Cybertelecom Federal Internet Law & Policy An Educational Project

International :: Internet Freedom

Internet Freedom :: State Department

• Conference on Internet Freedom Remarks Hillary Rodham Clinton Secretary of State Fokker Terminal The Hague, Netherlands December 8, 2011
• Internet Freedom State Department
  • "On February 15, 2011, Secretary Clinton reconfirmed the U.S. commitment to global Internet freedom in an address at George Washington University in Washington, DC. In last year's speech, the Secretary identified the defense of a free, open, and interconnected Internet as a U.S. foreign policy priority. The State Department works to advance Internet freedom as an aspect of the universal rights of freedom of expression and the free flow of information. The Internet and other digital technologies enable an unprecedented level of communication and connection among individuals. They empower people across the world with the tools to share ideas and information as never before. In many ways, the Internet is the largest collaborative effort humankind has ever seen, magnifying the power and potential of individual voices on a global scale. Yet just as people use these technologies to express themselves and advance freedom worldwide, numerous governments seek to deny the rights they enable. Repressive regimes are censoring search results, jailing journalists and activists, and imposing laws that restrict online discourse and access to information. Threats to Internet freedom are growing in number and complexity. The State Department not only works to combat Internet censorship, but to ensure the safety of communication and access to information on the new terrain of the 21st century"
• Internet Freedom Alec Ross Senior Advisor for Innovation New York, NY February 16, 2011
• Internet Rights and Wrongs: Choices & Challenges in a Networked World Remarks Hillary Rodham Clinton Secretary of State George Washington University Washington, DC February 15, 2011
• Joint Request for Statements of Interest: Internet Freedom Programs January 3, 2011 Department of State Public Notice
• Remarks on Internet Freedom Remarks Hillary Rodham Clinton Secretary of State The Newseum Washington, DC January 21, 2010 
• State Department, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
• Internet Freedom Coalition
  • Launch of the Internet Freedom Coalition
  • The State Department was not (I believe) referring to the Internet Freedom Coalition

• Glenn Greenwald, Hillary Clinton and Internet Freedom, Salon (Dec. 9, 2011) ("There are so many people who can credibly claim to defend Internet Freedom; Obama officials are not among them)
• Defining Internet 'Freedom': An Interview With Sen. Al Franken, Wired 3/2/2011
• Middle East Internet Scorecard (February 12 - 20), Arbor Network 2/25/2011
• Internet Freedom And U.S. State Department, NPR 2/23/2011
• Clinton warns governments that limiting Internet will backfire, WAPO 2/16/2011
• Clinton Demands Net Freedom Abroad as U.S. Restrictions Loom, Wired 2/16/2011
• Questions for Secretary Clinton concerning "Internet freedom", Berkman Center 2/16/2011
• Clinton: We Love Net Freedom, Unless It Involves WikiLeaks, Gigaom 2/16/2011
• Secretary Clinton Unveils New Funding for Activism Technology, Rhetorical Refresh in Internet Freedom Speech, EFF 2/16/2011
• U.S. Has Secret Tools to Force Internet on Dictators, Wired 2/9/2011
• U.S. warns against blocking social media, elevates Internet freedom policies, WAPO 1/31/2011
• Did The State Department's Support Of 'Internet Freedom' Put A Target On Silicon Valley Companies Around The World?, Techdirt 1/4/2011
  

