Human Rights Protocol Considerations Research Group N. ten Oever
Internet-Draft University of Amsterdam
Intended status: Informational G. Perez de Acha
Expires: August 20, 2018 Derechos Digitales
February 16, 2018
Freedom of Association on the Internet
draft-tenoever-hrpc-association-03
Abstract
This document scopes the relation between Internet protocols and the
right to freedom of assembly and association. Increasingly, the
Internet mediates our lives, our relationships and our ability to
excercise our human rights. The Internet provides a global public
space, but one that is built on private infrastructure. Since
Internet protocols play a central role in the management, development
and use of the Internet, the relation between protocols and the
aforementioned rights should be documented and any adverse impacts of
this relation should be mitigated.
Status of This Memo
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This Internet-Draft will expire on August 20, 2018.
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2. Vocabulary used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3. Research questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
4. Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
5. Literature Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
6. Cases and examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
6.1. Conversing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
6.1.1. Mailing Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
6.1.2. Multi-party video conferencing and risks . . . . . . 8
6.1.3. Inter Relay Chat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
6.2. Peer-to-peer networks and systems . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
6.2.1. Peer-to-peer system achitectures . . . . . . . . . . 10
6.2.2. Version control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
6.3. Grouping together (identities) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
6.3.1. DNS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
6.3.2. ASes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
7. Discussion: Protocols vs Platforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
8. Discussion: The Internet as an association . . . . . . . . . 14
9. Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
10. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
11. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
12. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
13. Research Group Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
14. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
14.1. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
14.2. URIs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
1. Introduction
"We shape our tools and, thereafter, our tools shape us." 
-- John Culkin (1967)
The Internet is a technology which shapes modern information
societies. The ordering that the Internet provides is socio-
technical, in other words, the Internet infrastructure and
architecture consists of social and technological arrangements
[StarRuhleder]. This odering is not always apparent because
infrastructure also tends to hide itself in the societal woodwork
[Mosco], or with [Weiser]: 'The most profound technologies are those
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that disappear'. Next to that infrastructure is often taken for
granted by those using it. Infrastructure therefore mostly presents
itself either to an epistemic community of experts [Haas] or to a
larger public upon breakdown. With the increasing societal use of
the Internet the importance of the Internet is growing, and the
decisions made about its infrastructure and architecture therefore
also become more important. [RFC8280] established the relationship
between human rights and Internet protocols, and in this document we
seek to uncover the relation between two specific human rights and
the Internet infrastructure and architecture.
The right to freedom of assembly and association protects collective
expression, in turn, systems and protocols than enable communal
communication between people and servers allow these rights to
prosper. The Internet itself was originally designed as "a medium of
communication for machines that share resources with each other as
equals" [NelsonHedlun], the Internet thus forms a basic
infrastructure for the right freedom of assembly and association.
The manner in which communication is designed and implemented impacts
the ways in which rights can be excercised. For instance a
decentralized and resilient architecture that protects anonimity and
privacy, offers a strong protection for the exercise of such freedoms
in the online environment. At the same time, centralized solutions
have enabled people to group together in recognizable places and
helped the visbility of groups. In other words, different
architectural designs come with different affordances, or
characteristics. These characteristics should be taken into account
at the time of design, and when designing, updating and maintaining
other parts of the architecture and infrastructure.
This draft continues the work started in [RFC8280] by investigating
the exact impact of Internet protocols on a specific human rights,
namely the right to freedom of assembly and association given their
importance for the Internet, in order to mitigate (potential)
negative impacts.
2. Vocabulary used
Architecture The design of a structure
Autonomous System (AS) Autonomous Systems are the unit of routing
policy in the modern world of exterior routing [RFC1930].
Within the Internet, an autonomous system (AS) is a collection of
connected Internet Protocol (IP) routing prefixes under the
control of one or more network operators on behalf of a single
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administrative entity or domain that presents a common, clearly
defined routing policy to the Internet [RFC1930].
The classic definition of an Autonomous System is a set of routers
under a single technical administration, using an interior gateway
protocol and common metrics to route packets within the AS, and
using an exterior gateway protocol to route packets to other ASs
[RFC1771].
Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) An inter-Autonomous System routing
protocol [RFC4271].
Connectivity The extent to which a device or network is able to
reach other devices or networks to exchange data. The Internet is
the Stool for providing global connectivity [RFC1958]. Different
types of connectivity are further specified in [RFC4084]. The
combination of the end-to-end principle, interoperability,
distributed architecture, resilience, reliability and robustness
are the enabling factors that result in connectivity to and on the
Internet.
Data portability The ability to export ones data from a databases in
a format that is compatible with other databases.
Decentralization Implementation or deployment of standards,
protocols or systems without one single point of control.
Distributed system A system with multiple components that have their
behavior co-ordinated via message passing. These components are
usually spatially separated and communicate using a network, and
may be managed by a single root of trust or authority.
[Troncosoetal]
Infrastructure Underlying basis or structure for a functioning
society, organization or community. Because infrastructure is a
precondition for other activities it has a procedural, rather than
static, nature due to its social and cultural embeddedness.
[PipekWulf] [Bloketal]. This means that infrastructure is always
relational: infrastructure always develops in relation to
something or someone [Bowker].
