Hi there, The global petition to ICANN to protect free expression and innovation will launch on Wednesday. It would be great if NCUC could sign-on to the petition before the launch. And / or, if any individual NCUC members would like to sign-on please do so. Either sign-up on the website: http://www.keep-the-core-neutral.org or let me or Dan know. Thanks much! Robin Robin Gross wrote: > NCUC: > > Please check out the civil society petition to "keep the core neutral" > below. The global petition is directed to the ICANN Board of > Directors, and both organizations or individuals will be welcome to > sign the petition. > > The Keep the Core Neutral Campaign and petition will launch next week > at the San Juan Board meeting, so we are looking for initial > signatures to the petition, particularly from organizations. I'd like > to propose that NCUC sign the petition and be an initial coalition > member upon the campaign's launch next week. What do others think? > > The campaign website is being built by Dan at: > http://www.keep-the-core-neutral.org > > Any volunteers for translations of the petition into non-English > languages? > > Thank you! > Robin > > ================ > > Global Petition to ICANN Board of Directors: “Keep the Core Neutral” > > Everyone has the right to seek, receive and impart information and > ideas without interference through any media, including cyberspace. > > As the new generic top-level domain name space emerges and policy > choices are made about how ideas may be expressed at the Internet’s > top-level, we ask ICANN to keep the core neutral of non-technical > disputes and choose policies that respect freedom of expression and > permit innovation in the new domain name space. > > Encouraging the free flow of information is a foundational principle > of public policy decisions related to information and communication > technology. Freedom of expression rights, which are fundamental in an > Information Society, foster democratic participation, individual > empowerment, and economic development. > > Cyberspace remains a unique and special place that bridges ancient > divisions, where diverse communities interact readily, and all views > are welcome. But only if these attributes are valued by policymakers > who set Internet governance rules and incorporated into policies about > how ideas may be expressed in domain names. > > We ask that ICANN stay within its technical mandate and refrain from > embedding particular national, regional, moral, or religious policy > objectives into global rules over the use of language in domain names. > It would be dangerous “mission-creep” for ICANN to adjudicate between > conflicting policy objectives and set global standards for expression > that are enforced through ICANN’s technical function. Please do not > allow ICANN to become a convenient lever of global control by those > seeking to censor unpopular or controversial expression on the Internet. > > We urge ICANN to resist any attempt to limit what ideas may be > expressed at any level of the Internet hierarchy. Please keep the > Internet’s technical core neutral from national or other ideological > conflicts, allowing freedom and innovation to flourish in cyberspace. > > Signed, > > [Individuals or groups may sign.] > >