Voice of America

• Organization
  • International Broadcasting Bureau
    • Office of New Media
• Budget
  • International Broadcasting Bureau $250m FY09 [VOA Annual Report 2009]
  • FY 2001-02 $800,000 budget for "Internet and multimedia endhancement"
• Circumventing Censorship (See Privacy / Circumvention Toos)
  • "Governments in China, Iran, and elsewhere invest significant resources to block websites, including those of BBG broadcasters. The Board underwrites Internet anti-censorship efforts, in which International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) experts work in tandem with other public and private-sector organizations in combating Web censorship." "To help audiences in authoritarian countries understand the principles and practices of democratic, free and just societies: . Combated censorship and signal interference through a number of innovative programs including use of multiple radio and TV broadcast frequencies and platforms and use of proxy servers and circumvention software." p. 43 [VOA Annual Report 2009]
  • VOA uses web-proxies to help distribute its content to countries that block VOA sites. The proxies eventually get blocked, VOA sets up new proxies, and distributes through email the addresses of the new proxies. VOA also distributes Freegate client software to allow individuals unfettered access to the Internet.
  • VOA has collaborated with GIFC [Ramirez]
  • Worldnet Television and Film Service
    • SafeWeb
      • Triangle Boy
      • Thomas C Green Safeweb Aint All that, The Register Oct. 18th 2001 (Safeweb keeps logs for 7 days)
      • VOA Works to Circumvent China's Net Defenses, Freedom Forum (Sept 3, 2001) (" Voice of America officials say they expect to hire a CIA-funded Internet company to set up servers aimed at anonymously routing Chinese surfers to the censored sites." Safeweb, Inc)
• The Victims of Iranian Censorship Act (VOICE ACT)
  • HR 2647 Sec. 1261 VOICE Act 111th Cong. Pub. L. 84
    • Sec. 1263 Iranian Electronic Education, Exchange, and Media Fund
      (a) Establishment- There is established in the Treasury of the United States the Iranian Electronic Education, Exchange, and Media Fund (referred to in this section as the `Fund'), consisting of amounts appropriated to the Fund pursuant to subsection (f).
      (b) Administration- The Fund shall be administered by the Secretary of State.
      (c) Objective- The objective of the Fund shall be to support the development of technologies, including Internet Web sites, that will aid the ability of the Iranian people to--
      (1) gain access to and share information;
      (2) exercise freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and freedom of assembly through the Internet and other electronic media;
      (3) engage in Internet-based education programs and other exchanges between Americans and Iranians; and
      (4) counter efforts--
      (A) to block, censor, and monitor the Internet; and
      (B) to disrupt or monitor cellular phone networks or SMS text exchanges.
      (d) Use of Amounts- In pursuit of the objective described in subsection (c), amounts in the Fund may be used for grants to United States or foreign universities, nonprofit organizations, or companies for targeted projects that advance the purpose of the Fund, including projects that--
      (1) develop Farsi-language versions of existing social-networking Web sites;
      (2) develop technologies, including Internet-based applications, to counter efforts--
      (A) to block, censor, and monitor the Internet; and
      (B) to disrupt or monitor cellular phone networks or SMS text message exchanges;
      (3) develop Internet-based, distance learning programs for Iranian students at United States universities; and
      (4) promote Internet-based, people-to-people educational, professional, religious, or cultural exchanges and dialogues between United States citizens and Iranians.
      (e) Transfers- Amounts in the Fund may be transferred to the United States Agency for International Development, the Broadcasting Board of Governors, or any other agency of the Federal Government to the extent that such amounts are used to carry out activities that will further the objective described in subsection (c). (f) Authorization of Appropriations- There is authorized to be appropriated $20,000,000 to the Fund.
  • SENATE ADOPTS VICTIMS OF IRANIAN CENSORSHIP (VOICE) ACT Sen. McCain July 24, 2009
    • " Authorizes $30 million to the Broadcasting Board of Governors to expand Farsi language broadcasting into Iran by Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty's Radio Farda and the Voice of America's Persian News Network.
    • "Authorizes $20 million for a new "Iranian Electronic Education, Exchange, and Media Fund," which will support the development of technologies, including websites, that will aid the ability of the Iranian people to gain access to and share information; counter efforts to block, censor, or monitor the Internet in Iran; and engage in Internet-based education programs and other exchanges with Americans online.
    • Requires a report by the President on non-Iranian companies, including corporations with U.S. subsidiaries, that have aided the Iranian government's Internet censorship efforts, including by providing deep packet inspection technology.
  • White House Letter April 1, 2010 " Consistent with the authorities contained in section 1264 of the Victims of Iranian Censorship Act (Subtitle D of Title XII of Public Law 111-84, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010), I am providing a report prepared by my Administration. This report details U.S. efforts to ensure the free flow of information to Iran and to enhance the abilities of Iranians to exercise their universal rights. "
• CRS Report to Congress, Internet Development and Information Control in the People's Republic in China , Feb. 2006
  • "U.S. government efforts to defeat Internet "jamming" include funding through the Broadcasting Board of Governors to provide counter-censorship software to Chinese Internet users to access Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) in China." . . . . .

    International Broadcasting Bureau. The U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which oversees the International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB), has promoted Internet freedom in China by focusing on its Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) websites, which are regularly blocked by Chinese authorities. In 2001, the BBG provided $100,000 to Safeweb Inc., a government contracted company that also had been briefly funded by the CIA, to set up proxy servers to help Chinese Internet users access prohibited information.53 However, within a year, Safeweb's technology was reportedly unsuccessful in protecting user identities.

