David Solomonoff, President of the Internet Society of New York (ISOC-NY) gave a talk at the August 2010 monthly meeting of the Manhattan Libertarian Party. David’s theme was ‘Taking Back the Edge: Freedom and the Internet Model’. The meeting took place in the back room of the Ukrainian East Village Restaurant (famous in alternative music circles as the site of a legendary New Order show in November 1981). David spoke about the importance of maintaining the end-to-end principle and the open internet, threatened today by repressive political forces and monopolistic interests. There was some lively discussion with the libertarians about whether regulation was preferable to unwelcome consolidation. David emphasized the bottom-up standards making process that has stood the test of time.

Video/audio is below.

ogv | ipod | stills | youtube | mp3 | ogg

Fellows of the hackNY program, which placed students with NYC tech firms over the summer, demonstrate the results of their efforts at the Courant Institute NYU on Jul 30 2010. Support from fiscal sponsor ISOC-NY with funding from the Kauffman Foundation.

Video is below:

Recognition of pioneering role in Internet technologies and information access for Chinese research and educational communities.

MAASTRICHT, Netherlands, July 28 – The Internet Society today announced that its prestigious Jonathan B. Postel Service Award 2010 was awarded to leading Chinese technologist Dr. Jianping Wu for the pioneering role he has played in advancing Internet technology, deployment, and education in China and Asia Pacific over the last twenty years.

Dr. Wu’s best-known contribution is the development of the China Education and Research Network (CERNET) which he designed and developed to be the first Internet backbone network in China.  Created to establish a nation-wide advanced network infrastructure to support education and research among universities, CERNET has since become the world’s largest national academic network. Since 1998, Dr. Wu has also devoted his time to the design and development of a large-scale native IPv6 backbone in China that now serves to connect over 200 universities and millions of users.

The Postel Award was established by the Internet Society to honour individuals or organisations that, like Jon Postel, have made outstanding contributions in service to the data communications community. Commenting on its presentation to Dr. Wu, Lynn St. Amour, President and CEO of the Internet Society said:

“Jianping Wu has dedicated his career in China to developing a broadly accessible Internet that brings people together. Twenty years ago, Dr. Wu recognized the importance and future impact of the Internet and the pivotal role it would play in terms of its impact on social reform, technology advancement and economic growth for China. He has worked tirelessly to bring his vision to life. As a result, the networks that resulted from his determination and hard work have played an important role in driving Internet development in China and have had a significant impact on the Internet worldwide.”

The Internet Society presented the award, including a US$20,000 honorarium and a crystal engraved globe, during the 78th meeting of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) in Maastricht, The Netherlands 25-30 July 2010. Watch Dr Wu’s acceptance speech below:

At the second of the Internet Society NY Chapter’s meetings with Hunter Newby, CEO of Allied Fiber, he presented an overview of the company’s plan to encircle the entire USA with a dark fiber ring with carrier neutral access at any point. Allied Fiber’s simple yet forward-thinking “real estate” approach to infrastructure provides de facto the structural separation which has, in other countries, been a boon to ISP competition, giving users access to cheap bandwidth and making network neutrality a moot point. Runs just about an hour. The subsequent Q&A may be made available at a later date.

Video is below:

ogv | ipod | stills | youtube | mp3

ISOC-NY is a 501(c)3 corporation, chartered by the Internet Society. Under our By-laws we have to hold elections every two years for our various offices and board of directors.

Voting is now completed in the ISOC-NY 2010 election.

The following are elected to 2 year terms commencing Aug 1 2010.

• President
  • David Solomonoff

• Executive Vice-President
  • Evan Korth

• Administrative Vice-President
  • Joly MacFie

• Secretary
  • Joly MacFie

• Assistant Secretary
  • Richard Knipel

• Treasurer
  • Joseph Shraibman

• Assistant Treasurer
  • Imran Anwar

• Director (15 positions)
  • Evan Korth
  • Joly MacFie
  • Tom Lowenhaupt
  • David Solomonoff
  • Imran Anwar
  • Lou Klepner
  • Richard Knipel
  • Hannah Kopelman
  • Glover Wright
  • Joseph Shraibman

Thankyou to everyone for taking the time to participate.

