There is a new law entering congress of which every woman, man, and blogger should take notice. Called the Global Online Freedom Act (H.R. 275) it will prevent U.S. companies from carrying out or facilitating the suppression of online speech in repressive countries. In short, GOFA will do the following, according to Amnesty International:
The Global Online Freedom Act of 2007 has been proposed in Congress to help stop U.S. companies from teaming up with foreign governments to violate human rights.
Now who wouldn't support that?
More over the jump.
In a little more detail here is what the bill does....
This bill would help ensure that the Internet remains an open forum for free expression in every part of the world, and help American companies resist pressure from foreign governments to compromise their principles. The key provisions of the Act a) Prohibit U.S. companies from locating personally identifiable information in a foreign country that represses freedom of expression, b) Restrict U.S. companies from providing foreign repressive governments with personally identifiable information of users (except for legitimate law enforcement purposes), c) Require U.S. companies to report to Congress on the content they are blocking or filtering.
Now I think this bill is incredibly important for several reasons. It furthers the Net Neutrality agenda in that it makes clear that corporations should not interfere with information shared on the net. It frames the internet as a commons of freedom and exchange in which all citizens are linked together—whether they reside in open countries like the U.S. or repressive places like China and Burma. It makes it easier and safer for people worldwide to use the net as a political tool to organize against oppressive regimes and to make the rest of us aware what those repressive regimes are doing.
Who wouldn’t support such a bill?
Well.....
China for example, has asked Yahoo to turn over to its secret police the names of political dissidents who send sensitive information over email. One such dissident, Shi Tao, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after being identified by Yahoo. China has also convinced Microsoft to shut down Internet blogs in which Chinese users were criticizing their government, and persuaded Google to censor its search engine results. Chinese citizens using Google’s Chinese search engine now cannot even learn of the existence of information about human rights and democracy on the Internet.
Google? Whatever happened to Don’t be Evil?
"Don't be evil." Googlers generally apply those words to how we serve our users. But "Don't be evil" is much more than that. Yes, it's about providing our users unbiased access to information, focusing on their needs and giving them the best products and services that we can. But it's also about doing the right thing more generally – following the law, acting honorably and treating each other with respect....
We expect all of our employees and Board members to know and follow the Code. Failure to do so can result in disciplinary action, including termination of employment.
So don’t be evil, right?
Well hmm.... Unless the laws in the country where the information is being exported/downloaded into have different laws. In which case we must follow their laws....
a. Export Controls
U.S. and international laws control where Google can export its products or services. These laws are complex, and apply to:
* exports from the U.S.; and
* exports of products from other countries, especially when those products contain components or technology of American origin.
What constitutes an "export" under the law is pretty broad. For example, under U.S. law, an "export" can include:
* exposing certain foreign nationals to U.S. technical data, regardless of what country the exposure occurred in;
* permitting the download of software in a non-U.S. country; and
* transporting technical data or software on your laptop out of the U.S.
And it is not just Yahoo and Google. There are a whole slue of such corporations which cave to local laws demanding human rights abuses....
Amnesty International first reported on the issue of freedom of expression and information in November 2002. In the report State control of the Internet in China, Amnesty cited several foreign companies - Cisco Systems, Microsoft, Nortel Networks, Websense and Sun Microsystems - which had reportedly provided technology used to censor and control the use of the Internet in China.
Their defense?
Cisco Systems denied that the company tailors its products for the Chinese market, saying that "[I]f the government of China wants to monitor the Internet, that's their business. We are basically politically neutral." Microsoft said it "focused on delivering the best technology to people throughout the world", but that it "cannot control the way it may ultimately be used."
Obviously the bill won’t bring such repressive countries down in one swoop, nor will it revolutionize the way Microsoft thinks about information in a single day. But it is a step in the right direction: the internet is a global commons, a political tool, and information exchange if an human right.
So Kossacks, support the freakin' bill already: Global Online Freedom Act, H.R. 275
UPDATE:
In answer to how it is doing.... here is the author followed by 8 co-sponsors:
# Rep. Christopher Smith [R, NJ-4]
# and 8 Co-Sponsors
* Rep. Dan Burton [R, IN-5]
* Rep. Tom Lantos [D, CA-12]
* Rep. Thaddeus McCotter [R, MI-11]
* Rep. Dana Rohrabacher [R, CA-46]
* Rep. Timothy Ryan [D, OH-17]
* Rep. Brad Sherman [D, CA-27]
* Rep. Frank Wolf [R, VA-10]
* Rep. David Wu [D, OR-1]
Thanks to Open Congress