Internet The Network of networks, that consists of Autonomous
Systems that are connected through the Internet Protocol (IP).
A persistent socio-technical system over which services are
delivered [Mainwaringetal]
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A techno-social assemblage of devices, users, sensors, networks,
routers, governance, administrators, operators and protocols
An emergent-process-driven thing that is born from the collections
of the ASes that happen to be gathered together at any given time.
The fact that they tend to interact at any given time means it is
an emergent property that happens because they use the protocols
defined at IETF.
3. Research questions
1. How does the internet architecture enable and/or inhibit freedom
of association and assembly?
2. If the Internet is used to excercise the right to freedom of
association, what are the implications for its architecture and
infrastructure?
4. Methodology
In order to answer the research questions, first a number of cases
have been collected to analyze where Internet infrastructure and
protocols have either enabled or inhibited groups of people to
collaborate, cooperate or communicate. This overview does not aim to
cover all possible ways in which people can collectively organize or
reach out to each other using Internet infrastructure and Internet
protocols, but rather cover typical uses in an effort of doing an
ethnography of infrastructure [Star]. Subsequently we analyze the
cases with the theoretical framework provided in the literature
review and provide recommendations based on the findings.
5. Literature Review
The right to freedom of assembly and association protects and enables
collective action and expression [UDHR] [ICCPR]. These rights ensure
everyone in a society has the opportunity to express the opinions
they hold in common with others, which in turn facilitates dialogue
among citizens, as well as with political leaders or governments
[OSCE]. This is relevant because in the process of democratic
delibration, causes and opinions are more widely heard when a group
of people come together behind the same cause or issue [Tocqueville].
In international law, the right to freedom of assembly and
association protects any collective, gathered either permanently or
temporarily for "peaceful" purposes. We will later expand on the
definitions and limits of "peacefulness" within these rights. For
now it is important to underline the propery of "freedom" because the
right to freedom of association and assembly is voluntary and
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uncoerced: anyone can join or leave a group of choice, which in turn
means on should not be forced to either join, stay or leave.
The difference between freedom of assembly and freedom of association
is merely gradual one: the former tends to have an informal and
ephemeral nature, whereas the latter refers to established and
permanent bodies with specific objectives. Nonetheless, one and the
other are protected to the same degree.
An assembly is an intentional and temporary gathering of a collective
in a private or public space for a specific purpose: demonstrations,
indoor meetings, strikes, processions, rallies or even sits-in
[UNHRC]. Association on the other hand has a more formal and
established nature. It refers to a group of individuals or legal
entities brought together in order to collectively act, express,
pursue or defend a field of common interests [UNGA]. Within this
category we can think about civil society organizations, clubs,
cooperatives, NGOs, religious associations, political parties, trade
unions or foundations.
The right to freedom of assembly and association is quitessential for
the Internet, even if privacy and freedom of expression are the most
discussed human rights when it comes to the online world. Online
association and assembly are crucial to mobilise groups and people
where physical gatherings have been impossible or dangerous [APC].
Throughout the world -from the Arab Spring to Latin American student
movements- the Internet has also played a crucial role by providing a
means for the fast dissemination of information that was otherwise
mediated by broadcast media, or even forbidden by the government
[Pensado]. According to Hussain and Howard the Internet helped to
"build solidarity networks and identification of collective
identities and goals, extend the range of local coverage to
international broadcast networks" and as platform for contestation
for the future of "the future of civil society and information
infrastructure" [HussainHoward].
The IETF itself, defined as a 'open global community' of network
designers, operators, vendors, and researchers, is also protected by
freedom of assembly and association [RFC3233]. Discussions, comments
and consensus around RFCs are possible because of the collective
expression that freedom of association and assembly allow. The very
word "protocol" found its way into the language of computer
networking based on the need for collective agreement among network
users [HafnerandLyon].
We are aware that some of these examples go beyond the use of
Internet protocols and flow over into the applications layer or
examples in the offline world whereas the purpose of the following
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document is to break down the relationship between Internet protocols
and the right to freedom of assembly and association. Nonetheless,
given that protocols are a part of the socio-technical ordering of
reality, we do recognize that in some cases the line between them and
applications, implementations, policies and offline realities are
often blurred and hard (if not impossible) to differentiate.
6. Cases and examples
The Internet has become a central mediator for collective action and
collaboration. This means the Internet has become a strong enabler
of the rights to freedom of association and assembly.
Here we will discuss different cases to give an overview of how the
Internet protocol and architecture facilitates the freedom of
assembly and association.
6.1. Conversing
+An interactive conversation between two or more people forms the
basis for people to organize and associate. According to Anderson
"the relationship between political conversation and engagement in
the democratic process is strong." [Anderson]. By this definition,
what defines the "political" is essentially assembly or association:
a basis for the development of social cohesion in society.
6.1.1. Mailing Lists
Since the beginning of the Internet mailing lists have been a key
site of assembly and association [RFC0155] [RFC1211]. In fact,
mailing lists were one of the Internet's first functionalities
[HafnerandLyon].