    Since 2003, the BBG has funded Dynamic Internet Technology (DynaWeb) and UltraReach, which have each developed software to enable Chinese Internet users to access VOA and RFA websites (see Table 1). Funding for these Chinese programs constitutes about three-fourths of the BBG's global anti-jamming expenditures, which are expected to grow by about 28% in 2006 from the previous year. DynaWeb's website is difficult to block because of "anonymizing" technology that regularly changes its numerical Internet Protocol (IP) address. Dynaweb president, Bill Xia, disclosed that earlier efforts to provide Chinese Internet users with unblocked IP addresses through an e-mail subscription service had failed because censors had also subscribed to the service, and quickly blocked those sites as well.

    According to Xia, DynaWeb must evolve according to how China censors the Internet, and that "both parties can always implement new technologies to stay ahead and sustain the advantage." However, in testimony before the Congressional- Executive Commission on China, Xia stated that censors have a "brighter future," because China purchases the most advanced censorship technology from Western companies and has more resources than counter-censorship efforts in the United States.

    Table 1. Broadcasting Board of Governors Funding for Counter-Censorship Technology in China

    	FY2003	FY2004	FY2005
    Dynaweb	$497,700	$806,326	$685,000
    UltraReach	$3,000	$21,000	$42,003
    Total	$500,700	$827,326	$727,003

    Source: Broadcasting Board of Governors.

    As of April 2005, Dynamic's homepage was viewed about 90,000 times per day, while UltraReach allows approximately 4,000 visits and 30,000 page views for VOA and 2,600 visits and 28,000 page views for RFA daily.57 Visits to these sites reportedly rise when PRC censorship tightens, such as during the SARS outbreak of 2003. The BBG disseminates Chinese-language news summaries, some of which contain critical opinions or stories about China, to recipients in China via e-mail. These e-mails employ techniques that circumvent censorship and include IP addresses of proxy servers through which users may view VOA and RFA reports.58 Some U.S. companies are developing software for Chinese Internet users to circumvent the PRC government censorship firewall entirely. In February 2006, Anonymizer Inc., a company that specializes in identity protection technology, announced that it was developing anti-censorship software for Internet users in the PRC. Anonymizer's China program would provide a regularly changing URL which Chinese Internet users could access for unfettered links to the World Wide Web. According to the company, users' identities would also be protected from online tracking and monitoring by the PRC government. Peacefire, a free speech advocacy organization and website, has developed protocols for circumventing Internet blocking programs that can be used by Chinese Web users.

References

• VOA Annual Report 2009
• CRS Report to Congress, Internet Development and Information Control in the People's Republic in China , Feb. 2006

Other Tools

• Panic Button (which deletes data on mobile device)
  • State Dept Builds a Panic Button App, Techcrunch Apr. 2, 2011
  • America's 'Panic Button' to Wipe Phones of Democracy Activists, perturb Repressive Regimes, Engadget Mar 29, 2011
• Encryption

Federal Activity

• INTERNATIONAL BUREAU RELEASES SECOND INTERNATIONAL BROADBAND DATA REPORT. News Release. News Media Contact: Thomas Sullivan at 0437 or Neil Grace at 0506 IB . Contact Arthur Lechtman at 1465 TXT 
• INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON REQUIREMENTS PURSUANT TO THE BROADBAND DATA IMPROVEMENT ACT, INTERNATIONAL BROADBAND DATA REPORT. International Bureau Releases Second International Broadband Data Report by SECOND REPORT. (Dkt No. 10-171 ). Action by: Chief, International Bureau. Adopted: 05/20/2011 by REPORT. (DA No. 11-732). IB TXT TXT TXT
• New Global Internet Freedom Task Force Established
  Under Secretary Shiner (Feb. 14): "The U.S. Government and the State Department have been on the front of the battle to ensure global access to information through the internet." watch | listen

Law

Pursuant to Exec Order 12046 (1978), both the FCC and the Department of Commerce have a consulting role with regards to the State Department and the development of US communications policy.

Legislation

• H.R. 275: Global Online Freedom Act of 2007 " To promote freedom of expression on the Internet, to protect United States businesses from coercion to participate in repression by authoritarian foreign governments, and for other purposes. "

Books

• Rebecca MacKinnon, Consent of the Networked (Basic Books 2012)

