INTERNET-DRAFT Nathaniel Borenstein
draft-cpsr-one-net-01.txt Harry Hochheiser
Computer Professionals for
Social Responsibility
Expires: 23 Apr 1998 23 Oct 1997
Status of This Document
This draft, file name draft-cpsr-one-net-01.txt, is intended
to be become an Informational RFC. Distribution of this
document is unlimited. Comments should be sent to the
authors at <onenet-comments@cpsr.org> or the onetnet-
discuss@cpsr.org mailing list.
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Abstract
This document presents a suggested set of basic principles
that the authors believe should underlie all future work in
the area of Internet governance. The purpose of this
document is to work towards as broad a consensus as
possible, in the diverse Internet community, about
principles that should inform the way the Internet is
administered for the benefit of all humanity.
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The principles have been drafted under the auspices of
Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, with
several iterations internal to that organization. However,
they are still very much seen as a work in progress.
Comments are solicited from all interested parties. Future
versions will be refined based on these comments and
published as future Internet-Drafts, with a goal of
publication of a finalized version of the declaration as an
Internet RFC in summer, 1998.
All comments on this document are welcome; please send them
to onenet-comments@cpsr.org. Open discussion of this
document is encouraged on the onenet-discuss list, which is
archived at http://www.findmail.com/listsaver/onenet-
discuss.
================================
One Planet, One Net: Principles for the Internet Era
The emergence of the Internet presents enormous
opportunities and challenges to humanity. If we act
carefully, we can ensure that the Net will be used to change
the human condition for the better, and can prevent or
mitigate its less desirable consequences.
For our global community to reach its potential in this
networked world, certain principles must be understood and
respected as we consider the more detailed daily questions
that arise in the administration or governance of the Net.
We believe that among these principles are the following:
1. There is only one Net.
2. The Net must be open and available to all.
3. People have the right to communicate.
4. People have the right to privacy.
5. People are the Net's stewards, not its owners.
6. No individuals, organizations, or governments should
dominate the Net.
7. The Net should reflect human diversity, not homogenize
it.
The Internet is more than its constituent components --
synergistically more than a combination of wires, computers,
software, modems, routers, standards, and the applications
that use them. The Net is the total of all of these, plus
the collective knowledge and experience of a set of
communities that have already experienced years of technical
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and social development and growth. The Internet is a unique
conglomeration, with its own modes of interaction, languages
of discourse, and cultural expression.
As the Net has grown, its nature has continually changed,
reflecting the growing set of communities that have embraced
Internet technology. This will continue to be the case as
more and more of humanity uses the Net on a regular basis.
The Net's Americanv origin has shaped its development in
many ways, but the Internet is larger than one single
country, and over time may be expected to retain some
aspects of its American origins, such as its open and
democratic character, while rejecting others, such as the
degree to which the use of English is required to make
optimal use of the Net.
--------------------------------
1. There is only one Net.
The nature of human beings, and the nature of their use of
computing and networking technology, fundamentally demands
interconnection. While there will continue to be occasional
roles for separate networks, the overall dynamic will be for
networks to join together to enhance their usefulness, and
the most useful network will be the globally interconnected
Net. People will demand the increased utility that comes
from being universally connected. Because the flow of
information on the Net transcends national boundaries, any
restrictions within a single country may act to limit the
freedom of those in other countries as well.
This does not imply that all Net access will be identical.
Some Internet-connected networks will provide higher levels
of service, or service guarantees. For better or worse,
others may restrict certain categories of internetwork
access, in the name of security or user protection. Because
they allow their users to particpipate in such global
services as email and Web access, such networks are clearly
a part of the larger Net, even though their restrictions may
be ill-advised or harmful.
2. The Net must be open and available to all.
There's not a second Net for minorities, dissidents, or
prisoners, and if there were, it wouldn't be as useful
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because it wouldn't be as big and interconnected as the
Internet. If a group were to be banned completely from the
Internet, its ability to flourish in future society would be
seriously threatened. For this reason, the rights of
minorities are even more important in cyberspace than in the
physical world, where emigration is at least sometimes an
option.
The Net must be available to all who wish to use it,
regardless of economic, social, political, lingustic, or
cultural differences or disabilities. Any legislative or
practical barriers that limit access to the Net will isolate
those who are denied access while diminishing the value of
the Net for all others, by limiting its ability to reflect
the diversity of humanity.
3. People have the right to communicate.
The right to communicate -- that is, the right to exchange
information with others -- is fundamentally the right to be
able to work together with other people in order to shape
events and outcomes. It is predicated on the right of
individuals to hold any belief, and to convey their ideas to
others in any form they deem appropriate.