In 1971, four years after the invention of email, the first mailing
list was created to talk about the idea of using Arpanet for
discussion. What had initially propelled the Arpanet project forward
as a resource sharing platform was gradually replaced by the idea of
a network as a means of bringing people together [Abbate]. More than
45 years after, mailing lists are pervasive and help communities to
engage, have discussion, share information, ask questions, and build
ties. Even as social media and discussion forums grew, mailing lists
continue to be widely used [AckermannKargerZhang]. They are a
crucial tool to organise groups and individuals around themes and
causes [APC].
Mailinglist are still in wide use, also in the IETF because they
allow for easy association and allow people to subscribe (join) and
unsubscribe (leave) as they please. They also allow for association
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of specific groups on closed lists. Finally the archival function
allows for accountabilty. The downsides of mailinglists are similar
to the ones generally associated with e-mail, except that end-to-end
encryption such as OpenPGP [RFC4880] and S/MIME [RFC5751] is not
possible because the final recipients are not known. There have been
experimental solutions to address this issues such as Schleuder
[Schleuder], but this has not been standardized or widely deployed.
6.1.2. Multi-party video conferencing and risks
Multi-party video conferencing protocols such as WebRTC [RFC6176]
[RFC7118] allow for robust, bandwidth-adaptive, wideband and super-
wideband video and audio discussions in groups. 'The WebRTC protocol
was designed to enable responsive real-time communications over the
Internet, and is instrumental in allowing streaming video and
conferencing applications to run in the browser. In order to easily
facilitate direct connections between computers (bypassing the need
for a central server to act as a gatekeeper), WebRTC provides
functionality to automatically collect the local and public IP
addresses of Internet users (ICE or STUN). These functions do not
require consent from the user, and can be instantiated by sites that
a user visits without their awareness. The potential privacy
implications of this aspect of WebRTC are well documented, and
certain browsers have provided options to limit its behavior.'
[AndersonGuarnieri].
While facilitating freedom of assembly and association multi-party
video conferencing tools might pose concrete risks for those who use
them. One the one hand WebRTC is providing a resilient channels of
communications, but on the other hand it also exposes information
about those who are using the tool which might lead to increased
surveillance, identification and the consequences that might be
derived from that. This is especially concerning because the usage
of a VPN does not protect against the exposure of IP addresses
[Crawford].
The risk of surveillance is also true in an offline space, but this
is generally easy to analyze for the end-user. Security and privacy
expectations of the end-user could be made more clear to the user (or
improved) which would result in a more secure and/or private
excercise or the right to freedom of assembly or association.
6.1.3. Inter Relay Chat
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is an application layer protocol that
enables communication in the form of text through a a client/server
networking model [RFC4059]. In other words, a chat service. IRC
clients are computer programs that a user can install on their
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system. These clients communicate with chat servers to transfer
messages to other clients [RFC4059].
For order to be kept within the IRC network, special clases of users
become "operators" and are allowed to perform general maintenance
functions on the network: basic network tasks such as disconnecting
(temporary or permanently) and reconnecting servers as needed
[RFC2812]. One of the most controversial power of operators is the
ability to remove a user from the connected network by 'force', i.e.,
operators are able to close the connection between any client and
server [RFC2812].
IRC servers may deploy different policies for the ability of users to
create their own channels or 'rooms', and for the delegation of
'operator'-rights in such a room. Some IRC servers support SSL/TLS
connections for security purposes. This helps stop the use of packet
sniffer programs to obtain the passwords of IRC users, but has little
use beyond this scope due to the public nature of IRC channels. SSL
connections require both client and server support (that may require
the user to install SSL binaries and IRC client specific patches or
modules on their computers). Some networks also use SSL for server
to server connections, and provide a special channel flag (such as
+S) to only allow SSL-connected users on the channel, while
disallowing operator identification in clear text, to better utilize
the advantages that SSL provides.
6.2. Peer-to-peer networks and systems
At the organizational level, peer production is one of the most
relevant innovations from Internet mediated social practices.
According to [Benkler], it implies 'open collaborative innovation and
creation, performed by diverse, decentralized groups organized
principally by neither price signals nor organizational hierarchy,
harnessing heterogeneous motivations, and governed and managed based
on principles other than the residual authority of ownership
implemented through contract.' [Benkler].
In his book The Wealth of Networks, Benkler significantly expands on
his definition of commons-based peer production. According to
Benkler, what distinguishes commons-based production is that it
doesn't rely upon or propagate proprietary knowledge: "The inputs and
outputs of the process are shared, freely or conditionally, in an
institutional form that leaves them equally available for all to use
as they choose at their individual discretion." [Benkler] To ensure
that the knowledge generated is available for free use, commons-based
projects are often shared under an open license.
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6.2.1. Peer-to-peer system achitectures
Peer-to-peer (P2P) is esentially a model of how people interact in
real life because "we deal directly with one another whenever we wish
to" [Vu]. Usually if we need something we ask our peers, who in turn
refer us to other peers. In this sense, the ideal definition of P2P
is that "nodes are able to directly exchange resources and services
between themselves without the need for centralized servers" and
where each participating node typically acts both as a server and as
a client [Vu]. In RFC 5694 P2P has been defined as peers or nodes
that should be able to communicate directly between themselves
without passing intermediaries, and that the system should be self-
organizing and have decentralized control [RFC5694]. With this in
mind, the ultimate model of P2P is a completely decentralized system,
which is more resistant to speech regulation, immune to single points
of failure and have a higher performance and scalability.
