[x-pubpol] [Chapter-delegates] Biden: The internet ain't broke, let's not fix it

[Carlos A. Afonso]

Hi Joly,

This discourse is not new, I've heard similar ones being read by Hillary
and others in the USA gov. It is taken from the drawer every time a
group of countries starts bringing back certain ideas regarding
international Internet governance.

But that same drawer has no similar discourse regarding the AICE
arbitrary domain takedowns without due process or the risk of imminent
approval of the SOPA bill of law, for example, which will affect the
Internet as a whole, not just whatever happens within the US legal
borders. Last thing I heard the IPR interests have even mobilized the
firefighters (!) to side with them in DC and vie for the law. On top of
all things, should I assume that improper use of resources under
arbitrarily created IP restrictions causes, hmmm, fire?! Take a look at
Techdirt's piece on this, which I reproduce below. And they are not joking!

Yes, the Internet as a whole (which is a real big and complex realm) may
not be "broken", but central (democratic!) countries are trying hard to
"fix" it.

frt rgds

--c.a.

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20111101/02155916579/well-if-firefighters-support-e-parasite-law-then-you-know-it-must-make-sense.shtml

Well, If Firefighters Support E-PARASITE Law... Then You Know It Must
Make Sense

from the who-are-they-kidding? dept

Want to know just how desperate the folks at the MPAA are getting in
their attempt to turn back the clock and outlaw all sorts of innovation?
They're reaching the absolute bottom of the barrel, touting the fact
that firefighers have come out in favor of PROTECT IP/E-PARASITE. What
the hell do firefighters have to do with understanding detailed concepts
like free speech, censorship, prior restraint, third party internet
liability, and related topics? If you said absolutely, positively,
nothing at all, you'd be correct. So, why are firefighters suddenly in
favor of the censorship of the internet in America? It's not hard to
guess, given how DC lobbying works these days:

    "You go down the Latino people, the deaf people, the farmers, and
choose them.... You say, 'I can't use this one--I already used them last
time...' We had their letterhead. We'd just write the letter. We'd fax
it to them and tell them, 'You're in favor of this.'"

Yup. What are the chances that the International Association of Fire
Fighters has received large checks from those associated with the movie
business? But, more seriously, who does the MPAA actually think it's
fooling? Is Congress so stupid that it can't figure out for itself that
firefighters have no clue what this debate is about? Otherwise, why
would they be supporting censorship in America? Read the letter below,
and wager a guess how much was actually written by a firefighter, rather
than a lobbyist for Hollywood?

On 11/02/2011 04:25 AM, Joly MacFie wrote:
> [Speech, presumably, written for Hillary.]
> 
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/11/01/us_reject_china_russia_internet_rules/
> 
> The US has shown before that it’s reluctant to sign any sort of restrictive
> internet treaty and Biden, speaking at the London Conference on Cyberspace
> (LCC), agreed with remarks by UK Foreign Secretary William Hague and Prime
> Minister David Cameron that the internet needed to stay free and open and
> out from under heavy government control.
> 
> “There are some who have a different view, as you know. They seek an
> international legal instrument that would lead to exclusive government
> control over Internet resources, institutions, and content, and national
> barriers on the free flow of information online,” Biden said.
> 
> “But this, in our view, would lead to a fragmented internet, one that does
> not connect people but divides them, a stagnant cyberspace, not an
> innovative one, and ultimately a less secure cyberspace with less trust
> among nations.”
> 
> He added that existing international law principles existed in cyberspace
> as well as the real world, so there was no need for additional regulation,
> a view he summarized in one of his favourite adages – if it ain’t broke,
> don’t fix it.
> 
> The vice president addressed the conference over a video link from
> Washington, after a planned visit from US Secretary of State Hillary
> Clinton was cancelled when her mother fell ill.
> 
> 
> 
> 
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