‘Free Expression Online’ (FOEonline) Dynamic Coalition
The ‘Free Expression Online’ (FOEonline) Dynamic Coalition was established as a follow up to the first Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Greece in November 2006. It aims to further freedom of expression and the media on the Internet. It will provide an open platform to exchange information, advance initiatives in the field of Internet governance and freedom of expression and serve as an informal community to organize meetings and other initiatives, thus feeding into the IGF process for 2007 in Brazil and beyond.
FOEonline Written Contribution to IGF 2007 Rio agenda (14 May 2007)
FOEonline maintains a coalition website at www.foeonline.wordpress.com and an open mailing list.
Initial coalition partners include the following institutions and organizations or representatives thereof:
• Amnesty International (ai) UK
• Article 19
• communica-ch: Swiss platform for the information society
• Council of Europe
• The Danish Institute for Human Rights
• Electronic Frontier Foundation
• Institute of International Law and International Relations, University of Graz
• Internet Governance Project (IGP)
• IP Justice
• Net Dialogue
• The Office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media
• Reporters Sans Frontières
• UNESCO
• The World Press Freedom Committee
FOEonline Contact:
Christian Möller, The Office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media
christian_dot_moeller_at_osce_dot_org
Robin Gross, IP Justice
robin_at_ipjustice_dot_org
Geneva Declaration of Principles from 2003 World Summit on Information Society (WSIS):
4. We reaffirm, as an essential foundation of the Information Society, and as outlined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, that everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; that this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. Communication is a fundamental social process, a basic human need and the foundation of all social organization. It is central to the Information Society. Everyone, everywhere should have the opportunity to participate and no one should be excluded from the benefits the Information Society offers.
6 Jul, 2008: Public’ online spaces don’t carry speech, rights (Associated Press) 
First Amendment protections generally do not extend to private property in the physical world, allowing a shopping mall to legally kick out a customer wearing a T-shirt with a picture of a smoking child. With online services becoming greater conduits than shopping malls for public communications, however, some advocacy groups believe the federal government needs to guarantee open access ...
6 Jul, 2008: ICAAN – Preventing Hatred v. Censorship of TLD Applications (Digital Journal)
With all the excitement over expansion of IP addresses to be expanded from 4-string to 6-string format, little has been reported on the current and proposed regulations to restrict new domain registration. Watchdogs are deeply concerned over censorship. ....
1 Jul, 2008: Work Remains For ICANN’s New Top Level Internet Domains (IP-Watch)
Internet Technical Body an Authority on Morality? ICANN announced the "biggest extension of the DNS [domain name system] in 40 years" after its decision last week to finish implementation of a new policy for introducing new top-level domains (TLDs). According to the timeline presented at the ICANN meeting in Paris, new TLDs to compete against the existing .com, .biz ...
26 Jun, 2008: ICANN Board Approves Censorship Policy for Domain Names Based on Morality: 2 Board Members Speak Against It
Today in Paris the ICANN Board passed the GNSO's controversial recommendations to censor top level domains based on notions of "morality and public order", and broadly defined "community" wishes. However, 2 ICANN board members, law professors Wendy Seltzer (on behalf of the At-Large Internet Users) and Susan Crawford, made very powerful and compelling statements to protect free expression on ...
16 Jun, 2008: Civil Society & Organized Labour Seoul Declaration (OECD Ministerial in Korea) 
Framework for the Future of the Internet Economy. Freedom of Expression. Protection of Privacy and Transparency. Consumer Protection. Promotion of Access to Knowledge. Internet Governance. Promotion of Open Standards. Balanced Intellectual Property Policies. Internet Governance. ...
2 Jun, 2008: US Supreme Court Hands Big Win to Free Speech Advocates in the IP World
[Major League Baseball v. CBC Distribution] By Allonn E. Levy, Esq. "An obvious “win” for Free Speech advocates and “netizens” concerned with ensuring open access to information on the Internet, the case also helps the burgeoning field of Internet information consolidators who help consumers collect information and process it. Expect to see the case cited frequently in the ...
15 May, 2008: US Congress Cites Free Expression as Reason ICANN Must Remain Controlled by US Govt.
US Congressmen are up to their old tricks of pretending to care about free expression publicly, while undermining it's practice with their policy decisions -- especially when it comes to free speech on the Internet. Congressman Edward Markey, the Chairman of the Congressional Sub-committee on Telecommunications and the Internet sent a letter urging the US Government to refuse ...
18 Mar, 2008: Public-Interest Principles for the Networked Communications Environment
Why is Free Expression Important in an Information Society? The UK-based "Freedom of Expression Project" posted "Public Interest Principles for the Networked Communications Environment". The draft document provides useful analysis on the importance of freedom of expression, open standards, interoperability, respect for privacy, and balanced copyright law as key policy goals for a healthy and robust information society. ...
11 Mar, 2008: US Govt Seizes Blacklisted Domain Names of European Company for Selling Cuba Trips
"An interesting story broke recently in the NY Times about a Spanish travel company that had its domain names taken away by the US Government for selling Europeans vacations to Cuba. Even though the company's business was not targeted at the US and was lawful in its national jurisdiction, the company's websites were put on a domain name ...
26 Nov, 2007: Syria blocks Facebook in Internet crackdown (WashPost)
Syrian users of Facebook said on Friday the authorities had blocked access to the social network Web site as part of a crackdown on political activism on the Internet. "Facebook helped further civil society in Syria and form civic groups outside government control. This is why it has been banned," women's rights advocate Dania al-Sharif told Reuters. "They ...
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