Coalition of Internet Advocates Launches 'Declaration of Internet Freedom'
WASHINGTON — On Monday, Free Press joined more than 100 advocacy groups, human rights organizations, technology companies and Internet luminaries to launch the "Declaration of Internet Freedom," a set of principles providing a positive vision to preserve the Internet as a platform for speech, innovation and creativity.
The Declaration (available at InternetDeclaration.org) has already been signed by organizations around the world, including the American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Mozilla and Cheezburger, Inc., as well as individual open Internet advocates like Yochai Benkler, danah boyd and Susan Crawford, reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian and Techdirt founder Mike Masnick. Signers will continue outreach to additional groups, collect individuals' signatures, and organize a series of events to discuss the principles over the next several months.
Free Press President and CEO Craig Aaron made the following statement:
"Today's launch of the Declaration of Internet Freedom is another major step forward in the growing movement to define and defend the online freedoms all people should enjoy. We've seen the power that millions of people have against threats from corporate and government interests alike — whether in fighting for Net Neutrality or against SOPA. Now comes a moment for us to shape, to debate and to unite behind a positive, proactive vision for the Internet's future."
Read Sascha Meinrath and Craig Aaron’s piece on Slate: http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2012/07/02/declaration_of_internet_freedom_calls_for_digital_rights_.html
Free Press Internet Campaign Director Josh Levy made the following statement:
"Earlier this year, a big-tent, post-partisan coalition came together to fight against SOPA and PIPA, two bills that threatened to cause irreparable harm to the open Internet. Now members of this same group are fighting not just to stop bad legislation, but to secure and protect our universal freedom to connect online. We want Internet users worldwide to engage with these principles, discuss them, remix them and make them their own, improving the final product in ways that only the Internet makes possible."
Read Josh Levy’s piece on the Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/josh-levy/after-sopa-a-declaration_b_1641959.html
The text of the Declaration follows below.
Declaration of Internet Freedom
We stand for a free and open Internet.
We support transparent and participatory processes for making Internet policy and the establishment of five basic principles:
Expression: Don't censor the Internet.
Access: Promote universal access to fast and affordable networks.
Openness: Keep the Internet an open network where everyone is free to connect, communicate, write, read, watch, speak, listen, learn, create and innovate.
Innovation: Protect the freedom to innovate and create without permission. Don’t block new technologies, and don’t punish innovators for their users' actions.
Privacy: Protect privacy and defend everyone’s ability to control how their data and devices are used.