Nonetheless, in practice some P2P systems are supported by
centralized servers and some others have hybrid models where nodes
are organized into two layers: the upper tier servers and the lower
tier common nodes [Vu].
Since the ARPANET project, the original idea behind the Internet was
conceived as what we would now call a peer-to-peer system [RFC0001].
Over time it has increasingly shifted towards a client/server model
with "millions of consumer clients communicating with a relatively
priviledged set of servers" [NelsonHedlun].
Whether for resource sharing or data sharing, P2P systems are a form
of enabling freedom of assembly and association. Not only they allow
for effective dissemination of information, but because they leverage
computing resources by diminishing costs allowing for the formation
of open collectives at the network level. At the same time, in
completely descentralized systems the nodes are autonomous and can
join or leave the network as they want also makes the system
unpredicable: a resource might be only sometimes available, and some
others it might be missing or incomplete [Vu]. Lack of information
might in turn make association or assembly more difficult.
Additionally, when one architecturally asseses the role of P2P
systems one can say that: "The main advantage of centralized P2P
systems is that they are able to provide a quick and reliable
resource locating. Their limitation, however, is that the
scalability of the systems is affected by the use of servers. While
decentralized P2P systems are better than centralized P2P systems in
this aspect, they require a longer time in resource locating. As a
result, hybrid P2P systems have been introduced to take advantage of
both centralized and decentralized architectures. Basically, to
maintain the scalability, similar to decentralized P2P systems, there
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are no servers in hybrid P2P systems. However, peer nodes that are
more powerful than others can be selected to act as servers to serve
others. These nodes are often called super peers. In this way,
resource locating can be done by both decentralized search techniques
and centralized search techniques (asking super peers), and hence the
systems benefit from the search techniques of centralized P2P
systems." [Vu]
6.2.2. Version control
Ever since developers needed to collaboratively write, maintain and
discuss large code basis for the Internet there have been different
approaches of doing so. One approach is discussing code through
mailing lists, but this has proven to be hard in case of maintaining
the most recent versions. There are many different versions and
characteristics of version control systems.
A version control system is a piece of software that enables
developers on a software team to work together and also archive a
complete history of their work [Sink]. This allows teams to be
working simultaneously on updated. According to Sink, broadly
speaking, the history of version control tools can be dividied into
three generations. In the first one, concurrent development meant
that only one person could be working on a file at a time. The
second generation tools permit simultaneous modifications as long as
users merge the current revisions into their work before they are
allowed to commit. The third generation tools allow merge and commit
to be separated [Sink].
Interestingly no version control system has ever been standardized in
the IETF whereas the version control systems like Subversion and Git
have are widely used within the community, as well as by working
groups. There has been a spirited discussion on whether working
groups should use centralized forms of the Git protocol, such as
those offered by Gitlab or Github. Proponents argue that this
simplifies the workflow and allows for a more transparent workflow.
Opponents argue that the relience on a centralized service which is
not merely using the Git protocol, but also used non-standardize
options like an Issue-Tracker, makes the process less transparent and
reliant on a third party.
The IETF has not made a decision on the use of centralized instances
of git, such as Github or Gitlab. There have been two efforts to
standardize the workflow vis a vis these third party services, but
these haven't come to fruition: https://www.ietf.org/archive/id/
draft-nottingham-wugh-services-00.txt
https://www.ietf.org/archive/id/draft-thomson-github-bcp-00.txt
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6.3. Grouping together (identities)
Collective identities are also protected by freedom of association
and assembly. Acording to Melucci these are 'shared definitions
produced by several interacting individuals who are concerned with
the orientation of their action as well as the field of opportunities
and constraints in which their action takes place.' [Melucci] In
this sense, assemblies and associations are an important base in the
maintenance and development of culture, as well as preservation of
minority identities [OSCE].
6.3.1. DNS
Domain names allow hosts to be identified by human parsable
information. Whereas an IP address might not be the expression of an
identity, a domain name can be, and often is. On the other hand the
grouping of a certain identity under a specific domain or even a Top
Level Domain brings about risks because connecting an identity to a
hierarchically structured identifier systems creates a central attack
surface. Some of these risks are the surveillance of the services
running on the domain, domain based censorship [RFC7754], or
impersonation of the domain through DNS cache poisoning. Several
technologies have been developed in the IETF to mitigated these risks
such as DNS over TLS [RFC7858], DNSSEC [RFC4033], and TLS [RFC5246].
These mitigations would, when implemented, not make censorship
impossible, but rather make it visible. The use of a centralized
authority always makes censorship through a registry or registrar
possible, as well as by using a fake resolver or using proposed
standards such as DNS Response Policy Zones [RPZ].
The structuring of DNS as a hierarchical authority structure also
brings about specific characteristic, namely the possibility of
centralized policy making vis a vis the management and operation of
Top Level Domains, which is what (in part) happens at ICANN. The
impact of ICANN processes on human rights will not be discussed here.