ISOC-NY extends its thanks to retiring Directors Veni Markovski, Alicia Gibb, and Dave Fletcher.

ISOC NY Election 2010 homepage : http://isoc-ny.org/wiki/Elections_2010

Internet Society Applauds Key Milestone in Domain Name Security Technology

The Internet Society welcomes the significant milestone recently reached in implementing DNSSEC at the highest level of the Domain Name System (DNS), and applauds the efforts by ICANN, Verisign, and the U.S. Department of Commerce that made it possible.

Leslie Daigle, chief Internet technical officer for the Internet Society, said, “We’re excited to see this capstone element of DNSSEC deployment put in place. It signals a new era for operational security of the Internet, and we look forward to new levels of user confidence in network activities using DNSSEC and the services built out from it.”

DNSSEC allows users to have more confidence in the online activities that are increasingly becoming a part of our lives at work, home, and school by acting like tamper-proof packaging for domain name data. For example, it ensures that a website name typed into a browser delivers the intended server IP address. DNSSEC also provides a platform for future innovations to further enhance user confidence in Internet-based services.

DNSSEC technology used today is the result of careful protocol engineering and standardisation within the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the premier Internet standards body in the world; implementation by various DNS vendors; and operational trials by DNS operators.

Through the efforts of the Public Interest Registry, the entire .ORG top-level domain recently became the first top-level generic domain to implement DNSSEC. ). The Internet Society was among the first organisations in the .ORG top level domain to deploy DNSSEC for its ISOC.org and InternetSociety.org domains. DNSSEC is also currently implemented by several country-specific top-level domains: Brazil (.br), Bulgaria (.bg), Czech Republic (.cz), Puerto Rico (.pr), and Sweden (.se).

* DNSSEC Validator Firefox plugin

25 June launch builds on sustained Internet Society efforts to expand and improve Internet access in Africa

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone – 1 July 2010 – In a significant development for the Internet and Internet users in Sierra Leone, leaders from business, government, and the national Internet community gathered in Freetown last week to launch a new Internet exchange point (IXP). The new facility, know as the Sierra Leone Internet Exchange, or SLIX, will allow Internet service providers to interconnect and exchange local data traffic within the West African country rather than over international links. This will promote more efficient, resilient, and less costly connectivity by improving local Internet performance and reducing international bandwidth costs.

“The launch of SLIX is an important milestone for the Internet in our country,” said Ms Michala Mackay, President of the Sierra Leone Chapter of the Internet Society. “In addition to the technical benefits SLIX will bring to service providers and users, it also marks a key success in the sustained efforts by Internet stakeholders to work collaboratively in achieving our goals to extend the development and availability of the Internet for all Sierra Leoneans.”

As a result of making Internet traffic flows more efficient, IXPs can also help stimulate the broader information technology sector by encouraging the development of local content, web hosting, and related services. IXPs also stimulate general economic development by enabling individuals and organizations to access more cost-effective Internet service.

“Sierra Leone is the 19th African country to establish an Internet exchange point,” said Michuki Mwangi, Regional Development Manager for Africa at the Internet Society. “Well developed and maintained IXPs are an essential component in building a robust Internet access ecosystem, and the Internet Society is committed to assisting their growth in Africa. We are pleased to have been a part of this community partnership effort.”

The development of SLIX was facilitated by the Internet Society’s African Interconnection and IXP Programme, which aims to promote more robust Internet connections within and between countries in Africa. The four-pronged programme combines routing skills and technical capacity workshops, facilitation and assistance with new IXP deployment, the implementation of value added services at existing IXPs, and the development of regional communities of practice to promote information exchange and joint problem solving. Supplemental funding for SLIX was provided through the Internet Society’s Community Grants Programme.

The Internet Society is currently working with six African countries at various stages of IXP development and last month announced the creation of the African Peering and Interconnection Forum, to address key interconnection opportunities and challenges in the region.

