Business Week
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will call today for an uncensored global Internet where individuals and companies operate without fear of repression or computer attacks such as those Google Inc. says came from China.
Clinton will sketch out the Obama administration’s vision of promoting Internet freedom and security, highlighting how the U.S. is supporting organizations around the world to develop tools to circumvent firewalls and promote democracy and economic growth, officials said.
Alec Ross, Clinton’s adviser on technology, said her speech will frame the issue as a threat to the free flow of information and resources.
“Do we want to live in a world where there is one Internet, one knowledge commons from which we can all draw” or where the “knowledge you have access to is based on what country you live in and the whim of the censors?” Ross told a policy forum at the New America Foundation in Washington yesterday.
Clinton will underscore U.S. concerns about restrictions on information and hacking in countries including China. Internet censorship exists in almost a third of the world, Ross said.
Mountain View, California-based Google, which runs the most popular Internet search site, said Jan. 12 it would stop censoring its search results in China and might end operations there after what it described as an infiltration of its technology and the Gmail messaging accounts of Chinese human rights activists. Google said hackers also targeted the intellectual property of dozens of other U.S. companies.
The Chinese government has denied involvement in the cyber attacks. Both Google and the U.S. government have asked China for an investigation and explanation.
Human Rights
Clinton’s speech will assert that Internet freedom “exists at the convergence of economic issues, human rights issues and security issues,” Ross said. The Internet is a new platform to promote the U.S.’s “centuries-old values related to freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, freedom of the press,” he added, in characterizing her planned message.
The top U.S. diplomat will deliver the speech at the Newseum, an interactive museum on the news media located near the U.S. Capitol.
Leslie Harris, president of the Center for Democracy and Technology, a Washington-based advocacy group, said she hopes Clinton will call for “greater corporate responsibility” in markets such as China, where companies such as Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo! Inc. and Google had agreed to modify their products in order to do business.
‘Difficult Circumstances’
Harris said she hopes Clinton commits to “stand behind and support companies who are trying to operate in very difficult circumstances.” She praised the Obama administration for successfully “pushing back” when China tried to require filtering software to be installed in all laptops sold there.
Clinton plans to highlight the use of Internet tools including Twitter Inc., the short-message service, by dissidents in countries such as Iran, officials said.
In the aftermath of last June’s contested election and subsequent protests in Iran, “technology has obviously been a huge piece of how people within Iran stay connected and how they communicate to the rest of the world,” Michael Posner, assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, said in an interview.
Clinton’s speech will refer to defensive and offensive efforts by the State Department to protect Internet users who face online restrictions by their governments and companies confronting intrusions into their networks.
Firewall Funds
The State Department has $5 million available in funds appropriated by Congress last year for organizations that promote technologies to get around firewalls, for training Internet journalists and other online democracy promotion efforts. The department expects $10 million more from Congress in the coming fiscal year.
The department has already allocated $15 million to similar organizations, although officials say they can’t publicize the groups’ names without endangering them.
“Rather than view it as a one-size-fits-all approach to breaking down the firewall, we view this as an exploratory period where we’re working with a range of individuals and organizations in 40 countries,” Posner said.
Clinton will also cite innovations the U.S. is developing to help people use mobile phones and the Internet to share information and resources.
One example is the State Department’s text-messaging campaign to raise money for Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti, which has already garnered more than $25 million in individual $10 donations from mobile phone users in the U.S.
Clinton will sketch out the Obama administration’s vision of promoting Internet freedom and security, highlighting how the U.S. is supporting organizations around the world to develop tools to circumvent firewalls and promote democracy and economic growth, officials said.
Alec Ross, Clinton’s adviser on technology, said her speech will frame the issue as a threat to the free flow of information and resources.
“Do we want to live in a world where there is one Internet, one knowledge commons from which we can all draw” or where the “knowledge you have access to is based on what country you live in and the whim of the censors?” Ross told a policy forum at the New America Foundation in Washington yesterday.
Clinton will underscore U.S. concerns about restrictions on information and hacking in countries including China. Internet censorship exists in almost a third of the world, Ross said.
Mountain View, California-based Google, which runs the most popular Internet search site, said Jan. 12 it would stop censoring its search results in China and might end operations there after what it described as an infiltration of its technology and the Gmail messaging accounts of Chinese human rights activists. Google said hackers also targeted the intellectual property of dozens of other U.S. companies.
The Chinese government has denied involvement in the cyber attacks. Both Google and the U.S. government have asked China for an investigation and explanation.
Human Rights
Clinton’s speech will assert that Internet freedom “exists at the convergence of economic issues, human rights issues and security issues,” Ross said. The Internet is a new platform to promote the U.S.’s “centuries-old values related to freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, freedom of the press,” he added, in characterizing her planned message.
The top U.S. diplomat will deliver the speech at the Newseum, an interactive museum on the news media located near the U.S. Capitol.
Leslie Harris, president of the Center for Democracy and Technology, a Washington-based advocacy group, said she hopes Clinton will call for “greater corporate responsibility” in markets such as China, where companies such as Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo! Inc. and Google had agreed to modify their products in order to do business.
‘Difficult Circumstances’
Harris said she hopes Clinton commits to “stand behind and support companies who are trying to operate in very difficult circumstances.” She praised the Obama administration for successfully “pushing back” when China tried to require filtering software to be installed in all laptops sold there.
Clinton plans to highlight the use of Internet tools including Twitter Inc., the short-message service, by dissidents in countries such as Iran, officials said.
In the aftermath of last June’s contested election and subsequent protests in Iran, “technology has obviously been a huge piece of how people within Iran stay connected and how they communicate to the rest of the world,” Michael Posner, assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, said in an interview.
Clinton’s speech will refer to defensive and offensive efforts by the State Department to protect Internet users who face online restrictions by their governments and companies confronting intrusions into their networks.
Firewall Funds
The State Department has $5 million available in funds appropriated by Congress last year for organizations that promote technologies to get around firewalls, for training Internet journalists and other online democracy promotion efforts. The department expects $10 million more from Congress in the coming fiscal year.
The department has already allocated $15 million to similar organizations, although officials say they can’t publicize the groups’ names without endangering them.
“Rather than view it as a one-size-fits-all approach to breaking down the firewall, we view this as an exploratory period where we’re working with a range of individuals and organizations in 40 countries,” Posner said.
Clinton will also cite innovations the U.S. is developing to help people use mobile phones and the Internet to share information and resources.
One example is the State Department’s text-messaging campaign to raise money for Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti, which has already garnered more than $25 million in individual $10 donations from mobile phone users in the U.S.