6.3.2. ASes
In order for edge-users to connect to the Internet, they need to be
connected to an Automous System (AS) which, in turn, has peering or
transit relations with other AS'es. This means that in the process
of accessing the Internet, edge-users need to accept the policies and
practices of the intermediary that provides them access to the other
networks. In other words, for users to be able to join the 'network
of networks', they always need to connect through an intermediary.
While accessing the Internet through an intermediary, the user is
forced to accept the policies, practices and principles of a network.
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This could impede the rights of the edge-user, depending on the
implemented policies and practices on the network and how (if at all)
they are communicated to them. For example: filtering, blocking,
extensive logging, slowing down connection or specific services, or
other invasive practices that are not clearly communicated to the
user.
In some cases it also means that there is no other way for the edge-
user to connect to the network of networks, and is thus forced into
accepting the policies of a specific network, because it is not
trivial for an edge-user to operate an AS and engage in peering
relation with other ASes. This design, combined with the increased
importance of the Internet to make use of basic services, forces
edge-user to engage in association with a specific network eventhough
the user does not consent with the policies of the network.
This is also true for the Border Gateway Protocol - the protocol that
selects the route for traffic over the Internet. Aside from
significant security issues there is no transparency about the routes
that packets have taken, and thus it is also unclear which ASes a
packet has transversed.
7. Discussion: Protocols vs Platforms
The Internet increasingly becomes a vehicle for commercial,
propietary, non-interoperable platforms. The Internet has always
allowed for closed-off networks, but the current trend show the rise
of a small number of very large non-interoperable platforms. Chat
has moved from finger [RFC1288], XMPP and IRC to Facebook Messenger,
Whatsapp and WeChat and there has been a strong rise of social media
networks with large numbers of users, such as Facebook, Twitter and
Instagram. A similar trend can be found among e-mail providers, with
the significant difference that e-mail is interoperable.
Often these non-interoperable platform are built on open-protocols
but do not allow for inter-operability or data-portability. In the
case of these large platforms this leads to strong network
externalities, also know as a network effect; because the users are
there, users will be there. The use of social-media platforms has
enabled groups to associate, but is has also led to a 'tactical
freeze' because of the inability to change the platforms [Tufekci].
Whereas these networks a ready-to-hand networked public sphere, it
does not allow for its inhabitants to change, or fully understand,
their workings.
This potentially has a significant impact on the distributed nature
of the Internet [RFC1287].
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8. Discussion: The Internet as an association
It is undeniable that communities, collaboration and joint action lie
at the heart of the Internet. Even at at linguistical level, the
words "networks" and "associations" are close synonyms. Both
interconnected groups and assemblies of people depend on "links" and
"relationships" [Swire]. Assemblies however have an inherently
temporary nature, whereas associations do not. Taking these
definition and the previous analysis into consideration, we argue
that the Internet constitutes an an association. What are the
implications of this? Does it mean that every network is an assembly
within the association and has absolute freedom to implement its own
rules? Or does the importance of a functioning 'larger' association
(the Internet) has prevails over the preferences of the smaller
assemblies (individual AS'es)? Or rather, is there a tipping point?
For instance if an operator (an AS) wants to filter a specific IP-
range. Today, they can do it _technically_ (it is quite easy) and
_legally_ (their network, their rules, and, for this specific case,
few people would complain). _But_ if everyone started to do it, and
to filter networks they don't like (or filtering TLDs they don't like
in their DNS resolvers), then there would be a significant problem.
A minority of operators filtering a specific IP-range, the Internet
would still work and would still be "the Internet". A majority of
operators filtering a lot of networks they don't like and, at a
point, this would no longer be the Internet. This is a case where
quantitative changes bring qualitative changes: too much filtering
and we would no longer have a global network. Despite that fact that
each AS has the right to take decisions such as filtering, if
everyone started to exercice this right fully, this would destroy the
Internet.
The demands that have been set for ASes is very limited and are based
on routing principles: an AS must be used for exchanging external
routing information with other ASes through BGP, should therefore use
BGP and IP and have a routing policy [RFC1930]. So in order to be
able to connect to the Internet as an AS, which means to engage in
peering or transit relations, there are basic rules one needs to
adhere to. But theses rules do not say anything on how the AS will
or should treat traffic on its network. If we take the example of
ASes, we could say they are private infrastructure (therefore
souvereign with the ability to set their own policies), but jointly
they form a type of public infrastructure, from the moment the
receive an Autonomous Systems Number. But, even things that are
private, need to live up to standards because they have public
consequences. Especially because specific behaviour of ASes can lead
to vicious or virtuous circles.
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The Internet is made of up interconnected ASes (one would argue that
this doesn't include IXPs, but most modern IXPs will have an ASN for
their route server (and possibly a separate ASN for their management
infrastructure), which jointly form an association. This association
should be protected. This means that rights and obligations that
sterm from this organizational form, should also be protected and
respected.
