Andrew, yes, Google is a founding member of the Global Network Initiative
and is working with GNI to develop a human rights assessment process for
Internet companies and hopefully the ICT sector more broadly. Perhaps ICANN
staff might be more willing to listen to GNI members Google, Yahoo, and
Microsoft than to non-commercial users.

Milton, glad you like the idea. If our GNSO councilors are interested in
bringing this up through the GNSO, or if anybody participating in the
various working groups wants to use the GNI principles on privacy and free
expression as a benchmark for whether basic standards are being met on that
front please let me know what other contacts/info you need.

Meanwhile I will plan to submit something with this suggestion in the DAG
public comments as well.

Cheers,
Rebecca

On Sun, Nov 1, 2009 at 9:13 PM, Andrew A. Adams <[log in to unmask]>wrote:

> milton Mueller wrote:
> > This is a fantastic idea, Rebecca.
> > As you may know, some of us have been trying to get free expression
> concerns
> > as an officially recognized part of ICANN's agenda for some time (back to
> > the beginning, in fact).
> > We learned during the new gTLD policy making process (e.g., the "morality
> > and public order" section) how difficult that will be and we have learned
> > that the U.S. government is completely indifferent, at least the Commerce
> > Department that controls relations with ICANN.
>
> I recently attended a talk by David Drummond, Chief Legal Officer and
> Senior
> VP at Google, on Technology and Freedom of Speech. He (and by extension,
> Google, since he was speaking officially for the company) have a policy of
> promoting freedom of speech quite broadly. They might be a useful ally in
> such an effort.
>



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Rebecca MacKinnon
Open Society Fellow | Co-founder, GlobalVoicesOnline.org
Assistant Professor, Journalism & Media Studies Centre, University of Hong
Kong

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