The Internet Society’s Interconnection and IXP Programme is supported by the Amsterdam Internet Exchange (AMS-IX); the Deutscher Commercial Internet Exchange (DE-CIX), the German Internet exchange; and Netnod, the Swedish Internet exchange provider.

Further information about the role of interconnection and exchange points in Internet development can be found on ISOC’s resource pages at:

http://www.isoc.org/educpillar/resources/ixp.shtml

Media Coverage:

• Afrol News: Sierra Leone improves Internet connectivity
• Computerworld: Sierra Leone Implements Exchange Point

Below are the details for remote participation in the ISOC Chapter and member meeting on Monday, June 21 at 1.30pm EST.

This meeting will take place at the ICANN 38 meeting in Brussels, and thus ICANN issues may well predominate, but the agenda is open. All ISOC-NY members are welcome to attend.

Details are also available at: http://isoc.org/wp/chapter-meetings/?page_id=762

Topic: ISOC Chapters and Members Meeting
Date: Monday, June 21, 2010
Time: 7:30 pm, Central European Time (Brussels, UTC+02:00)
Meeting Number: 920 627 959
Password: chapters0610

——————————————————-
To join the meeting online    (Now from iPhones too!)
——————————————————-
1. Go to https://isoc.webex.com/
2. If requested, enter your name and email address.
3. Enter the Meeting Number: 920 627 959 and Password: chapters0610
4. Click “Join”.
5. If the meeting includes a teleconference, follow the instructions that appear on your screen.

——————————————————-

AUDIO BRIDGE: After successfully logging in to a WebEx meeting, you need to follow a second step to connect to the audio conference. A popup box gives you the option to connect using a headset – click ‘Use Computer Headset’ followed by ‘Call Using Computer’ to set up the audio call. If you don’t see the popup, you can also connect to the audio conference by selecting menu items ‘Audio’ > ‘Join Audio Conference’.

AUDIO DEVICE: the first time you connect to an audio conference, the Audio Setup Wizard will be displayed. Make sure you select the correct audio device – e.g. if you are using an external USB headset, select that instead of internal audio. You’ll also see options to test and set microphone and speaker sound levels. Note that you can not run the Audio Setup Wizard if you are already connected to a WebEx audio call. If you join a call with the wrong device selected, simply drop off the audio link by selecting menu items ‘Audio’ > ‘Join Audio Conference’ > ‘Leave Audio Conference’, and then run the Audio Setup Wizard by selecting menu items ‘Audio’ > ‘Audio Setup Wizard’.
Join the call again when the settings have been updated.

MUTING YOUR MICROPHONE: by default, your microphone is OPEN. Unlike Marratech, there is no button to push in order to speak. If you want to mute your microphone (and it’s good practice to do so if someone else is presenting), either right click your name in the participant list and select ‘Mute’, or click menu options ‘Audio’ > ‘Volume’ and then check the box marked Mute.

——————————————————-
* To join the audio conference only *
——————————————————-

Access code: 920 627 959

Global call-in numbers:

Australia Toll          +61-(0)28023-8654
Austria Toll            +43-(0)120-609-1136
Belgium Toll            +32-(0)2200-8428
Denmark Toll            +45-4368-2287
Finland Toll            +358-(0)9725-19396
France Toll             +33-(0)17123-0435
Germany Toll            +49-(0)695007-3858
Hong Kong Toll          +852-3071-5084
Hungary – Budapest Toll +36-(0)1777-9885
Hungary – Outside Budapest Toll +36-(0)61777-9885
Ireland Toll            +353-(0)1656-9027
Italy Toll              +39-(0)029148-3459
Japan Toll              +81-(0)35767-4784
Korea (South) Toll      +82-(0)23483-7306
Malaysia Toll           +60-3620-74369
Netherlands Toll        +31-(0)20206-1621
New Zealand Toll        +64-(0)9912-3586
Norway Toll             +47-2415-9982
Poland Toll             +48-(0)2230-60371
Portugal Toll           +351-2176-16416
Russia (Moscow ONLY) Toll       +7-4992-721619
Singapore Toll          +65-6622-1501
Spain Toll              +34-91275-7065
Sweden Toll             +46-85176-1739
Switzerland Toll        +41-(0)44511-8265
Taiwan Toll             +886-(0)22162-6780
United Kingdom Toll     +44-(0)20-3027-7997
Call-in toll number (US/Canada) +1-408-600-3600
———————————————————–
_______________________________________________