9. Conclusions
The Internet has an impact on the ability for people to excercise
their right to freedom of association and assembly. The Internet,
since its inception has enabled people to jointly communicate,
collaborate and collaborate. The same could also be argued with
relation to freedom of expression, some have argued that the text in
article 19 of the [UDHR] reads like a description of the Internet:
[the] freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. {{UDHR}}
The difference between freedom of expression and freedom of
association and assembly is that the Internet itself takes the form
on an association; it reproduces its features of collaboration.
Recognizing this is a crucial step in determining architectural
features of the Internet and its usage.
10. Acknowledgements
- Fred Baker, Jefsey, and Andrew Sullivan for work on Internet
definitions
- Stephane Bortzmeyer for several concrete text suggestions that
found their way in this document (such as the AS filtering
example)
- the hrpc mailinglist at large for a very constructive discussion
on a hard topic.
11. Security Considerations
As this draft concerns a research document, there are no security
considerations.
12. IANA Considerations
This document has no actions for IANA.
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13. Research Group Information
The discussion list for the IRTF Human Rights Protocol Considerations
Research Group is located at the e-mail address hrpc@ietf.org [1].
Information on the group and information on how to subscribe to the
list is at https://www.irtf.org/mailman/listinfo/hrpc [2]
Archives of the list can be found at: https://www.irtf.org/mail-
archive/web/hrpc/current/index.html [3]
14. References
14.1. Informative References
[Abbate] Janet Abbate, ., "Inventing the Internet", Cambridge: MIT
Press (2013): 11. , 2013,
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[Abibil] Danchev, D., "Dissecting 'Operation Ababil' - an OSINT
Analysis", 2012, <http://ddanchev.blogspot.be/2012/09/
dissecting-operation-ababil-osint.html>.
[AckermannKargerZhang]
Ackerman, M., Karger, D., and A. Zhang, "Mailing Lists:
Why Are They Still Here, What's Wrong With Them, and How
Can We Fix Them?", Mit. edu (2017): 1. , 2017,
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mailinglists.pdf>.
[Anderson]
Andersson, E., "The political voice of young citizens
Educational conditions for political conversation - school
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Didaktik och Utbildningspolitik, Volume 21, Number 1,
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doaj/11026472/2012/00000021/00000001/art00006>.
[AndersonGuarnieri]
Anderson, C. and C. Guarnieri, "Fictitious Profiles and
WebRTC's Privacy Leaks Used to Identify Iranian
Activists", 2016,
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webrtc-deanonymization/>.
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[APC] Association for Progressive Communications and . Gayathry
Venkiteswaran, "Freedom of assembly and association online
in India, Malaysia and Pakistan. Trends, challenges and
recommendations.", 2016,
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FOAA_online_IndiaMalaysiaPakistan.pdf>.
[ARTICLE19]
ARTICLE 19, "The Right to Protest Principles: Background
Paper", 2016,
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Protest-Background-paper-Final-April-2016.pdf page 7>.
[BCP72] IETF, "Guidelines for Writing RFC Text on Security
Considerations", 2003,
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[Benkler] Benkler, Y., "Peer Production and Cooperation", 2009,
<http://www.benkler.org/
Peer%20production%20and%20cooperation%2009.pdf>.
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Blok, A., Nakazora, M., and B. Winthereik,
"Infrastructuring Environments", Science as Culture 25:1,
1-22. , 2016.
[Bowker] Bowker, G., "Information mythology and infrastructure",
In: L. Bud (Ed.), Information Acumen: The Understanding
and use of Knowledge in Modern
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[Crawford]
Crawford, D., "The WebRTC VPN "Bug" and How to Fix", 2015,
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the-webrtc-vpn-bug-and-how-to-fix-it/>.
[GreenMovement]
Villeneuve, N., "Iran DDoS", 2009,
<https://www.nartv.org/2009/06/16/iran-ddos/>.
[Haas] Haas, P., "Introduction: epistemic communities and
international policy coordination", International
Organization, special issue: Knowledge, Power, and
International Policy Coordination, Cambridge Journals. 46
(1): 1-35. , 1992.
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[HafnerandLyon]
Hafnerand, K. and M. Lyon, "Where Wizards Stay Up Late.
The Origins of the Internet", First Touchstone Edition
(1998): 93. , 1998, <https://doi.org/10.1111/misr.12020>.
[HussainHoward]
Hussain, M. and P. Howard, "What Best Explains Successful
Protest Cascades? ICTs and the Fuzzy Causes of the Arab
Spring", Int Stud Rev (2013) 15 (1): 48-66. , 2013,
<https://doi.org/10.1111/misr.12020>.
[ICCPR] United Nations General Assembly, "International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights", 1966,
<http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/
CCPR.aspx>.
[Mainwaringetal]
Mainwaring, S., Chang, M., and K. Anderson,
"Infrastructures and Their Discontents: Implications for
Ubicomp", DBLP Conference: Conference: UbiComp 2004:
Ubiquitous Computing: 6th International Conference,
Nottingham, UK, September 7-10, 2004. Proceedings , 2004,
<http://www.dourish.com/classes/readings/
Mainwaring-Infrastructure.pdf>.
[Marcus] Marcus, J., "Commercial Speech on the Internet: Spam and
the first amendment", 1998, <http://www.cardozoaelj.com/
wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Marcus.pdf>.
