<nettime> THE HACKTIVISMO DECLARATION

["ricardo dominguez" <rdom@thing.net>]

THE HACKTIVISMO DECLARATION

                 _ _
                 ((___)) cDc communications
                 [ x x ] & HACKTIVISMO
                 \ / "A Special Message of Hope"
                 (' ') July 4th, 2001
                 (U) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


INTERNATIONAL BOOKBURNING IN PROGRESS

[July 4, 2001 - LUBBOCK, TX.] Free speech is under siege at the margins of
the Internet. Quite a few countries are censoring access to the Web through
DNS [Domain Name Service] filtering. This is a process whereby politically
incorrect information is blocked by domain address -- the name that appears
before the dot com suffix. Others employ filtering which denies politically
or socially challenging subject matter based on its content.

Hacktivismo and the CULT OF THE DEAD COW have decided that enough is too
much.  We are hackers and free speech advocates, and we are developing
technologies to challenge state-sponsored censorship of the Internet.

Most countries use intimidation and filtering of one, kind or another
including the Peoples Republic of China, Cuba, and many Islamic countries.
Most claim to be blocking pornographic content. But the real reason is to
prevent challenging content from spreading through repressive regimes. This
includes information ranging from political opinion, "foreign" news,
women's issues, academic and scholarly works, religious information,
information regarding ethnic groups in disfavor, news of human rights
abuses, documents which present drugs in a positive light, and gay and
lesbian content, among others.

The capriciousness of state-sanctioned censorship is wide-ranging. [1]

* In Zambia, the government has attempted to censor information revealing
their plans for constitutional referendums.

* In Mauritania -- as in most countries --, owners of cybercafes are
required to supply government intelligence agents with copies of e-mail
sent or received at their establishments.

* Even less draconian governments, like Malaysia, have threatened
web-publishers for violating their publishing licenses by publishing
frequent updates: _timely, relevant_ information is seen as a threat.

* South Korean's national security law forbids South Koreans from having
any contact -- including contact over the Internet -- with their North
Korean neighbors.

* Sri Lanka threatened news sites with possible revocation of their
licenses if coverage of a presidential election campaign was not partial to
the party of the outgoing president.

The risks of accessing or disseminating information are often great.

* In Ukraine, a decapitated body found near the village of Tarachtcha is
believed to be that of Georgiy Gongadze, founder and editor of an on-line
newspaper critical of the authorities.

* In August, 1998, eighteen year old Turk Emre Ersoz was found guilty of
"insulting the national police" in an Internet forum after participating in
a demonstration that was violently suppressed by the police. His ISP
provided the authorities with his address.

* Journalist Miroslav Filipovic has the dubious distinction of having been
the first Journalist accused of spying because of articles published on the
Internet -- in this case detailing the abuses of certain Yugoslav army
units in Kosovo.

We are sickened by these egregious violations of information and human
rights. The liberal democracies have talked a far better game than they've
played on access to information. But hackers are not willing to watch the
custodians of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights
and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights turn them into a mockery. We
are willing to put our money where our mouth is.

Hacktivismo and the CULT OF THE DEAD COW are issuing the HACKTIVISMO
DECLARATION as a declaration of outrage and a statement of intent. It is
our Magna Carta for information rights. People have a right to reasonable
access of otherwise lawfully published information. If our leaders aren't
prepared to defend the Internet, we are.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] some information cited in this press release was either paraphrased, or
quoted directly, from the "Enemies of the Internet" report published by
Reporters Without Frontiers, and may be found at http://www.rsf.fr

/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>

THE HACKTIVISMO DECLARATION assertions of liberty in support of an
uncensored internet

DEEPLY ALARMED that state-sponsored censorship of the Internet is rapidly
spreading with the assistance of transnational corporations,

TAKING AS A BASIS the principles and purposes enshrined in Article 19 of
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) that states, _Everyone has
the right to freedom of opinion and expression; 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_, and
Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(ICCPR) that says,

1. Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference.

2. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall
include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all
kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in
the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.