The Internet Society’s North American Bureau, to which ISOC-NY is affiliated, is lending initial support to a U.S. industry effort to form a Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group (BITAG) to develop consensus on broadband network management practices or other related technical issues that can affect users’ Internet experience. This is a collaborative industry effort to identify and address operational issues that have been at the heart of some of the recent issues attracting governmental attention. Constructively, this activity could result in organized, forward-looking discussion driven by key stakeholders and also provide opportunities to educate and inform policy makers by shedding light on underlying technical issues from the perspectives of diverse stakeholders.

While this is initially a US-centric activity, it is our expectation that this could yield useful results and/or a model that will be effective more broadly across the globe. It is certainly our intention to inject that broader, global perspective into their discussions.

The group has announced initial plans to form the BITAG and commit to work out details regarding the operational and organizational structure of the BITAG over the coming weeks. This is the early stages of the effort and many details have yet to be worked out but the Internet Society believes this is an important opportunity to address key operational challenges facing the Internet user experience.

ISOC participation in this endeavor will be led out of ISOC’s North American Bureau and the office of the Chief Internet Technology Officer.

As the group is formed, the Internet Society will bring a global, user- centric approach to the issues and will work to ensure that any output is appropriately integrated with the work of existing Internet standards activities. The creation of the BITAG addresses an industry need that falls outside the IETF remit but it is important to integrate the output with relevant activities by the IETF and other standards bodies.

Contact:

Sally Shipman Wentworth
Regional Bureau Manager, North America
Internet Society (ISOC)
(703) 439-2146
wentworth*at*isoc.org
www.isoc.org

ISOC-NY will have a planning meeting on Jun 14 2010. We will be welcoming ISOC North American Regional Bureau Manager Sally Shipman Wentworth. Sally is representing the Internet Society in planning for a Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group (BITAG) so we are sure to have plenty to talk about. We intend to webcast this meeting live so that other North American Chapters can participate.

• What: ISOC-NY Member meeting
• When: Mon Jun 14 2010 7.00pm-9pm
• Where: Room 412, Warren Weaver Hall, 251 Mercer Street NYC (SW corner of West 4th) (See note below)
• Who: All are welcome. Come along for a chat!
• Webcast: http://livestream.com/isocny

• Note: Use the entrance on the west side since construction blocks the Mercer Street entrance. Must bring ID.

Agenda

1. Sally Shipman Wentworth who will make a short presentation about the activities of the North American Bureau
2. The prime purpose of Sally’s visit is to discuss plans for an INET Conference in NYC in 2011.

If we have time:

3. Finances
4. Other Events
5. By-Law reform.
6. Elections
7. HackNY project

[Geneva, Switzerland and Washington D.C., 8 June 2010] – As the Internet rapidly evolves into a truly global medium central to all aspects of human affairs, the need intensifies for future leaders to be drawn from all regions of the world and all walks of life. The Internet Society, uniquely positioned to meet this need, today announced the list of potential leaders joining its programmes for 2010.

The Internet Society’s Next Generation Leaders programme blends coursework, practical experience, and mentorship to help prepare young professionals from around the world to become the next generation of Internet technology, policy, and business leaders.

“We are pleased to have 24 promising students currently in the eLearning phase of our programme,” said Bill Graham, responsible for strategic global engagement at the Internet Society. “Five of those will also join 32 others in the coming months, expanding their leadership skills while they learn about the Internet and the Internet Society’s principles, either as Fellows to the Internet Engineering Task Force meetings or Ambassadors to the Internet Governance Forum (IGF).”