[Melucci] Melucci, A., "The Process of Collective Identity", Temple
University Press, Philadelphia , 1995.
[Mosco] Mosco, V., "The Digital Sublime: Myth, Power, and
Cyberspace", 2005,
<https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/digital-sublime>.
[NelsonHedlun]
Minar, N. and M. Hedlun, "A Network of Peers: Models
Through the History of the Internet", Peer to Peer:
Harnessing the Power of Disruptive Technologies, ed: Andy
Oram , 2001, <http://library.uniteddiversity.coop/REconomy
_Resource_Pack/More_Inspirational_Videos_and_Useful_Info/
Peer_to_Peer-
Harnessing_the_Power_of_Disruptive_Technologies.pdf>.
[OSCE] OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights,
"Guidelines on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly", page 24 ,
2010, <https://www.osce.org/odihr/73405?download=true>.
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[Pariser] Pariser, E., "The Filter Bubble: How the New Personalized
Web Is Changing What We Read and How We Think", Peguin
Books, London. , 2012.
[Pensado] Jaime Pensado, ., "Student Activism. Utopian Dreams.",
ReVista. Harvard Review of Latin America (2012). , 2012,
<http://revista.drclas.harvard.edu/book/student-activism>.
[PipekWulf]
Pipek, V. and W. Wolf, "Infrastructuring: Towards an
Integrated Perspective on the Design and Use of
Information Technology", Journal of the Association for
Information Systems (10) 5, pp. 306-332 , 2009.
[RFC0001] Crocker, S., "Host Software", RFC 1, DOI 10.17487/RFC0001,
April 1969, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc1>.
[RFC0155] North, J., "ARPA Network mailing lists", RFC 155,
DOI 10.17487/RFC0155, May 1971,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc155>.
[RFC1211] Westine, A. and J. Postel, "Problems with the maintenance
of large mailing lists", RFC 1211, DOI 10.17487/RFC1211,
March 1991, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc1211>.
[RFC1287] Clark, D., Chapin, L., Cerf, V., Braden, R., and R. Hobby,
"Towards the Future Internet Architecture", RFC 1287,
DOI 10.17487/RFC1287, December 1991,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc1287>.
[RFC1288] Zimmerman, D., "The Finger User Information Protocol",
RFC 1288, DOI 10.17487/RFC1288, December 1991,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc1288>.
[RFC1771] Rekhter, Y. and T. Li, "A Border Gateway Protocol 4 (BGP-
4)", RFC 1771, DOI 10.17487/RFC1771, March 1995,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc1771>.
[RFC1930] Hawkinson, J. and T. Bates, "Guidelines for creation,
selection, and registration of an Autonomous System (AS)",
BCP 6, RFC 1930, DOI 10.17487/RFC1930, March 1996,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc1930>.
[RFC1958] Carpenter, B., Ed., "Architectural Principles of the
Internet", RFC 1958, DOI 10.17487/RFC1958, June 1996,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc1958>.
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[RFC2812] Kalt, C., "Internet Relay Chat: Client Protocol",
RFC 2812, DOI 10.17487/RFC2812, April 2000,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2812>.
[RFC3233] Hoffman, P. and S. Bradner, "Defining the IETF", BCP 58,
RFC 3233, DOI 10.17487/RFC3233, February 2002,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3233>.
[RFC4033] Arends, R., Austein, R., Larson, M., Massey, D., and S.
Rose, "DNS Security Introduction and Requirements",
RFC 4033, DOI 10.17487/RFC4033, March 2005,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4033>.
[RFC4059] Linsenbardt, D., Pontius, S., and A. Sturgeon, "Internet
X.509 Public Key Infrastructure Warranty Certificate
Extension", RFC 4059, DOI 10.17487/RFC4059, May 2005,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4059>.
[RFC4084] Klensin, J., "Terminology for Describing Internet
Connectivity", BCP 104, RFC 4084, DOI 10.17487/RFC4084,
May 2005, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4084>.
[RFC4271] Rekhter, Y., Ed., Li, T., Ed., and S. Hares, Ed., "A
Border Gateway Protocol 4 (BGP-4)", RFC 4271,
DOI 10.17487/RFC4271, January 2006,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4271>.
[RFC4880] Callas, J., Donnerhacke, L., Finney, H., Shaw, D., and R.
Thayer, "OpenPGP Message Format", RFC 4880,
DOI 10.17487/RFC4880, November 2007,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4880>.
[RFC4949] Shirey, R., "Internet Security Glossary, Version 2",
FYI 36, RFC 4949, DOI 10.17487/RFC4949, August 2007,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4949>.
[RFC5246] Dierks, T. and E. Rescorla, "The Transport Layer Security
(TLS) Protocol Version 1.2", RFC 5246,
DOI 10.17487/RFC5246, August 2008,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5246>.
[RFC5694] Camarillo, G., Ed. and IAB, "Peer-to-Peer (P2P)
Architecture: Definition, Taxonomies, Examples, and
Applicability", RFC 5694, DOI 10.17487/RFC5694, November
2009, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5694>.