Because everything that flows over the Net is information,
every use of the Net is inherently an exercise of freedom of
speech, to be restricted only at great peril to human
liberty. Such free expression becomes virtually meaningless
if access to that expression is not itself protected.
The right to communicate includes the right to participate
in communication through interacting, organizing,
petitioning, mobilizing, assembling, collaborating, sharing,
and publishing. It would be a tragic waste of the Net's
potential if it were to be deployed and provisioned in such
a way as to encourage most people to be only passive
consumers of mass communication.
4. People have the right to privacy.
The right to communicate is mirrored by the right to
privacy. Privacy takes at least three forms: the
sheltering of personal data from public view, the sheltering
of private communication from public view, and the right of
citizens not to participate in communications they find
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undesirable or intrusive.
The use of personal data, including financial and
demographic information, should be under the control of the
person to whom it refers. Internet users have a right to
maximal control over the way information about them is
collected, used, and disseminated. This does not imply that
all such collection, use, and dissemination is unacceptable,
merely that it must be disclosed to the information's owner,
who must also be given the ability not to participate in any
unacceptable uses of that information.
Privacy of communications must be accessible to all who
desire it. Network users should be free to use any
technical measures that help ensure that their
communications remain private. Among the aspects of
communication which may need to be kept private are the fact
that a communication exists at all, its content, and the
identities of the communicating parties.
Privacy from unwanted communications is also fundamental.
People have a fundamental right to minimize unwanted
intrusions and demands on their personal space and time.
Communication is not a unilateral activity, and one person's
right to communicate is bounded by another's right to choose
not to communicate. Accordingly, human beings on the
Internet have the right to choose not to participate in any
communications in which they choose not to participate.
5. People are the Net's stewards, not its owners.
Because there is only one Internet, it must be treated as a
global commons, the shared trust of all humanity. The price
of reaping the benefits of the shared global Net must
therefore be an obligation to respect the rights of others
who may wish to use the Net in different ways.
We must work to preserve the free and open nature of the
current Internet, as a fragile resource that must be
enriched and passed on to our children. Administered
inappropriately, the Net could become an unprecedented tool
for the repression of dissenting individuals and groups, or
it could become a vast commercial wasteland.
Individual pieces of the Net, such as wires, routers, and
servers, have individual owners whose economic rights and
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interests must be respected. However, the Net itself is not
owned by anyone. No grouping of individuals, businesses, or
countries can be said to "own" the Internet, any more than
they can be said to "own" the air we breathe or the
ecosystem in which we live.
6. No individuals, organizations, or governments should
dominate the Net.
The Net can be managed only in the loosest sense:
administered, but never controlled. This administration
should be conducted in a truly open, inclusive, and
democractic manner, to channel the fundamental dynamics of
the Net for the betterment of humanity. To prevent the
dominance of the net by a few large organizations, the
technical infrastructure should be based on fully open
protocols, competitive products, and an open standardization
process.
Attempts to control the Net will inherently risk serious
damage to the liberty of human beings. Questions of
administration or governance should always be resolved by
erring in the direction of more freedom and empowerment for
the least powerful and least influential among us.
7. The Net should reflect human diversity, not homogenize
it.
The Internet is remarkable in its global reach, in its
ability to span and unite diverse social groupings and
communities. This is potentially its greatest promise and
its greatest threat.
With open access to any and all communities, the Net can be
as varied and multicultural as life itself. It can
facilitate dialogue between communities and individuals that
might previously not have encountered each other in a dozen
lifetimes. As such, it can be a tremendous positive force
for diversity in human affairs.
However, insofar as the Net is seen as defining a single
global culture, or permitting humanity to speak with a
single voice, it could become a homogenizing force, working
to suppress diversity in favor of a bland globalism. This
would be a significant loss to humanity.
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For this reason, the Internet should be administered with
the goal of promoting diversity rather than reducing it.
Wherever possible, access should be enriched for those who
are not a part of any dominant social groups, particularly
for linguistic minorities and economically underprivileged
groups. Insofar as the Net is the context in which a
significant portion of humanity's future will be played out,
no part of humanity's diversity should be left behind.
Authors' Addresses
Nathaniel S. Borenstein
1724 Shadford
Ann Arbor, MI 48104 USA
Telephone: +1 313 761 4896
Email: nsb@cpsr.org
Harry Hochheiser
Email: hhochheiser@cpsr.org
Internet Draft draft-cpsr-one-net-01.txt
Expires: 23 Apr 1997