Global Network Initiative

The Global Network Initiative has submitted comments to the European Commission on two recent consultations relevant to freedom of expression and privacy in the ICT sector.

This op-ed by GNI Independent Chair Jermyn Brooks originally appeared in the Wall Street Journal Asia.

The Global Network Initiative (GNI) is troubled by the conviction of Chiranuch Premchaiporn, webmaster of the online forum Prachathai, under Thailand’s Computer Crimes Act for not moving quickly enough to remove content posted by users.

The Global Network Initiative (GNI) is deeply concerned by the free speech and privacy implications of the Government of Vietnam’s Draft Decree on Internet Services.

The Global Network Initiative (GNI) welcomes the decision by Congressional leaders to postpone immediate consideration of proposed intellectual property legislation in the Senate and House of Representatives. GNI supports the goal of protecting intellectual property online, but we firmly believe that the approach used in the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect-IP (PIPA) is flawed and poses an unacceptable threat to global online freedom of expression and innovation.

On 15 November 2011, GNI wrote to the Committee on the Judiciary of the U.S. House of Representatives about freedom of expression, intellectual property and H.R. 3261, the Stop Online Piracy Act. The text of the letter is below.

Dear Chairman Smith and Ranking Member Conyers,
 

As entrepreneurs, engineers, and activists gathered in San Francisco, California for the inaugural Silicon Valley Human Rights Conference on October 25-26, 2011, the work of the Global Network Initiative was “at the center of debate” according to Politico, and repeatedly highlighted as a crucial component of wider efforts to manage the human rights implications of new technologies.