The current participants in the programme come from 39 economies highlighting the universal reach of the Internet and the diverse impacts it has around the world.

With continuing sponsorship from Nominet Trust into next year, and the patronage of European Commission, the Next Generation Leaders programme seeks to identify potential Internet leaders and help them accelerate their careers.

Full details of the Next Generation Leaders programme are available here:
http://www.isoc.org/leaders/

Community Grants Programme’s 11th round helps extend Internet’s reach and promote key technologies

[Washington, D.C., USA and Geneva, Switzerland – 25 May 2010] The Internet Society (ISOC) today announced it is funding community-based projects around the world addressing issues such as Internet leadership, education, core infrastructure, local governance, and policy development, with a strong focus on currently underserved communities.

“The diversity of projects awarded highlights the profound importance of the Internet in so many aspects of our lives, in all parts of the world,” said Jon McNerney, Chief Operating Officer of the Internet Society. “The passion and creativity of those developing the projects within their communities drives the Internet Society’s commitment to help bring the benefits of the Internet to people everywhere.”

As part of the ISOC Community Grants Programme, each project will receive up to US$10,000 for efforts that promote the open development, evolution, and use of the Internet for the benefit of all people throughout the world.

Projects funded in this round include:

- Training programmes to build digital literacy within safe environments in India and Uganda
- Village-operated telecommunication services in East Timor
- Support for development of core Internet time infrastructure
- Policy and practical action in Kenya to improve online safety for women
- Online support for NGOs in Tunisia and more effective local governance in India
- Promotion of Internet leadership in Ecuador
- Development of important public policy resources in Georgia and Australia.

Internet Society Community Grants are awarded twice each year. The next round of the programme will open on 1 September 2010.

Additional information is available about the Community Grants Programme and this round of award-winning projects.

More information:

http://www.isoc.org/isoc/chapters/projects
https://www.isoc.org/isoc/chapters/projects/awards.php?phase=11

** Audio and video now posted below!**

Last October the NYC Department of Information Technology & Telecommunications (DoITT) issued a request for proposals for “services to obtain, manage, administer, maintain and market the geographic Top Domain name .nyc.”. At ICANN’s recent 37th meeting in Nairobi, consensus was reached on the “overarching” issue of intellectual property protection. This leaves only the issue of the final (4th) draft of the Applicants Guidebook, expected before the 38th meeting in Brussels in June 2010, before the much delayed new generic top level domain (gTLD) delegation process can finally grind into action. (One caveat – a policy forbidding cross-ownership of registries and registrars is still not totally set in stone.)

The Internet Society – New York Chapter (ISOC-NY) has for some years been following the .nyc and ICANN process on behalf of the NYC community and, on May 8 2010, hosted a seminar “dot nyc – How are we doing?” at NYU. NYC Council Member Gale Brewer delivered keynote remarks, then vendor Eric Brunner-Williams of CORE Internet Council of Registrars revealed details of their proposal to the City, and Antony Van Couvering of Minds + Machines and Public Advocate Beill DeBlasio’s earlier comments to the City Council were shown in video. There was a discussion “What’s it for?” about possible applications – civic, community, commercial, and “outside the box” – for a local top level domain. Speakers included Tom Lowenhaupt of Connecting .nyc and Richard Knipel of Wikimedia NYC.

Audio/video is below:

ISOC-NY Event: dot nyc – How are we doing?
When: Saturday May 8 2010 : 1pm – 4:30pm EST (1700-2030 UTC)

Part 1:

Keynote: Gale A. Brewer
Eric Brunner Williams – CORE

ipod | ogv | stills | youtube

Part 2:

Bill deBlasio – NYC Public Advocate (on video)
Antony Van Couvering – Minds + Machines (on video)
Tom Lowenhaupdt – Connecting .nyc
Richard Knipel – Wikimedia NYC

ipod | ogv | stills | youtube

Gale Brewer

Council Member Gale A. Brewer has been representing the Upper West Side and Upper Clinton in the New York City Council since 2002. Gale chaired the Committee on Technology in Government from 2002-2009, in which she continues to sit. She currently chairs the Committee on Governmental Operations.

