NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] Internet Freedom Alert: Obama Admin Pushing Ahead Today with Dangerous "Internet Trusted Identity" Scheme
Internet Freedom Alert: Obama Admin Pushing Ahead Today
with Dangerous "Internet Trusted Identity" Scheme
http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000798.html
Greetings. At this moment -- as I type this -- the Obama
administration is pushing forward with its horrendous DHS-linked
"Trusted Internet Identity" scheme (formally - "NSTIC": "National
Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace") via a meeting
and announcements today at the Stanford Institute for Economic
Policy Research ( http://bit.ly/g03T71 [Churchill Club] ).
As I've discussed in "Why the New Federal 'Trusted Internet Identity'
Proposal is Such a Very Bad Idea" ( http://bit.ly/9j4X0w ) and
postings linked within that article, NSTIC is an incredibly dangerous
concept fraught with all manner of major direct and collateral risks
to individuals, organizations, freedom of speech, and civil rights in
general.
In contrast to the benign concepts of Net Neutrality -- which despite
right-wing claims to the contrary will not result in a government
"takeover" of the Internet or the muzzling of free speech -- NSTIC in
fact carries very much those actual risks.
NSTIC will never remain "voluntary" as its proponents claim. It will
ultimately put the government firmly into every networked computing
device that we use, and become the key mechanism to track users,
control access to information, eliminate legitimate anonymity, and
otherwise convert the Internet into a tool more suited for future
oppression than open communication.
So to Glenn Beck, FOX News, and the various legislators who have been
burning so much air time with anti-Net Neutrality rants, take a good
look at NSTIC. Even by your own standards, NSTIC is a fire-breathing,
city-smashing Godzilla compared with Net Neutrality's Bambi.
And to everyone else who cares about an Open Internet, free
expression, and civil liberties, get ready for Internet freedom
battles like you've never seen before. The war to protect our
freedoms on the Internet has only just begun.
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein (lauren@vortex.com)
http://www.vortex.com/lauren
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
Co-Founder, PFIR (People For Internet Responsibility): http://www.pfir.org
Founder, NNSquad (Network Neutrality Squad): http://www.nnsquad.org
Founder, GCTIP (Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance):
http://www.gctip.org
Founder, PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein
Google Buzz: http://bit.ly/lauren-buzz