[FYI] OpenNet Initiative Launched
<http://opennetinitiative.net/index.php>
OpenNet Initiative Launched
February 2004
The number of states seeking to control the Internet has risen
rapidly in the recent years. Mustering powerful and at times
compelling arguments -- "securing intellectual property rights,"
"protecting national security", "preserving cultural norms and
religious values," and "shielding children from pornography and
exploitation" - extensive filtering and surveillance practices are
being proposed and put in place to curb the perceived lawlessness of
the medium. Although these practices occur mostly in non-democratic
regimes, many democratic countries, led by the US, are also seeking
to police the Internet. Some regulation is to be expected as the
medium matures. However, filtering and surveillance can seriously
erode civil liberties and privacy, and stifle global communications.
The OpenNet Initiative is a University-based policy research project*
documenting filtering and surveillance practices worldwide. Our aim
is to excavate, expose and analyze these practices in a credible and
non-partisan fashion - to uncover the potential pitfalls of present
policies, and explore the possibility of unintended and unexpected
consequences, and thus help inform better public policy and advocacy
work in this area. To achieve these aims, the ONI employs a unique
multi-disciplinary approach that includes: Advanced Technical Means --
using a suite of sophisticated network interrogation tools and
metrics; and Local Knowledge Expertise - through a global network of
regionally based researchers and experts. OpenNet Initiative research
will be published through this website in a series of national and
regional case studies, occasional papers, and bulletins.
As part of it's work, the OpenNet Initiative also operates a
"clearinghouse" for circumvention technologies which assesses and
evaluates systems intended to let users bypass filtering and
surveillance. We also actively develop circumvention technologies in-
house as a means to explore the limitations of filtration and counter-
filtration practices.
<http://opennetinitiative.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&fi
le=index&req=viewarticle&artid=1>
About ONI
The openness of the Internet is under seige. States are aggressively
implementing national censorship regimes aimed at controlling and
monitoring access to information available through the Internet.
While this type of censorship and surveillance occurs most
prominently in non-democratic regimes, many democratic countries are
also seeking to restrict access and regulate content in the service
of ?securing intellectual property rights, ?safeguarding national
security,? and ?shielding children from pornography and exploitation.?
Efforts to restrict Internet content are not unprecedented; they
follow a pattern previously established with other forms of media and
communication. However, the erosion of Internet openness is
particularly worrisome for three reasons: First, in many countries
censorship is not a part of the public policy discourse. Rather,
decisions of what to block and how are carried out by administrative
fiat, or are a consequence of the particular commercial software used
to block "unsavoury" content (such as pornography). Indeed, many
countries that practice state censorship deny that they engage in the
practice at all. Second, knowledge regarding the extent of state
censorship is lacking and is largely based on anecdotal evidence.
Third, a capacity to track and investigate state censorship
activities is also lacking; those actors for whom a closure of the
digital commons should be an active area of research and advocacy are
poorly equipped to monitor and report on these practices.
The mission of the OpenNet Initiative is to challenge these practices
by providing civil society advocates, scholars and activists with the
technical, methodological and empirical means by which to study and
interrogate policies of state censorship and surveillance worldwide.
It proposes to do so through five defined objectives:
A. Develop and deploy a suite of censorship enumeration tools and
accompanying methodology;
B. Conduct major regional case studies;
C. Build capacity among networks of local advocates and researchers;
D. Establish a clearinghouse for circumvention technologies; and,
E. Contribute to building understandings of the scale, scope and
consequences of national censorship practices. The OpenNet Initiative
is a partnership between the Citizen Lab at the Munk Centre for
International Studies, University of Toronto, the Berkman Center for
Internet & Society at Harvard Law School, and the Advanced Network
Research Group at the Centre for Security in International Society at
the University of Cambridge.
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