3. The exercise of the rights provided for in paragraph 2 of this article
carries with it special duties and responsibilities. It may therefore be
subject to certain restrictions, but these shall only be such as are
provided by law and are necessary:

(a) For respect of the rights or reputations of others;

(b) For the protection of national security or of public order, or of
public health or morals.

RECALLING that some member states of the United Nations have signed the
ICCPR, or have ratified it in such a way as to prevent their citizens from
using it in courts of law,

CONSIDERING that, such member states continue to willfully suppress
wide-ranging access to lawfully published information on the Internet,
despite the clear language of the ICCPR that freedom of expression exists
in all media,

TAKING NOTE that transnational corporations continue to sell information
technologies to the world's most repressive regimes knowing full well that
they will be used to track and control an already harried citizenry,

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT that the Internet is fast becoming a method of
repression rather than an instrument of liberation,

BEARING IN MIND that in some countries it is a crime to demand the right to
access lawfully published information, and of other basic human rights,

RECALLING that member states of the United Nations have failed to press the
world's most egregious information rights violators to a higher standard,

MINDFUL that denying access to information could lead to spiritual,
intellectual, and economic decline, the promotion of xenophobia and
destabilization of international order,

CONCERNED that governments and transnationals are colluding to maintain the
status quo,

DEEPLY ALARMED that world leaders have failed to address information rights
issues directly and without equivocation,

RECOGNIZING the importance to fight against human rights abuses with
respect to reasonable access to information on the Internet,

THEREFORE WE ARE CONVINCED that the international hacking community has a
moral imperative to act, and we

DECLARE:

* THAT FULL RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS INCLUDES
THE LIBERTY OF FAIR AND REASONABLE ACCESS TO INFORMATION, WHETHER BY
SHORTWAVE RADIO, AIR MAIL, SIMPLE TELEPHONY, THE GLOBAL INTERNET, OR
OTHER MEDIA.

* THAT WE RECOGNIZE THE RIGHT OF GOVERNMENTS TO FORBID THE PUBLICATION
OF PROPERLY CATEGORIZED STATE SECRETS, CHILD PORNOGRAPHY, AND MATTERS
RELATED TO PERSONAL PRIVACY AND PRIVILEDGE, AMONG OTHER ACCEPTED
RESTRICTIONS. BUT WE OPPOSE THE USE OF STATE POWER TO CONTROL ACCESS
TO THE WORKS OF CRITICS, INTELLECTUALS, ARTISTS, OR RELIGIOUS FIGURES.

* THAT STATE SPONSORED CENSORSHIP OF THE INTERNET ERODES PEACEFUL AND
CIVILIZED COEXISTENCE, AFFECTS THE EXERCISE OF DEMOCRACY, AND
ENDANGERS THE SOCIOECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONS.

* THAT STATE-SPONSORED CENSORSHIP OF THE INTERNET IS A SERIOUS FORM OF
ORGANIZED AND SYSTEMATIC VIOLENCE AGAINST CITIZENS, IS INTENDED TO
GENERATE CONFUSION AND XENOPHOPIA, AND IS A REPREHENSIBLE VIOLATION OF
TRUST.

* THAT WE WILL STUDY WAYS AND MEANS OF CIRCUMVENTING STATE SPONSORED
CENSORSHIP OF THE INTERNET AND WILL IMPLEMENT TECHNOLOGIES TO CHALLENGE
INFORMATION RIGHTS VIOLATIONS.

Issued July 4, 2001 by Hacktivismo and the CULT OF THE DEAD COW.

Relevant Web Links:

Universal Declaration of Human Rights
http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/a_ccpr.htm

Reporters Without Frontiers
http://www.rsf.fr

CULT OF THE DEAD COW
http://www.cultdeadcow.com

==

Media Contact:
Oxblood Ruffin
Foreign Minister
CULT OF THE DEAD COW
oxblood@cultdeadcow.com
http://cultdeadcow.com

                 __//////\ -cDc- CULT OF THE DEAD COW -cDc- /\\\\\\__
                 Est. 1984 \\\\\\/ NINJA STRIKE FORCE * HACKTIVISMO \//////
Est. 1984
                 ####

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