open Internet and Internet Freedom

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The Open Internet and users freedoms are organically linked and share many common values.

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (freedom of opinion and expression) includes the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

This fundamental right strikingly reflects the very essence of the Internet some 20 years before the invention of the TCP/IP.


Open Internet and Internet Freedom

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The Internet has not only been a tool for these freedoms: the free flow of information has expanded freedoms due to its cross-border nature, speed, real-time and interactive characteristics.

The Internet is a disruptive technology: it shakes existing structures, institutions and organizations. Adaptation is not fostered equally among them.

The rules and norms of the digital natives might increasingly influence societal structures in the future. This seemingly transitional period is at the root of several current tensions.


FOCUS Open Internet standards development at the IETF

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What is the IETF?

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The Internet Engineering Task Force is a loosely self-organized group of people who contribute to the engineering and evolution of Internet technologies, standards and specifications.

Thousands of engineers from diverse countries and industries develop such essential standards as the IP protocol or the Domain Name System (DNS).

In the pursuit of its mission, the IETF follows a set of cardinal principles. Four of them are highlighted thereafter:


IETF principles and ethics

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1. Overall mission

The mission of the IETF is to produce high quality, relevant technical and engineering documents that influence the way people design, use, and manage the Internet in such a way as to make the Internet work better.

[RFC 3935 (2004): Mission statement for the IETF]

We embrace technical concepts such as decentralized control, edge-user empowerment and sharing of resources, because those concepts resonate with the core values of the IETF community.

[RFC 3935 (2004): Mission statement for the IETF]



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1. Overall mission

The core values of the IETF build on the beliefs of its participants, and they are based upon the principles that underpin the evolution of the Internet itself.

The IETF in no way runs or controls the Internet; their mission is that of enablers.

Internet pioneers believed that the human condition could be enhanced through the reduction of communication and information barriers.



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2. Open and transparent processes

No one is in charge of the Internet, but any interested person can participate and contribute to the work of the IETF; there is no formal membership, no dues.

The work is based on a format of cooperation built around a volunteer core of participants who share the same objective.

The IETF is unusual in that it is not a corporation and has no board of directors. It is decentralized and distributed, much like the Internet itself.



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3. Technical excellency and working ethics

Engineering quality is as the very core of the IETFs work and IETF outputs are expected to be designed to sound network engineering principles. The best idea prevails.

IETF produces documents on issues where they have the competence needed to speak to them and to address practical concerns.

"IETF standards exist so that people will use them to write Internet programs that interoperate. They don't exist to document the (possibly wonderful) ideas of their authors, nor do they exist so that a company can say, "We have an IETF standard.

[IETF guide to newcomers (Tao)]



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3. Technical excellency and working ethics

One of the founding and commonly held belief in the IETF comes from Jon Postel: "Be conservative in what you send and liberal in what you accept".

While it originally concerned technical software, this easily became a broader ethic for work and social interactions:

"Participate in the discussion in a friendly, helpful fashion, with the goal being the best Internet standards possible. Listen much more than you speak. If you disagree, debate the technical issues: never attack the people.

[IETF guide to newcomers (Tao)]



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4. Rough Consensus and Running Code

This famous IETF motto means that the processes and decisions concerning Internet standards are based on consensus decision-making.

There is no vote, rather it means that strongly held objections must be debated until there is general agreement that these objections are not valid.

Each IETF participant brings a unique perspective and this diversity can sometimes make it difficult to reach consensus. However, when consensus is achieved, the outcome is usually better, clearer, and more strongly supported than the initial position of any participant.


Take-aways What do we learn from Open Internet standards development?


Conclusions

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From the early days of the Internet, there was a commitment to a powerful user-driven notion, of bottom-up processes in which individuals come together to solve problems and identify opportunity through a process of common agreement and understanding.

This is an empowering notion and we should not underestimate the role of the Open Internet model of development in the Internets success and as a ground for the exercise of users freedoms online.


Conclusions

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The Internet pioneers recognized that many Internet functions required trust and that the Internet was a sort of public "commons", relying on the good conduct (ethics) of those who operate it.

Certainly more than 20-30 years ago, the responsibility of technology developers vis--vis Internet users has increased de facto because the Internet has become an integral part of economic and social interactions.

The principles of Open Internet standards development reflect that such responsibility is at the core of the values and ethics of the Internet community.


Conclusions

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The fundamental principles that underpin the creation and evolution of the Internet should guide communities and governments in how they work with and approach the Internet, under the umbrella of the rule of law and international human rights standards.

A key approach to ensure the freedom of users online will not come from silo solutions, but rather from collaboration to produce technically informed policies based on a good understanding of the Internet model of development.

More dialogue between technical communities, policy makers and other stakeholders, in the spirit of the WSIS, should be pursued for the benefit of individual freedoms online.


seidler @ isoc.org

Nicolas Seidler Policy Advisor

Thank you

technology and internet freedom - wsis 2012

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