Eric Brunner-Williams

Eric is Chief Technical Officer for CORE, an international not-for-profit membership association of Internet domain name registrars. As such he is responsible for the technical correctness of CORE’s new TLD applications. Previous TLD applications he has contributed technical content to, on behalf of several clients, are .CAT, .ORG, .BIZ,.US, .COOP, and .MUSEUM. Eric was one of the principle contributors to the IETF’s PROVREG Working Group which wrote the EPP RFC series. Eric leads a gTLD project for Native American and Indigenous Peoples, and is an active member in the extended California and Oklahoma Cherokee, and Maine Abenaki communities.

Antony Van Couvering

Antony is CEO of Minds + Machines, a registry services and consulting company for new TLDs. Antony has been working with domain names since he founded Netnames USA in 1997. He started three domain name companies (NetNames USA, RegisterFREE, and NameEngine) and later sold them, the last one to VeriSign. He also started up several ccTLDs, including .TM, .BT, .AS and others.

Tom Lowenhaupt

Tom’s involvement with Internet governance began with comments he filed on the NTIA’s 1998 Internet governance NPRM. He is a former long time member of Community Board 15 in Queens, where the idea of the establishment of a .nyc TLD as a public resouce was first mooted in 2001. In April 2007, invigorated by similar efforts in other international cities, he formed ‘Connecting .nyc‘, a non-profit that has been working since then to assure that the delegation and operation of any such domain be in the the public interest of the NYC community.

Richard Knipel

Richard is President of Wikimedia New York City, an affiliate of the Wikimedia Foundation

Meetup: http://internetpro.meetup.com/51/calendar/13100813/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=108703639164601

In February the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) set out its Proposed Strategic Initiatives for Improved DNS Security, Stability and Resiliency (SSR) and, specifically, proposed the establishment of the Domain Name System-Computer Emergency Response Team (DNS-CERT).

At the  March ICANN meeting in Nairobi CEO Rod Beckstrom endorsed the proposals, citing increased attacks on the DNS system.

The Internet  Society (ISOC) has filed comments stating that 1) there is no evidence of a sudden increase in attacks, increased vulnerability or inadequacy of current arrangements, and 2) that ICANN has jumped the gun with its proposals which are not necessarily within its purview. Indeed it is suggested that ICANN did not even gain the full backing of its own supporting organizations and advisory committees before making the proposals, and this is backed up by the comments of At-Large Advisory Committee Chair Cheryl Langdon-Orr.

ISOC recommends that the proposals be tabled while further consultation is made with the many institutional, national and regional organizations, including existing CERTs, that are already involved in maintaining DNS stability.

ISOC believes it is vital to rely on the Internet model to get the best result. The Internet model relies on open, bottom-up, freely accessible, public, multi-stakeholder, and knowledge-based processes for both technology and policy development.

The Internet Society has announced the results of the 2010 Board of Trustees election.

In the Chapter election, Narelle Clark, of ISOC Australia, has been elected for a three year term.

In the Organizational Member election Eva Frölich and Lawrence Lessig have been elected for three year terms.

Per http://www.isoc.org/isoc/general/trustees/elections/2010/timetable.shtml, there is a challenge period in which issues may be raised concerning the election. This closes 4 May at midnight UTC, and the resulting board is seated in the ISOC Board Meeting in Brussels on 19 June.

The European Commission held an Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) Stakeholders’ Consultation meeting on Mar 22 2010. Representatives of ISOC’s European Regional Bureau attended and have now issued their comments.

Text below:

21 March 2010

RE: EUROPEAN COMMISSION ANTI-COUNTERFEITING TRADE AGREEMENT (ACTA) STAKEHOLDERS’ CONSULTATION MEETING ON 22 MARCH 2010

The Internet Society (ISOC) respectfully submits its comments for the European Commission ACTA Stakeholders’ Consultation Meeting on 22 March 2010.