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[RFC5751] Ramsdell, B. and S. Turner, "Secure/Multipurpose Internet
Mail Extensions (S/MIME) Version 3.2 Message
Specification", RFC 5751, DOI 10.17487/RFC5751, January
2010, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5751>.
[RFC6176] Turner, S. and T. Polk, "Prohibiting Secure Sockets Layer
(SSL) Version 2.0", RFC 6176, DOI 10.17487/RFC6176, March
2011, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6176>.
[RFC6973] Cooper, A., Tschofenig, H., Aboba, B., Peterson, J.,
Morris, J., Hansen, M., and R. Smith, "Privacy
Considerations for Internet Protocols", RFC 6973,
DOI 10.17487/RFC6973, July 2013,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6973>.
[RFC7118] Baz Castillo, I., Millan Villegas, J., and V. Pascual,
"The WebSocket Protocol as a Transport for the Session
Initiation Protocol (SIP)", RFC 7118,
DOI 10.17487/RFC7118, January 2014,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7118>.
[RFC7754] Barnes, R., Cooper, A., Kolkman, O., Thaler, D., and E.
Nordmark, "Technical Considerations for Internet Service
Blocking and Filtering", RFC 7754, DOI 10.17487/RFC7754,
March 2016, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7754>.
[RFC7858] Hu, Z., Zhu, L., Heidemann, J., Mankin, A., Wessels, D.,
and P. Hoffman, "Specification for DNS over Transport
Layer Security (TLS)", RFC 7858, DOI 10.17487/RFC7858, May
2016, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7858>.
[RFC8280] ten Oever, N. and C. Cath, "Research into Human Rights
Protocol Considerations", RFC 8280, DOI 10.17487/RFC8280,
October 2017, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8280>.
[RPZ] Vixie, P. and V. Schyver, "DNS Response Policy Zones
(RPZ)", 2017,
<https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-dnsop-dns-rpz-00>.
[Schleuder]
Nadir, "Schleuder - A gpg-enabled mailinglist with
remailing-capabilities.", 2017,
<https://schleuder.nadir.org/>.
[Sink] Sink, E., "Version Control by Example", 2011,
<http://ericsink.com/vcbe/>.
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[Star] Star, S., "The Ethnography of Infrastructure", American
Behavioral Scientist, Volume 43 (3), 377-391. , 1999,
<http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/
abs/10.1177/00027649921955326>.
[StarRuhleder]
Star, S. and K. Ruhleder, "Steps toward an ecology of
infrastructure: Design and access for large information
spaces", Information Systems Research 7 (1) (1996)
111-134. , 1996.
[Swire] Peter Swire, ., "Social Networks, Privacy, and Freedom of
Association: Data Empowerment vs. Data Protection", North
Carolina Law Review (2012) 90 (1): 104. , 2012,
<https://ssrn.com/abstract=1989516 or
http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1989516>.
[Tocqueville]
de Tocqueville, A., "Democracy in America", 1840, <http://
classiques.uqac.ca/classiques/De_tocqueville_alexis/
democracy_in_america_historical_critical_ed/
democracy_in_america_vol_2.pdf p. 304>.
[Troncosoetal]
Troncoso, C., Isaakdis, M., Danezis, G., and H. Halpin,
"Systematizing Decentralization and Privacy: Lessons from
15 Years of Research and Deployments", Proceedings on
Privacy Enhancing Technologies ; 2017 (4):307-329 , 2017,
<https://www.petsymposium.org/2017/papers/issue4/
paper87-2017-4-source.pdf>.
[Tufekci] Tufekci, Z., "Twitter and Tear Gas: The Power and
Fragility of Networked Protest", 2017,
<https://www.twitterandteargas.org/>.
[UDHR] United Nations General Assembly, "The Universal
Declaration of Human Rights", 1948,
<http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/>.
[UNGA] Hina Jilani, ., "Human rights defenders", A/59/401 , 2004,
<http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/
view_doc.asp?symbol=A/59/401 para. 46>.
[UNHRC] Maina Kiai, ., "Report of the Special Rapporteur on the
rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of
association", A/HRC/20/27 , 2012,
<http://freeassembly.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/
A-HRC-20-27_en-annual-report-May-2012.pdf>.
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[Vu] Vu, Quang Hieu, ., Lupu, Mihai, ., and . Ooi, Beng Chin,
"Peer-to-Peer Computing: Principles and Applications",
2010, <https://www.springer.com/cn/book/9783642035135>.
[Weiser] Weiser, L., "The Computer for the 21st Century",
Scientific American Ubicomp Paper after Sci Am editing ,
1991, <https://web.archive.org/web/20141022035044/
http://www.ubiq.com/hypertext/weiser/SciAmDraft3.html>.
[Weisser] Weiser, M., "The computer for the 21st century",
Scientific American 265 (3) p. 94-104. , 1991.
14.2. URIs
[1] mailto:hrpc@ietf.org
[2] https://www.irtf.org/mailman/listinfo/hrpc
[3] https://www.irtf.org/mail-archive/web/hrpc/current/index.html
Authors' Addresses
Niels ten Oever
University of Amsterdam
EMail: mail@nielstenoever.net
Gisela Perez de Acha
Derechos Digitales
EMail: gisela@derechosdigitales.org
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