Papers and Presentations

• Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents, Reporters Without Boarders 
• Enemies of the Internet: Countries Under Surveillance, Reporters without Borders (March 12, 2010)
• 2010 Circumvention Tool Usage Report Published October 14, 2010 Authored by Hal Roberts, Ethan Zuckerman, Jillian York, Rob Faris, John Palfrey Berkman Center for Internet & Society
  • We estimate that no more than 3% of Internet users in countries that engage in substantial filtering use circumvention tools. The actual number is likely considerably less.
  • Many more users use simple web proxies than use either blocking-resistant tools or VPN services. Of the 11 tools with at least 250,000 unique monthly monthly users, 3 are blocking-resistant tools, 1 is a VPN service, and 7 are simple web proxies.
  • When users search for proxy and circumvention related terms in filtering countries, they overwhelmingly search for generic proxy terms like "proxy," and those terms overwhelmingly return either simple web proxies or sites that list simple web proxies and HTTP/SOCKS proxies, not more sophisticated tools.
• Reporters without Borders, Internet under Surveillance 2004
• “Broadband Internet Access in OECD Countries: A Comparative Analysis” FCC Working Paper, Irene Wu and Sherille Ismail
• Irene Wu, Roxanne McElvane, Anita Dey, Kiran Duwadi , Current international issues in communications regulation: refining regulatory techniques, impact of wireless' popularity on regulation, and the growing significance of cable television, TPRC 9/13/03
• Martha Garcia-Murillo, David Gabel , International Broadband Deployment: The Impact of Unbundling, TPRC 9/13/03
• Amended proposal for a DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on access to, and interconnection of, electronic communications networks and associated facilities", EU 7/17/01

Links

• Department of Commercie, International Trade Administration, Information Technology Industries Division:
• Internet Access and IP Telephony
• Ecommerce
• CIA Fact Book
• Caslon Analytic Profiles: the digital divides
• eConsumer.gov :: a portal for you as a consumer to report complaints about online and related transactions with foreign companies.
• Global Internet Freedom Consortium
• Inter American Telecommunications Commission (CITEL)
• International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
• International Internet Connectivity Rapporteurs Group (IIC)
• ITU-T Study Group 3 Tariff and accounting principles including related telecommunication economic and policy issues
• ITU-T Recommendation D.50 | See ICAIS
• International Trademark Association (INTA)
• OECD Telecommunications and Internet Policy
• Reporters without Borders :: Internet
• United Kingdom Department of Trade and Industry Information Age (DTI)
• World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

• Telstra
• AntiTelstra

News

• This Week in Internet Censorship: China, India, and Faith-Based Censorship, EFF 8/3/2011
• The Future of the Internet Economy: Chapter 2, Potaroo 7/8/2011
• Internet economy: New framework for an open Internet agreed at OECD, OECD 7/5/2011
• NYT: U.S funds censor-evading Internet work, CNET 6/15/2011
• UN Report Declares Internet Access a Human Right, Wired 6/6/2011
• Governments Increasingly Trying to Control the Internet, Warns New U.S. Report, Circleid 4/11/2011
• Testifying on Internet censorship, trade and network security, Google 3/12/2010
• U.S. lifts some 'Net sanctions against Iran, Sudan, Cuba, CW 3/9/2010
• Congressional Testimony: Hearing on Human Rights Challenges Facing the Technology Industry, NTIA 3/2/2010
• Senate hearing on global Internet freedom, Google 3/2/2010
• Jessica Ramirez, Up Against Tehran's Firewall, Newsweek Jan. 26, 2010
• Live webcast of the OECD Ministerial on the Future of the Internet Economy, OECD 6/18/2008
• OECD proposes roadmap for the future of the Internet economy, OECD 6/18/2008
• Broadband Gap 2007, Europa 1/17/2007
• Broadband access remains scarce in developing countries, America's Network 11/17/2006
• INFORMATION ECONOMY REPORT 2006, UNCTAD 11/17/2006
• Nations that Censor the Net, BWO 11/14/2006
• List of the 13 Internet enemies in 2006 published, RSF 11/8/2006
• U.N. Agency Wants to Nourish the Internet, Not Govern It, NYT 12/8/2006
• Mobile and internet connectivity improves in least developed countries:, ITU 9/12/2006
• U.N. Video Game Encourages Kids to Feed, Not Kill, Reuters 4/15/2005
• The U.N. thinks about tomorrow's cyberspace, CNET 3/29/2005
• Microsoft Quits a U.N. Standards Group, NYTimes 8/25/2004
• Internet in the Arab world, Unesco 6/5/02
• United Nations adopts Resolution on the World Summit on the Information Society, ITU 1/9/02
• Report to the Governor in Council: Status of Competition in Canadian Telecommunications Markets Deployment/Accessibility of Advanced Telecommunications Infrastructure and Services September 2001
• NTT Reduces Cost of Internet Access InternetNews 2/24
• Thailand's CAT Accused Of Holding Back E-Commerce  NewsBytes 1/20

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