Introduction

The Internet Society commends the Directorate General for Trade of the European Commission for organising a consultation on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) and for providing us with this opportunity to comment. Unfortunately, since no official copy of the text has been released to the public, the Internet Society is unable to provide substantive comments on the text of the proposed agreement.

Open, transparent and inclusive

The Internet is a shared resource.

The Internet Society appreciates the sensitivity of treaty negotiations and governments’ desire not to hamper ongoing treaty negotiations by prematurely releasing details of their discussions and positions. However, we encourage the participants in the ACTA negotiations (the ACTA participants) to recall the considerable benefits that have been derived from open, transparent and inclusive multistakeholder engagement in the development of Internet standards and governance.

Further, we encourage the European Commission and other participants in the ACTA negotiations to draw on the insight and experience of the Internet technical community, civil society, business, Internet users and others in developing solutions to address the challenging issue of online intellectual property rights infringement.

We urge the ACTA participants to publish the digital provisions under consideration at an appropriate point as early as possible while the negotiations are still going on, and to invite public comment so that all relevant stakeholders have an opportunity to properly consider the proposals and provide their views and suggestions, drawing from their own unique expertise and experience. We also urge the ACTA participants to take those views and suggestions into account in their ongoing negotiations.

Technology is neutral

Intellectual property rights infringement occurs offline as well as in the online environment. The European Union has developed a suite of tools to deal effectively with illegal activities in the offline world. Those tools should provide the framework for developing mechanisms to deal with illegal activities online, for intellectual property rights as for others.

People – not technologies – breach intellectual property rights.

Any policies to curtail online intellectual property rights infringement should not stifle the development, evolution and legitimate use of Internet technologies. They should not abrogate applicable privacy laws and principles, and other fundamental rights, including the right to the protection of due process and judicial oversight.

Furthermore, while the technologies may be new, the behaviour at issue is not. Policies should focus on this behaviour rather than the technologies that could be used to infringe intellectual property rights.

We urge the European Commission and other participants in the ACTA negotiations to recall these fundamental principles in their continuing negotiations.

Conclusion

The Internet is an extraordinary platform for innovation. It has benefitted from broad participation in both the use and development of Internet technology, services applications, and policy. The Internet’s openness has been critical to its development and continued success. Openness is the key to continued innovation and investment in the Internet and all the associated social, economic and cultural benefits it brings.

Deciding how to appropriately protect intellectual property rights in an online environment is an important and relevant issue for the Internet community, not just content owners and governments. We call upon the ACTA participants to adopt an inclusive and transparent multistakeholder approach to these negotiations.

Once again, we welcome the initiative of the European Directorate General for Trade to begin the process of consultation on this very important treaty negotiation. We look forward to greater transparency and the opportunity to provide substantive comments in the future when the official text is available.

Respectfully submitted,

Frédéric Donck
Director European Regional Bureau Internet Society

Walker, wheelchair, cane, gurney or by foot.. All are welcome to the Harlem Internet Computer Access Program!

Explore this opportunity to be immersed in information about the latest technological advancements in computers and the Internet in a hands-on, stress-free environment &
*Access the Internet
*Establish an e-mail address
*Source resources via the Internet
*View current health and longevity data
*Correspond with loved ones and much more!

**** Registration & Orientation ****

Thursday, March 18th, 2010 from 1 pm – 3 pm

The Chauncey Hooper Towers
10 West 138th Street
Harlem, USA 10037

=========ó=====================

Classes begin March 30 – June 24 Graduation Celebration

Classes resume September 14, 2010

This project was made possible in part through a donation from the Internet Society and Council Inez Dickens through Department for the Aging

More info: http://hicap.blogspot.com/

On Thurs. Mar 25 ISOC-NY hosted Prof. Jinyang Li in a talk about the use of distributed systems, and particularly the use of the Kaleidoscope Firefox plug-in, in circumventing censorship. This is part of her ongoing research into “exploiting the real world social relationships among users to improve the security and reliability of open distributed systems.” The talk explains how traditional censorship workarounds like proxies and P2P can easily be discovered and defeated, but how Kaleidoscope – which passes encrypted data through trusted relays – defies such efforts.

Video + audio is below. A DVD of this talk is available free ($5 paypal donation optional) from dvd@isoc-ny.org. Ask for DVD1725

ogv | ipod | stills | youtube | mp3 | ogg

Download and docs:http://www.kspro.org/
Paper: http://www.news.cs.nyu.edu/~jinyang/pub/kalei_iptps08.pdf

About Jinyang Li:

Dr. Li is a graduate of the University of Singapore (1998) who
completed her PhD in routing dynamics at MIT in 2006. After designing
a multichannel MAC protocol at UC Berkeley, she has been teaching and
researching distributed networks at NYU. She received an NSF CAREER
Award in 2008.

Current projects include cooperative distributed storage
(Friendstore), censorship circumvention (Kaleidoscope),wide area
distributed file systems (WheelFS) and high throughput multi-radio
wireless mesh networks.

http://www.news.cs.nyu.edu/~jinyang/

About Kaleidoscope:

Kaleidoscope uses social networks to spread the word about
anonymous proxies via a trusted social network. The software has two
components, a Firefox plugin for the notifications, and a backend that
creates the proxy server.

A joint effort by the both the Art Law and the IP Law Societies at Cardozo School of Law, this Feb. 24 2010 panel set out to consider the implications/possibilities of the Google Books Settlement model as applied to the music industry.

Moderated by Prof. Felix Wu, the panel was, on the one hand, Jim Griffin – an ex-Geffen Records executive who is actively engaged in setting up a central clearing house for music royalties – and on the other, Frank Pasquale – a Seton Hall law professor who is an expert in anti-trust and competition policy. Griffin, extending his argument into a future where not just media but substances and objects will also be freely copyable, advocates strongly that the only practical solution for fair remuneration of authors / designers will be carefully implemented levies that are distributed by sophisticated actuarial licensing systems, based on sampling and algorithms, operated by private entities. Pasquale expressed antitrust concerns at allowing any single organization such control over wealth distribution. Griffin notes that Congress has on more than one occasion given antitrust exemptions so that industries may collectively represent themselves for licensing or marketing. Wu wonders how and who will pay, and how much. Pasquale notes, notwithstanding health care reform efforts, social trends are moving away from bundling to a la carte media consumption. He is uncertain that such actuarial systems will most effectively foster artistic endeavor. Griffin’s response is that only a general solution will allow the freedom of media access that society wants and deserves. A lively Q&A follows.

Links to further reading, including several articles by both speakers can be found here. A DVD of this talk is available free ($5 donation optional) from dvd@isoc-ny.org. Ask for DVD1719.

What: ISOC-NY Movie Night : Copyright Criminals
Where: Rm. 109, Warren Weaver Hall NYU, 250 Mercer St NYC
When: Friday Mar 5, 7:00pm,
Who: Public Welcome. Admission Free.
Sponsors: ISOC-NY, FreeCulture NYU, NYU ACM, Brooklyn Law Incubator & Policy Clinic, tech@nyu

Join producer Kembrew McLeod and legendary remixer Steve Steinski Stein, the inspiration for many recent artists including Girl Talk, for a Q&A session after the screening.

We are thankful that Kembrew (yes, the same prankster professor who trademarked “Freedom Of Expression” and went after AT&T for using the term in an ad) is giving ISOC-NY the opportunity to screen this film so shortly after its successful run at the Film Forum.

Trailer below

“Producers Benjamin Franzen and Kembrew McLeod craft a compelling and insightful documentary illuminating both sides of a hotly debated issue: Should the original artists get paid when someone samples their work? Are current copyright laws out of step with our mashed up, high tech culture?”
–USAToday

“Benjamin Franzen and Kembrew McLeods exceptionally smart and energetic documentary lays out the complexities of sampling, artistic and political, legal and philosophical. Comprised of split screens, overlapping and overlaid sounds, an assemblage of images and noise, the movie effectively stages its argument even as it makes it.”
–PopMatters.com

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